Casino Royale

Casino Royale
Overview
Main Characteristics
Themes
Experienced and misogynistic British spy James Bond faces off against Le Chiffre, a sadistic Soviet embezzler. Casino Royale explores the dangerous Cold War atmosphere of the 1950s—its gender attitudes, international alliances, and blurred lines between good and evil. The casino's games have high stakes as Bond fights for survival.
James Bond
Sophisticated, serious, egotistical British secret agent
Vesper Lynd
British double agent also working for the Soviet Union
Rene Mathis
French Secret Service agent; loves his job and assists Bond with his mission
Le Chiffre
Brutal, calculating Soviet trade union paymaster and embezzler; Bond's target
Felix Leiter
Helpful American CIA agent; bankrolls part of Bond's baccarat game
Good vs. Evil
Bond's near-death experience makes him question whether he is a hero or a villain.
Power & Control
Bond is more comfortable, and more likely to stay alive, when he is in control of the situation.
Masculinity
Threats to Bond's manliness—both literal and metaphorical—make him question his very existence.
Symbols
Numbering
Bentley
Embodies Bond's speed, strength, and peerless performance as an agent
Martini
Symbolizes Bond's attention to detail in personal life and work
Swim Trunks
Represent the return of Bond's sense of masculinity
2
Months Fleming spent in Jamaica each year while writing Bond novels
14
Bond books Fleming wrote
$174
Cost of the golden typewriter Fleming purchased after selling the Casino Royale manuscript
Author
IAN FLEMING 1908-64
A journalist by trade, 44-year-old Fleming wrote his first spy novel, Casino Royale, as a means of combating the anxiety about his impending wedding. The combination of Fleming's World War II naval intelligence experience and his own adolescent fantasies produced literature's most famous spy: James Bond.
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