Glossary of Terms
"avec des choses inouies"
French for "with extraordinary things"creosote
a possible reference to wood creosote, a yellowish liquid used as a disinfectantdiscomfited
disconcertedfronds
the leaves of cycads, palms, or similarly shaped plantsGare St. Lazare
one of the principal train stations of Paris (along with Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, and Gare Montparnasse)Gauguin
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), a French painter of the Post-Impressionist schoolgizzard
an organ in the digestive tract of birds, earthworms, reptiles, and certain fishLe Havre
an important port city in Brittany, in the northwest of France on the Atlantic coastMallarme
Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898), a French poetMontparnasse
a neighborhood of Paris, today dominated by business, but in Miller's time swamped with expats, artists, intellectuals, and bohemiansomphalos
Greek for "navel"paddock
a fenced area, usually used to graze horsespneumatique
French for "tire" or "tyre"Rabelais
Francois Rabelais (1494-1553), a French writer considered one of the founders of the novel and renowned for his bawdy humorRimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), a French poet and part of the so-called decadent movementRodin
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), a French sculptorSargasso Sea
a region of the North Atlantic Ocean bordered on the west by the Gulf StreamStrindberg
August Strindberg (1849-1912), a Swedish playwright and one of the fathers of the modern theatersuppository
a system for delivering drugs through the urethra, the vagina, or the rectumsyphilis
a venereal disease quite common in the 1930sthe clap
slang for gonorrheatrollop
a vulgar woman, or a woman of disreputeVilla Borghese
Miller's home at the outset of the novel, and a likely reference to the Villa Seurat in Paris, where Miller did indeed live for some timeTropic of Cancer Essays and Related Content
- Tropic of Cancer: Major Themes
- Tropic of Cancer: Questions
- Tropic of Cancer: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
- Henry Miller: Biography
- Tropic of Cancer Summary
- About Tropic of Cancer
- Character List
- Glossary of Terms
- Major Themes
- Summary and Analysis of Section I: To “She was a whore all the way through – and that was her virtue!”
- Summary and Analysis of Section II: “Easter came in like a frozen hare” to “I go forth to fatten myself.”
- Summary and Analysis of Section III: “At one-thirty I called on Van Norden” to “Il ne faut jamais desesperer.”
- Summary and Analysis of Section IV: “Which is what I try to din into Carl and Van Norden every night” to “let it slowly infiltrate your veins.”
- Summary and Analysis of Section V: “A few weeks later, upon receipt of a pressing invitation from Collins” to “So you see why once in a while I must let myself be sucked by a Lesbian…”
- Summary and Analysis of Section VI: “When the cold weather set in the princess disappeared” to “the green marsh water alive with croaking frogs.”
- Summary and Analysis of Section VII: From “The fog and snow, the cold latitude, the heavy learning”
- Paris in the Thirties
- Related Links on Tropic of Cancer
- Suggested Essay Questions
- Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
- Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
- Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
- Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
- Author of ClassicNote and Sources
