The problematisation of Romantic genius in Peter Ackroyd’s The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein

Abstract

Peter Ackroyd’s novel The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, as a postmodern intertextual novel, reimagines and rewrites Mary Shelley’s seminal novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, by putting its titular character in the historical conditions in which Mary Shelley composed her narrative. It is proposed in the study that in Ackroyd’s novel, Victor Frankenstein is imagined as a Romantic genius figure who is inspired by the Romantic poets of the early 19th century Britain. This study aims to show how Ackroyd’s portrayal of Victor Frankenstein as a Romantic artist problematises the very concept of Romantic genius by exposing the shortcomings of genius figures and their lack of self-perception. The concept of genius is discussed by referencing to the Romantic tradition in the British literature and it is inspected how Ackroyd’s postmodern novel decentralises the genius figures, by depicting them as productions of a class-conscious society. It is discussed that these historical figures are socially constructed figures who, behind all their idolisations, are fallible human beings. The discussion is expanded by examining the postmodern inclinations of the text which recontextualises the Frankenstein myth. This article questions whether a historical narrative can be considered as valid in a postmodern era in which meaning perpetually multiplies.