Joseph Conrad: 'The Secret Agent‪'‬

This critical and contextual study sheds new light on

Conrad’s topical novel of espionage and terrorism. A biographical chapter relates The Secret Agent to

Conrad’s career. Next, the work’s process of

composition is discussed, and differences between

the serial, the book version and the stage version

are explained. An analysis of the plot gives

particular attention to its ironic strategies and to the

character of the narrator. Various themes and

contexts are explored: conceptions of time and



topography; anarchistic and Fenian politics; anti-

Semitism; evolution, Lombroso and criminology.



Literary influences and analogues are illustrated:

Dickens, Zola, Ibsen, terrorist fiction. The characters

are considered from various viewpoints. A critical

survey summarises the work’s reception since its

first publication. The bibliography provides a guide

to further reading.