Genre
Historical drama
Setting and Context
Rome, beginning of the 1st millenium
Narrator and Point of View
We see the third-person narration. It helps the author to show the history of the plot more than the psychology of the characters.
Tone and Mood
The story hasn’t any tragedy or humor in its plot. It’s true historical work, sometimes sonorous, sometimes – neutral.
Protagonist and Antagonist
There are several pairs of these phenomena: Christianity and polytheism; Nero and Petronius, Vinicius, Lygia; Aulus Plautius, his wife and Vinicius, Petronius etc. All parts of these pairs defend their ideas, honor. Maybe, except for Nero.
Major Conflict
Major conflict takes place between the authority who fights against the Christianity. And even when they kill many of Christians physically, they didn’t manage to kill the faith in their God inside their souls.
Climax
The culmination of the story is when Nero burnt Rome: his own life has changed after that, and lives of Vinicius (who became Chrictian), Lygia, Peter and all citizens of Rome changed greatly, and mostly in a bad way.
Foreshadowing
In this novel, along with the historical retelling of events, the author shows that even when the material, physical life of people may be destroyed, their inner essence is much stronger than it: they will keep loving, if this love is true one, they’ll keep believing in their God, if this faith is true one, they’ll keep carrying their ideas to other generations.
Understatement
The author uses this method when telling about Nero’s estimating of peoples lives, even of Rome. For the Caesar they are like the baubles, which are created for satisfaction of his whims.
Allusions
The author sometimes uses this method to enrich the text with kind of sonority. For example, once Lygia quotes Homer’s ‘Odyssey’: “Stranger, thou seemest no evil man nor foolish.”
Imagery
The imagery is used when describing Nero’s court and its luxury, feasts and dances
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
The author uses it when telling about the destinies of individuals, such as Lydia, Vinicius Petronius etc, and the destiny of Rome, when it burns, of Christians when they are prosecuted by Nero.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The author uses these methods often, thus making text more metaphorical. For example: “I have no wish to know what the city can give me.” etc.
Personification
This method helps the author to express the mood of the scenes more vividly. The author uses such personifications: “bath…quickened him”, “the litter was waiting”, “the sun…had sunk” etc.
