«His Majesty the Baby». Sovrani scatenati nella letteratura occidentale tra '800 e '900

My doctoral dissertation focuses on a theme that constantly and variously appears in modern and contemporary literature, that is to say the character of the Unchained Sovereign. By ‘Unchained Sovereign’ I mean an abnormal and bizarre character that declares himself and is recognized by others as a boundless and indisputable authority. Generally he is a monarch or a dictator, although sometimes he is a dominant person who has the status of chief. But the most salient feature of the Unchained Sovereign is that he exercises his power in a theatrical and excessive way. He never tries to authenticate or legitimate his power in front of his subjects; on the contrary, he seems to behave sometimes in quite mechanical ways, like if he were a puppet. He seems to exert, without any ado, the right to act as he pleases – even if it is only to affirm his ego and satisfy his childish desires. One could definitely use the phrase “His Majesty the Baby”, coined by Freud in his Introduction to Narcissism (1914), to emphasize the self-centered, childish and all in all ridiculous element of the Unchained Sovereign.