If the above connection implies that RLS had a real sociopath in mind when he wrote J&H, should it also lead us to conclude that, for you, VN's own fictional "Pale Fire" would have a real character, such as Brodie, as its point of departure? That VN had planned to have John Shade= Kinbote=Gradus suffer from this specific "multiple personality disorder"? Jansy
Dear Jansy,
I don't think RLS had Brodie in mind when he wrote J&H. He wrote about the genesis of the story in an article called "The Dream" (1881), though doubtless his knowledge of Brodie played a role. I haven't read the play, but it would probably be interesting.
I am even more certain that VN didn't have a real person in mind - - the antecedents of the novel seem to be almost strictly literary and scientific. Your question though brings up the rather surprising fact that the plot of Pale Fire is not at all unrealistic. It is certainly more believable than J&H in that the transformation from one personality to the other(s) doesn't depend on magical chemicals - - simply on not terribly unlikely psycho-sexual problems and cerebral hemorrhage.
Carolyn