Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar | Writing Style & Techniques

Memoirs of Hadrian Characters/Techniques

Resigned to the prospect of his impending death, Hadrian is presented in the novel as a character in search of self. Determined to explore the social and psychological parameters of his personality, Hadrian likewise ponders the philosophical nature of existence.

Consequently, while the novel unfolds as the memoirs of a unique individual of grand stature, the reader becomes immersed with the history of the period as well as the lives of the secondary characters serving to illuminate the presence of the protagonist. As seen through the eyes of Hadrian, the participants in the pageantry of his life assume their assigned roles in relation to the re-creation of events, while providing the reader with an enlightened sense of motivation and the emotional depth of experience.

An extremely gifted storyteller and capable of extraordinary craftsmanship, Yourcenar creates in Memoirs of Hadrian a convincing and skillfully arranged novel of...
(read more)