Whatever happens in Victory, readers must admit that it contains a memorable cast. The central figure is Axel Heyst, a Swedish Count, and the son of a disenchanted philosopher whose pessimistic books discourage involvement in life. The elder Heyst, whose influence hangs over his son's actions, much as his portrait hangs in Heyst's bungalow, appears to have espoused a philosophy modeled on Arthur Schopenhauer's intellectual pessimism. Perhaps more relevant to a discussion of the younger Heyst is the presence of several parallels between Heyst and Hamlet. Both Hamlet and Heyst are Scandinavian in heritage, both are aristocrats, both are greatly influenced by a father's spirit, and both are brooding and philosophical personalities whose characteristic stance is a detachment from action and involvement in human life.

The parallels extend further. Heyst's sympathetic actions toward Morrison and Lena lead him away from his isolation from humanity and involve him with...