Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The book is written in the context of selfish interests.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, intriguing, pessimistic
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Effi Briest.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is that Effi Briest is a worldly woman, and she is married to a wealthy man called Baron Innstten Geert. Do not go as Effi expected, and she finds herself suffering in her marriage. Secretly, Effi has a sexual affair with Geert’s rival called Cramoas. When Geert discovers, he divorces Effi and takes custody of their daughter. Later, Effi is disowned by her family, and she remains miserable for the rest of her life.
Climax
The climax comes when Effi becomes depressed due to their poor relationship with her daughter and Geert. Effi regrets cheating on Geert, and she instructs her mother to write an apology asking for Geert’s forgiveness after she dies of bad health.
Foreshadowing
Her secretive affair with Crampas foreshadows Effi's misfortunes in life.
Understatement
Materialism is understated in the text. Effi’s materialistic desires land her in depression. The reader realizes that love and materialism are two different things that do not mix.
Allusions
The story alludes to the negativities of self-centeredness.
Imagery
The imagery of loneliness and death is evident throughout the book. After Geert divorced Effi, she became lonely and miserable because she was separated from her daughter. Similarly, Effi was disowned by her parents, and she remained all alone.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Effi’s materialistic desires end her life in misery instead of leisure and happiness.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
'Hateful programming' is a metonymy for the premeditated abhorrence that is ingenuously innate.
Personification
N/A
