Identity and Displacement

Where it surfaces

• Suspense

  Cosmo, an Englishman in Genoa, experiences a sense of being an outsider, navigating unfamiliar social and political terrain.

• I

  Cosmo's identity as an Englishman is highlighted, while the mysterious man's national and political affiliations remain ambiguous, reflecting the displacement of individuals in a post-war Europe.

• II

  The D'Armands, once part of the French aristocracy, now live as penniless exiles in London, their identities reshaped by displacement and loss.

• IV

  Cosmo's desire to avoid meeting anyone he knows and his observation of the changing social landscape highlight themes of identity and displacement.

• II

  Cosmo feels out of place in society, unsure of his own merit and awkward in company, reflecting a sense of not belonging.

• III

  The Marquis reflects on his family's exile and the loss of his brother, and Cosmo contemplates his own sense of belonging.

• IV

  Count de Montevesso's background as a military adventurer who served in various armies and lived in India marks him as an outsider in European aristocratic society.

• VI

  Madame de Montevesso feels out of place among the returned nobles, identifying as a Frenchwoman with liberal ideas rather than sharing their royalist hatreds and contempts.

• VII

  Clelia is displaced from her village and feels like a 'brute beast' in the aristocratic society of Genoa. The old woman also expresses bewilderment at the sudden change in her life.

• II

  Cosmo feels out of place and without an aim, questioning his desire to travel and feeling disconnected from his former self.

• I

  Cosmo, an Englishman in Genoa, finds himself in a precarious situation, hiding from the police and uncertain of his place.