Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
Victorian England, at a time when social propriety hid a great deal of impropriety behind closed doors.
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is that of William Adamson
Tone and Mood
The mood in general is one of unfriendliness and snobbery.
Protagonist and Antagonist
William Adamson is the protagonist; Edgar, his brother in law, the antagonist
Major Conflict
There is constant conflict between William and Edgar, because Edgar is a snob and looks down on William because of his financial circumstances; William, in turn, views Edgar with distaste because he knows him to be a rapist.
Climax
Matty finally admits to William that she is in love with him; the two leave for a tour of the Amazon.
Foreshadowing
The fact that none of his children look like him foreshadows William's realization that they are actually Edgar's, and not his.
Understatement
Eugenia tells William she knows that what she is doing with Edgar is wrong, which is an enormous understatement, since she is having an incestuous affair with her brother, who is also a serial rapist, and has caused the death of her fiancé with her actions.
Allusions
The book alludes to the Victorian era of colonialism and also of academics of note going off on adventures and cataloguing botanical and anthropological discoveries.
Imagery
No specific examples.
Paradox
Edgar looks down on William because he does not have much money, but Edgar is a rapist who should not be looking down on anyone. In Victorian England, having money is far more important than having morals.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Eugenia's former fiancé's mental breakdown and his discovery of her incestuous affair.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Alabaster Children is the phrase used to mention all of the children as a group without specifying any of them as individuals.
Personification
No specific examples.
