Napoleon Symphony (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: John Anthony Burgess Wilson
- First Published: 1974
- Type of Work: Historical novel
- Time of Work: The first quarter of the nineteenth century
- Setting: Eastern Europe, Egypt, Elba, France, Italy, St. Helena, and the Mediterranean region
- Principal Characters: Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine, Bellitote Foures, Alexander, Nameless Soldiers
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Dictators, Power, personal or social, Politics, France or French people, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Music or musicians, Eighteenth century, Ambition, Egypt or Egyptians, Military life or service, Italy or Italians, Eastern Europe or eastern Europeans, Biography, Heads of state
- Locales: France, Europe, Egypt, Italy, St. Helena, Elba, Mediterranean
The Novel
Napoleon Symphony is an intricate book that deals with the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, beginning with his marriage to Josephine and ending with his final days in exile on St. Helena. Much of what Anthony Burgess presents in the interim is witty, sardonic, intellectually demanding horseplay. The novel is structurally modeled after Ludwig van Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the Eroica, which Beethoven originally wrote to honor Napoleon but which finally, when he became outraged at Napoleon for declaring himself emperor, he dedicated instead to...
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