The poet Cipriano receives the ability to see, know, and comprehend everything. This gift provides him with amazing improvisational skills, but eventually leads him to madness.
Comparing the synopsis of O'Brien's "Seeing the World" to Odoevsky's "The Improvisor," Cornwell shows that not only do they share the same plot, but even the same character names.
Comparing the text of O'Brien's "Seeing the World" to that of a translation of Odoevsky's "The Improvisor," Cornwell shows that they are nearly identical.
An electronic version of this text is available at Making of America, a digital repository of nineteenth-century literary and historical texts hosted by Cornell University. It is free and open to the public. Viewing the electronic version of this text will lead you to an external website. Please report dead links to digitlib@lehigh.edu.
