31 pages • 1 hour read
Tom RobbinsJitterbug Perfume
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Of the many groups of people who come across unfavorably in the novel, who do you think comes across well? What are the values attributed to those of whom Tom Robbins approves?
What are the central differences between Alobar’s world a thousand years ago and his world today?
What motivates Priscilla Partido throughout the novel? How does character motivation here differ from Tom Robbins’s other novels?
How would you characterize the principle of “freedom” in the world of the novel? Alternately, how are issues of authority handled?
Which of the characters, if any, have changed their ideas or personality by the end of the book? Describe the change.
How would you describe the role Pan plays in the 20th century?
Describe the role fragrance plays in the novel. Why does Marcel LeFever describe frapergrance as “operating in a realm that is both deeply primitive and highly exalted” (226)?
Freedom to act instinctually and with an aim toward self-pleasure is among Tom Robbins’s chief values. On whom are such freedoms wasted, in the author’s view?
The women in Jitterbug Perfume are often quite eager for sexual intercourse, but they very rarely initiate such intercourse. What does this say about their freedom in the novel?
In your opinion, what is the meaning of the message “lighten up”? Which characters in Jitterbug Perfume seem to require this message the least?
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By Tom Robbins
