Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s content and main themes, including identity, belief in fate and he contrast between the Old World and the New World. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 50-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Jeffrey Eugenides
• Presentation of Middlesex
• Summary of Middlesex
• Character study
  • Calliope/Callie/Cal
  • Desdemona
  • Lefty
  • Milton
  • Chapter Eleven
• Analysis of Middlesex
  • Gender identity
  • Fate
  • America

About Middlesex

Middlesex is a 2002 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Its title refers to the fact that its main character and narrator, Cal, is intersex, meaning that he has both male and female sex characteristics. After being raised as a girl and having sexual experiences with a man and a woman, he decides to live as a straight man, but often struggles to fit in in a society structured around binary, black-and-white contrasts. The novel met with both popular and critical acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003.

About Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Eugenides is an American writer whose work often has ties to his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan, which has played a significant role in American industry and culture. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published in 1993 and subsequently adapted into a film directed by Sophia Coppola, making Eugenides a household name. He is also known for the novels Middlesex and The Marriage Plot, and the short story collection Fresh Complaint. He currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey, and works as a professor of creative writing.