Genre
Historical Fiction
Setting and Context
19th Century, England
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator: Third person
Point Of View: Omniscient
Tone and Mood
Suspicious, Anxious, Despairing, Melancholic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Maggie is the protagonist of the story. Prince Amerigo is the Antagonist.
Major Conflict
Amerigo loves Charlotte, but he chooses to marry Maggie, the daughter of an American businessman. When he meets Charlotte again as his wife's best friend, he cannot resist her charm even though he desires riches, and they start having an affair.
Climax
When Maggie finds out that Amerigo and Charlotte are having an affair, she decides to be discreet about it. By convincing her father to go back to America, she makes it impossible for Amerigo to meet Charlotte.
Foreshadowing
Charlotte's sudden appearance before Amerigo's wedding as his wife's best friend foreshadows their future licentious relationship.
Understatement
Maggie may seem naive and ignorant to Amerigo, but her tactics to get rid of his affair without knowing his father-in-law impress him.
Allusions
A crack in the golden bowl alludes to Maggie's broken trust in her husband and best friend.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
Maggie convinces Charlotte to marry his father to prevent her amorous advances to her husband, but her plan fails when Amerigo initiates the affair after the wedding.
Parallelism
Charlotte and Amerigo's lives are parallel. They both struggle to live a life they can barely afford. Materialistic desires kept them from marrying the one they loved, and they ended up in a loveless marriage.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The story refers to the golden bowl as perfect happiness.
Personification
The story personifies money as powerful.
