Genre
A short story
Setting and Context
The place of action is England and Germany; the time is not set.
Narrator and Point of View
It is first person narration, and the narrator stays unnamed.
Tone and Mood
Tone and mood of the narration is mostly worrying and depressing, the feeling of depression does not seize till the end.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The narrator is the protagonist, while Cyril Graham is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is the idea that if a forgery is valued if accomplished for some goof purpose. Around this idea the plot is developed.
Climax
The climax comes when George Erskine send the narrator letter in which he informs that is going to die for the idea created by Cyril Graham.
Foreshadowing
In the very beginning when George starts telling the story of Cyril graham the fact the the last is already dead foreshadows some sad events concerning him and his life.
Understatement
The place of art, of painting in particular, is understated in the story.
Allusions
The main allusion is to Shakespeare and his sonnets. There is also an allusion to François Clouet – a famous French painter of the Renaissance epoch.
Imagery
The images of portrait and Willie Hughes are given in the story.
Paradox
One paradox is the assumption that a person can make a forgery – Cyril Graham ordered a picture to support his idea with only one reason – to persuade George in his rightness.
Parallelism
The story is metafictional – the elements of fiction and elements of research are combined.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
