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Today, Aug. 25, is the birthday of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. My
apologies if, as I suspect, he has already been the subject of
discussion here. Ludwig, who was a homosexual and became King
while still in his teens, bears some resemblance to Kinbote. He
was obsessed with a single creative artist (Wagner) and especially
with a single work by that artist (Lohengrin). As this review of
"Ludwig and Lohengrin" summarizes"
"Known as the Mad King, Ludwig spent much of his time ignoring his
royal duties in favour of obsessing over art and artists, building
fairy tale castles, hanging about with peasants and running off to
imagined places in his mind and wherever his legs would let him
wander off to."
I was surprised to find that a quick Google of "Kinbote Ludwig"
turns up practically nothing.