The Portrait of a Genius

Geniuses are few and far between. Most of them will have honors and prizes showered upon them. But there will be exceptions numerous exceptions: We don't know how many because they never make it; they fall by the wayside. They believe themselves to be alone in a hostile world unable to adapt unable to bring their ideas to fruition. They detest their inferiors and detest even more their superiors. One such genius a historian with acute observations about the past and the future was immortalized by Ibsen in his play Hedda Gabler. The Portrait of a Genius tells a similar story. Dramatis personae are the following: Helen Gascoigne young beautiful uncompromising; Leslie Brock the dean of the faculty who wants to bed her; George Turner Helen's devoted husband a scientist not burdened with great leaps of imagination; Esmund the reckless genius who invents an entirely new kind of computer; and finally Rosalind girlfriend and admirer of Esmund.