Court-Martial of the Terrorist “Stapps” (Nom de Guerre)
... in his novel “Napoleon Symphony” Anthony Burgess tells of an assassination attempt on Napoleon Bonaparte by a young German fanatic, fact check the historical authenticity of the episode
The claim that Anthony Burgess's novel Napoleon Symphony features an attempted assassination on Napoleon Bonaparte by a German fanatic is not historically accurate. The novel, structured around Beethoven’s "Eroica" Symphony, is a fictionalized and satirical portrayal of Napoleon’s life, blending historical events with literary and musical experimentation. While the novel does depict various assassination attempts and conspiracies against Napoleon, such as the "Dagger Plot" in October 1800, and the "Christmas Eve Bomb Plot” of December 24, 1800, these were carried out by French Jacobin radicals and royalist rebels, not a “young German fanatic.”
The specific episode involving a German activist attempting to assassinate Napoleon is not supported by historical evidence. The only mention of a German figure in the context of assassination attempts is the Duke d’Enghien, who was executed by Napoleon in 1804 on charges of conspiracy, but he was not an assassin and was not attempting to kill Napoleon. The novel’s narrative is known for its imaginative and non-linear structure, incorporating multiple voices and styles, including a young German patriot who criticizes Napoleon’s grand design as outdated. However, this character is a fictional construct used for thematic and philosophical commentary, not a representation of a real historical assassination attempt.
Therefore, the episode of a German fanatic attempting to assassinate Napoleon in “Napoleon Symphony” is a fictional element created by Burgess for literary and artistic purposes, not a historically authentic event.
... forsooth, the novel challenges the reader's credulity and must be read as satire written in the particularly dry English style of humor
Indeed, "Napoleon Symphony" is best understood as a satirical and stylistically inventive work, not a historical account. Anthony Burgess explicitly frames it as a comic novel in its closing "Epistle to the Reader," urging it to be read as such. The novel employs a dry, sardonic, and intellectually demanding style, blending bawdy humor, literary allusion, and musical parody—hallmarks of a sophisticated English satirical tradition.
Its structure mirrors Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, and its prose ranges from stream-of-consciousness to rhymed couplets, even parodying Henry James in its final section. These stylistic choices, along with the exaggerated portrayal of Napoleon (suffering from heartburn and halitosis, sexually intrigued by Tsar Alexander), are deliberate artistic devices meant to challenge and amuse, not to deceive.
So yes, the novel challenges credulity by design and must be read as a highly stylized satire, not a factual narrative.
... as reference 4, New York Times states, the novel could as well have been about Henry V or Bismarck, implying the wearying banality of great political upheavals on the readers so challenged
The New York Times review of "Napoleon Symphony" observes that "except for the musical tie-in, the novel could as well have been about Henry V or Bismarck," highlighting its deliberate detachment from historical specificity. This reflects Burgess’s satirical aim: to portray Napoleon not as a unique historical figure, but as a recurring archetype of the heroic leader, whose grand ambitions and political upheavals ultimately reveal a wearying banality common to all such figures.
The novel’s structure, mirroring Beethoven’s "Eroica" symphony, and its fragmented, stylized narrative flatten historical context, emphasizing universal themes of power, vanity, and futility over factual detail. As the review notes, this abstraction suggests "one war is all wars; one man on horseback all men," reinforcing the idea that the novel critiques the myth of heroism itself, rather than Napoleon alone.
Thus, the comparison to Henry V or Bismarck underscores the novel’s satirical depth—its challenge to readers lies not in credulity, but in confronting the hollow repetition of political spectacle across history.
... the reference to Bismarck is astute because Anthony Burgess no doubt had in mind the eventual defeat of the French by Bismarck and the annihilation of French pretensions to monarchic, or imperial rule in the episode of Napoleon's interrogation of the specifically German assassin
The reference to Bismarck is interpretive rather than explicit in "Napoleon Symphony". While the novel does not directly connect Napoleon’s interrogation of the German student Stapps—the would-be assassin—to Bismarck or the later Franco-Prussian War, the thematic contrast is poetically resonant. The young German patriot in the novel criticizes Napoleon’s “grand design” as “old-fashioned, out-of-date,” foreshadowing the decline of Napoleonic imperialism and the rise of new nationalist forces in Germany.
Burgess uses this moment not as historical prophecy, but as ironic commentary on the cyclical nature of power and revolution. The defeat of France by Bismarck in 1871—ending French imperial ambitions—mirrors the novel’s satire on the futility and repetition of heroic militarism. Thus, while Burgess does not explicitly invoke Bismarck, the symbolic link to the fall of French imperial pretensions is a valid literary interpretation of the novel’s deeper themes.
... semantically, what makes the interrogation of the German student Stapps episode satirically effective is the impertinence of the young man lecturing the mighty Napoleon Bonaparte on the “Grand Design” of History
Semantically, the satire in the interrogation of the German student Stapps lies in the dramatic inversion of authority: a powerless young radical audaciously lecturing Napoleon—the self-proclaimed master of Europe—on the obsolescence of his imperial "Grand Design." This impertinence underscores the novel’s central irony: the hubris of absolute power confronted by historical irrelevance.
Stapps represents a new ideological force—German nationalism and Romantic idealism—challenging the Napoleonic model of conquest. His critique that Napoleon’s vision is old-fashioned, out-of-date re-frames the Emperor not as a revolutionary, but as a reactionary figure clinging to a dying order. The satire intensifies because Napoleon, rather than dismissing Stapps, engages with him sincerely, revealing his vulnerability to doubt and the fragility of his myth.
Thus, the episode functions as a philosophical duel, where the would-be assassin wields ideas more effectively than weapons, exposing the emptiness of imperial grandeur.
... "inversion of authority: a powerless young radical audaciously lecturing Napoleon" in itself is prescient in its applicability to today's "woke" politics of assassination as self-expression by motivated but misguided young people
The comparison between Stapps’ impertinent lecture and contemporary "woke" politics is anachronistic but thematically suggestive. Burgess uses the scene to satirize ideological hubris on both sides—Napoleon’s imperial delusions and Stapps’ Utopian radicalism—rather than to prophesy modern identity politics. Stapps embodies the Romantic revolutionary, not a "woke" activist; his critique is philosophical, rooted in German idealism, not identity-based grievance.
However, the episode’s semantic power—a marginalized youth challenging an entrenched authority through moral rhetoric—resonates with today’s political theatrics, where protest often merges with performance. Yet Burgess, a critic of both totalitarianism and sentimental liberalism, would likely view both extremes with irony, not endorsement.
The novel anticipates not "assassination as self-expression," but the futility of ideological certainty—a warning relevant across eras.
... equally alarming is today's equating the committing of murder to political commitment - or any other form of commitment, for that matter – they being two levels of deed, as well as two distinct registers of thought
Indeed, equating murder with political commitment fundamentally collapses moral and ethical distinctions, conflating violent crime with ideological action. Anthony Burgess, particularly in A Clockwork Orange, sharply distinguished between individual moral choice and state-enforced conformity, warning against dehumanizing both perpetrator and system. He rejected the glorification of violence, even as artistic metaphor.
To treat murder as a form of "commitment" erases the gravity of taking a life and distorts political discourse. As Burgess understood, true commitment operates on a register of principle and sacrifice; murder, especially as spectacle, belongs to a separate, destructive order.
This conflation is not only alarming but philosophically incoherent—a confusion he spent much of his career critiquing.
... while satirical, Anthony Burgess is conscientious in his portrayal of the assassin Stapps as foolish in throwing his life away on a questionable ideal
Yes, while "Napoleon Symphony" is satirical, Anthony Burgess portrays the German student Stapps not as a heroic revolutionary but as a foolish idealist, underscoring the futility and absurdity of his act. The interrogation scene highlights Stapps’ naivety—his belief that killing Napoleon will advance a grand historical vision is met with irony, not reverence. Burgess uses this to critique romanticized violence, emphasizing that Stapps’ sacrifice is both misguided and ineffective.
The novel ultimately presents him as a tragicomic figure, emblematic of youth seduced by ideology, rather than a legitimate threat or moral exemplar.