Explore ''The Secret Agent'' by Joseph Conrad. Study the plot, learn about Mr. Verloc, and read the analysis and significance of ''The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale.''
Updated: 11/21/2023
The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale | Plot, Characters & Analysis
Table of Contents
- The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad
- Plot of The Secret Agent Novel
- Character Analysis of The Secret Agent
- Analysis of The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale
- Significance of The Secret Agent
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Joseph Conrad write The Secret Agent?
Joseph Conrad wrote many novels that were political in nature, and "The Secret Agent" was a continuation of this interest. There was also an uptick in terrorism in much of the world at the time, so it was a topical theme that he was interested in pursuing.
Who does Verloc work for?
Verloc works for an unnamed foreign country that is paying him to spy on his own country of England. There is speculation that the country is Russia, though some critics also point out that it could be another country in Asia or elsewhere, based on references in the novel.
Who is the secret agent?
The secret agent in the novel is Mr. (Adolf) Verloc. He is employed by another country to spy on his own country of England. He bombs the Greenwich Observatory as a part of his mission
Table of Contents
- The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad
- Plot of The Secret Agent Novel
- Character Analysis of The Secret Agent
- Analysis of The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale
- Significance of The Secret Agent
- Lesson Summary
Joseph Conrad's "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale" was first published in 1907 and takes place in London's recent past. "The Secret Agent" was one of Conrad's many political novels and deals with the theme of terrorism which reflected an uptick in terrorist activity in many parts of the world at the time of the book's publication. Conrad employs irony on multiple levels in the novel, from the ironic subtitle "A Simple Tale" though the novel is quite complex, to the irony of the main character Verloc as an anarchist, though he is portrayed as apolitical and desires wealth.
The novel is considered a political novel due to its dealings with themes of terrorism and anarchy. "The Secret Agent" is an example of literary realism because all the characters are deeply flawed beings. It is regarded as one of the most popular spy novels of the 20th century.
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The novel "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale" takes place in 1886 in London. The story opens with the main character Adolf Verloc and his family, including Verloc's wife Winnie, his mother-in-law and his brother-in-law Stevie, who has a mental disability. For an occupation, Verloc both owns an adult store and is a secret agent, more specifically an agent provocateur (someone who provokes another person to commit a crime) for another country. Verloc is an anarchist and part of a group that publishes a pamphlet titled 'Future of the Proletariat' or F.P.
Mr. Vladimir, the new First Secretary in the London embassy of the foreign country, is then introduced to the story in a conversation with Verloc. Vladimir criticizes Verloc's secret agent work, arguing that he needs to do a better job. He says this can be changed if he bombs the Greenwich Observatory. Vladimir believes this is necessary because Britain doesn't take anarchy seriously enough and this attack will force the British government to take real action against the anarchists. Verloc wrestles with his decision over whether to complete the mission Vladimir has given him. He thinks about if it would be right or wrong and considers his own lack of political interest in the matter.
The story jumps forward to after the bombing of the observatory has occurred. Two other members of the anarchist group, Ossipon and the Professor, meet to discuss the bombing. The Professor tells Ossipon that he built Verloc a bomb recently, and they begin to believe Verloc was the bomber. The Professor runs into Chief Inspector Heat, a policeman investigating the explosion and the police officer warns the Professor that he is under surveillance because the police are aware of his identity as an anarchist.
The Chief Inspector then tells the Assistant Commissioner that he can question his acquaintance Verloc, who might know something about the bombing. The Assistant Commissioner later tells his own boss that he has no plans of collaborating with others but instead wants to solve the crime on his own.
In their home, Verloc tries to persuade his wife Winnie that they should move to continental Europe, but this conversation is interrupted when the Assistant Commissioner arrives, and the two men depart together. While Verloc is out, Chief Inspector Heat arrives and shows a coat to Winnie that was found at the destroyed observatory. He brought it because the coat had Verloc's address on the inside, but Winnie tells the Inspector that the coat actually belonged to her brother Stevie. She discovers that Stevie took part in the bombing and died in the explosion. When Verloc comes home, Winnie stabs him and kills him, because she knows he caused her brother's death, which Verloc admits to before he dies.
Winnie escapes and encounters Ossipon, one of the fellow anarchists from earlier in the story. She pleads for him to help her leave England. He begins to help her and starts to fall in love with her. But the romance is short-lived when Ossipon learns that Winnie killed her husband and is emotionally unstable; he quickly abandons her .
Later, Ossipon sees an article in a newspaper that explains Winnie's suicide in the English Channel.
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Mr. (Adolf) Verloc is the titular character of "The Secret Agent", as the title refers to him as the secret agent. He also owns an adult shop in London that sells pornography, among other things. He is married to Winnie, and his other family members mentioned in the story include his mother-in-law and his brother-in-law, Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. Verloc is described as apathetic and lazy, and mostly motivated by money, which is contradictory to his identity as an anarchist, who are usually radical in their political beliefs and unattached to concepts of money. He is employed by a foreign country as a spy and carries out the bombing of the Greenwich Observatory. He is in an anarchist group that publishes 'The Future of the Proletariat', or F.P.
Winnie Verloc is the wife of Mr. Verloc. She marries Verloc to give her mother and brother a stable home, as they are from a working-class background. She is a very caring sister to her brother Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. She kills her husband when she discovers that he is the reason her brother dies. She kills herself at the end of the novel.
Chief Inspector Heat is the policeman assigned to investigate the Greenwich Observatory bombing. He was acquaintances with Verloc before the bombing, and so goes to him to find out if Verloc knows what happened. Heat is very anti-anarchist and approaches the investigation with pragmatism.
The Assistant Commissioner is a superior to Chief Inspector Heat and goes behind Heat's back and pursues his own agenda in the investigation. He brings the jacket that is discovered at the crime to Verloc's home and shows it to Winnie while Verloc is out with Heat.
Mr. Vladimir is the First Secretary of the embassy of an unnamed country. Vladimir believes that England is too casual in handling anarchists, a view rooted in his own country's handlings of anarchists, who cause real problems according to him. He instructs Verloc to bomb the Greenwich Observatory, hoping that it will force England to put more extreme measures of control in place to tamp down anarchy.
The Professor is an anarchist who develops explosives and makes an explosive for Verloc. He keeps an explosive in his jacket which can go off easily with the squeeze of a ball in his pocket, which the police know and therefore stay away from. He believes in a clear distinction between strong and weak people in society and thinks that all weak people should be destroyed so that the strong can thrive.
Comrade Alexander Ossipon is another member of the anarchist group, and later in the novel falls in love with Winnie. Throughout much of the novel, he financially supports himself by seducing women and stealing their money. After committing to help Winnie get out of the country, Ossipon discovers that she murdered Verloc, and that she is very emotionally unwell. These things scare him away and he leaves her. He reads about her suicide in a newspaper in the final pages of the novel.
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"The Secret Agent" is about an undercover spy who commits an act of terrorism, a task given to Verloc by a foreign country for political motives. The story then follows the aftermath of the bombing and the unraveling of the main characters.
The novel can be categorized as both a political novel and a realist novel; political because it deals with themes of anarchy and terrorism, and realist because the characters have few redeeming qualities and are all intensely flawed. There is no one villain in the story, but instead each of the characters do bad things that they feel are justifiable.
Though the subtitle of the novel is "A Simple Tale", the story is anything but simple; the narrative is complicated and includes numerous characters. Verloc is considered one of the most interesting characters in the novel: though he is a participant in an anarchist group and commits an act of terror, he lacks a political identity and only cares about money.
Themes in The Secret Agent
Major themes in the novel include terrorism/anarchism, politics, irony, and realism.
Terrorism/Anarchism are major themes and the driver of the plot of "The Secret Agent". Anarchy occurs when there is no form of authority and no rules in place. Terrorism is often committed to instigate a form of anarchy. Verloc is a member of a terrorist/anarchist organization, and also commits a terrorist/anarchist attack for his work as an undercover secret agent for a foreign country. Terrorism and acts of anarchy were on the rise across the world at the time of Conrad's publication, so the novel speaks to these relevant themes.
Politics are intertwined with the role of anarchy/terrorism in the novel, because these acts of violence are ultimately political acts. The anarchist organization that Verloc is a member of is a political organization, and they produce a pamphlet called the 'The Future Proletariat' to share their political platform. There is also involvement of governments both foreign and domestic in the novel, each working towards their own political aims.
Irony is a major theme in the novel, as Conrad employs the literary device on multiple levels. The title "A Simple Tale" is ironic because the story is anything but simple, and the characters are full of contradiction, such as Verloc, who is an anarchist but disinterested in politics and only interested in money. Anarchists are typically very political and reject the greed of those in power.
Realism is another major theme in the novel. The characters are all depicted as intensely flawed, often morally deficient. Verloc bombs the Greenwich Observatory and kills his brother-in-law in the process, Winnie kills Verloc, Ossipon steals money from women he seduces, the Assistant Commissioner goes behind his partner's back to investigate the bombing. Each of the characters is depicted as focusing on their personal interests alone. This is in the vein of realism because realist writing depicts characters in a harshly realistic way.
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Conrad's novel "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale" was not immediately a success; most critics were not convinced of its quality. Some critics thought that the novel was too hard to understand, and the characters were so unappealing. Today it is considered one of Conrad's best works and is a relevant text for the study of terrorism.
"The Secret Agent" is considered one of the first great spy novels of the 20th century, and has influenced the world's perceptions of terrorism, being one of the most heavily cited novels in American media after the September 11 attacks. The novel also influenced the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, who read the book as a teenager.
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Joseph Conrad wrote "The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale" in 1907, and the story takes place in 1886 in London. It is ironic that the story is called "A Simple Tale" because it is anything but simple. The main character Adolf Verloc, an anarchist, is a secret agent working for a foreign country to spy on his own. He is a part of an anarchist organization that publishes the pamphlet 'The Future of the Proletariat', or F.P. for short. Mr. Vladimir, the First Secretary of a foreign embassy, orders Verloc to commit the bombing the Greenwich Observatory. Verloc commits the explosion with a bomb made by the Professor and causes the death of his brother-in-law, Stevie, who has an intellectual disability.
Winnie, Verloc's wife, realizes that Verloc committed the bombing and killed her brother in the process: she confronts and kills him. She then tries to escape the country with the help of another anarchist Comrade Alexander Ossipon, who falls in love with her until he realizes she murdered Verloc and is emotionally unstable. She commits suicide by drowning herself in the English Channel, and Ossipon reads about this in the newspaper.
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Video Transcript
Plot of The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent was written by Joseph Conrad, takes places in London in 1886, and tells the story of Adolf Verloc, a businessman and secret agent. Verloc is part of a group of anarchists who believe in overthrowing the government and who also function as somewhat ineffective terrorists. The group mainly produces anarchist pamphlets called 'F.P.' (The Future of the Proletariat) and hold private meetings among themselves.
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The novel begins by introducing us to Verloc's family: his wife Winnie, his mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law Stevie. We quickly learn that Verloc is not only a member of a terrorist cell, but also an agent provocateur (an undercover agent who works, usually, to provoke someone else to commit a crime) for a foreign country that is implied to be Russia. Verloc meets with Mr. Vladimir, the new First Secretary of the foreign country's London embassy. Vladimir explains that Verloc has been a poor secret agent lately but can redeem himself by blowing up the Greenwich Observatory. Vladimir justifies this action to Verloc by explaining that England does not take anarchism seriously enough and that attacking the Greenwich Observatory will push the government to take action against anarchists. After the meeting, Verloc struggles with the question of whether the bombing is right or wrong and the nature of his own lack of any real political belief and position as a secret agent.
A month later, two members of the anarchist group, Ossipon and the Professor, meet. The two men discuss the recent bombing of the Greenwich Observatory in which a man was killed. The Professor admits to having built Verloc a bomb recently, and the men suspect that Verloc was behind the bombing. Soon after, the Professor encounters Chief Inspector Heat, a police officer investigating the Greenwich explosion. Although Heat does not suspect that The Professor was involved directly in the bombing, he informs him that he is being watched due to his anarchist political background.
Soon after, the Chief Inspector meets with his superior, the Assistant Commissioner, and tells his boss that he has a contact, Verloc, who might be of assistance with the case of the Greenwich bombing. Soon after, the Assistant Commissioner meets with his own superior, Sir Ethelred, and expresses his intention to solve the case of the Greenwich bombing on his own.
While Verloc is at home expressing a desire to Winnie for them move to continental Europe, the Assistant Commissioner arrives and the two men leave together. Chief Inspector Heat comes by shortly after and tells Winnie that he found a coat at the bomb site with Verloc's shop's address written on its label. Verloc's wife identifies the coat as belonging to her brother Stevie. We then learn that Stevie was involved in the bombing plot and was accidentally killed in the explosion. Verloc returns home and finds out that Winnie knows that her brother had been killed by the bomb Verloc set. Verloc confesses his actions to Winnie and she stabs him to death.
After killing Verloc, Winnie runs away and encounters Comrade Ossipon who she begs for assistance in helping her escape from England. Ossipon assists her and confesses that he is in love with her. As they prepare to flee to continental Europe, Ossipon becomes concerned by Winnie's emotional instability and confession to having murdered her husband. Ossipon quickly abandons her.
Sometime later, Ossipon reads a newspaper article describing how Winnie drowned herself in the English Channel and left behind only her wedding ring.
Critical Analysis
When the novel originally appeared in 1907, critics were divided as to its quality. While some critics praised the novel's depth of characterization and attention to detail, other critics found it to be dense, difficult to read and populated with too many unlikable characters. The novel does not offer a clear political stance or viewpoint on the subject of terrorism or anarchistic political beliefs. Conrad does not 'side' with any of the characters or their ideas. Instead, he presents these characters simply as they are, without passing judgment upon them.
The novel's subtitle, 'A Simple Tale,' is ironic, given that the story itself is anything but simple. The story itself is quite complex and challenging to follow. The characters themselves are also hardly simplistic. Conrad does not offer a direct villain in the novel, but instead offers a variety of complex characters guided and misguided by their own unique psychological and political motivations. Conrad does not offer a single character who would regard him or herself as being evil. Instead, each character is guided by their own motivations and belief that what they are doing is 'right.' However, while the novel lacks a clear villain, virtually none of the characters is sympathetic or heroic. This, as many critics have noted, adds a measure of realism to the novel. No single character is simple or idealized by Conrad.
Critics tend to regard Verloc as the most interesting and complicated character in the novel. Throughout the novel, Verloc is tortured by his position and his actions. Though he is a member of a radical political group, a terrorist, and a secret agent, he lacks any real political motivations aside from a desire for money. He regards the activities he is involved with as being merely an interesting way to make a profit.
Scholars and critics widely consider The Secret Agent to be one of the first great espionage or spy novels of the 20th century and the inspiration for countless other espionage stories, novels and films that appeared after it.
Lesson Summary
The Secret Agent was written by Joseph Conrad, takes places in London in 1886, and tells the story of Adolf Verloc, a businessman and secret agent. Verloc is part of a group of anarchists who believe in overthrowing the government, and who also function as somewhat ineffective terrorists. We quickly learn that Verloc is not only a member of a terrorist cell, but also an agent provocateur (an undercover agent who works, usually, to provoke someone else to commit a crime).
The novel does not offer a clear political stance or viewpoint on the subject of terrorism or anarchistic political beliefs. Also, each character is guided by their own motivations and belief that what they are doing is 'right.'
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The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale | Plot, Characters & Analysis
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