Kenneth Widmerpool
E541607
Kenneth Widmerpool is an ambitious, socially awkward, and morally ambiguous British bureaucrat whose rise through mid-20th-century society forms one of the central threads of Anthony Powell’s novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
antagonist
ⓘ
bureaucrat ⓘ fictional character ⓘ literary character ⓘ recurring character ⓘ |
| appearsAcross | twelve-novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time ⓘ |
| appearsIn | A Dance to the Music of Time NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWithTheme |
ambition
ⓘ
bureaucracy ⓘ conformity ⓘ moral compromise ⓘ opportunism ⓘ power ⓘ social mobility ⓘ |
| characterTrait |
ambitious
ⓘ
morally ambiguous ⓘ socially awkward ⓘ |
| createdBy | Anthony Powell NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| criticalReception | widely discussed by literary critics ⓘ |
| dressStyle | ill-fitting overcoat in youth ⓘ |
| education | public school ⓘ |
| fictionalUniverse | A Dance to the Music of Time universe NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstAppearanceIn | A Question of Upbringing NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| gender | male ⓘ |
| hasReputationInFiction | one of the notable grotesques of modern English fiction ⓘ |
| languageOfWork | English ⓘ |
| literaryPeriod | 20th-century British literature ⓘ |
| maritalStatus | married ⓘ |
| medium | novel ⓘ |
| narrativeFunction |
embodiment of bureaucratic power
ⓘ
symbol of careerism ⓘ symbol of social climbing ⓘ |
| narrativeRole | central character in A Dance to the Music of Time ⓘ |
| nationality | British ⓘ |
| occupation |
bureaucrat
ⓘ
civil servant ⓘ |
| personalityDescriptor |
humorless
ⓘ
resentful ⓘ self-important ⓘ |
| politicalInvolvement | joins radical politics later in life ⓘ |
| relationshipToNarrator | school contemporary of Nicholas Jenkins ⓘ |
| roleInSociety | establishment figure ⓘ |
| settingPeriod | mid-20th-century Britain ⓘ |
| socialBackground | middle class ⓘ |
| spouse | Pamela Flitton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| symbolicRole |
caricature of the modern organization man
ⓘ
figure of relentless advancement ⓘ |
| warInvolvement | serves in World War II in an administrative capacity ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.