Roman à clef  

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-A '''''roman à clef''''' or '''''roman à clé''''' (French for "novel with a key") is a [[novel]] describing [[real-life]] events behind a [[façade]] of [[fiction]]. These are often described as "thinly veiled" or "thinly disguised". 
-The reasons an author might choose the ''roman à clef'' format include:+'''''Roman à clef''''' or '''''roman à clé''''', French for ''novel with a key'', is a [[novel]] about real life, overlaid with a façade of [[fiction]]. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the [[nonfiction]] and the [[fiction]]. This "key" may be produced separately by the [[author]], or implied through the use of [[Epigraph (literature)|epigraphs]] or other [[literary technique]]s.
-*[[Satire]]+
-*Writing about controversial topics and/or reporting inside information on [[scandal]]s without giving rise to charges of [[libel]]+
-*The opportunity to turn the tale the way the author would like it to have gone+
-Since its original use in the context of writings, the ''roman à clef'' technique is also used in the theatre and in movies, like ''[[The Great Dictator]]'', which satirized [[Hitler]] and [[Nazi Germany]].+Created by [[Madeleine de Scudery]] in the 17th century to provide a forum for her thinly veiled fiction featuring political and public figures, ''roman à clef'' has since been used by writers as diverse as [[George Orwell]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Phillip K. Dick]], and [[Bret Easton Ellis]].
 + 
 +The reasons an author might choose the ''roman à clef'' format include [[satire]]; writing about controversial topics and/or reporting inside information on [[scandal]]s without giving rise to charges of [[libel]]; the opportunity to turn the tale the way the author would like it to have gone; the opportunity to portray personal, autobiographical experiences without having to expose the author as the subject; avoiding self-incrimination or incrimination of others that could be used as evidence in civil, criminal, or disciplinary proceedings; and the settling of scores.
 + 
 +Biographically inspired works have also appeared in other literary genres and art forms, notably the [[film à clef]].
==Notable ''romans à clef''== ==Notable ''romans à clef''==
-*''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' by [[Marcel Proust]] is perhaps the epitome of the ''roman à clef'' novel.+ 
-* The novels of [[17th century]] French writer [[Madeleine de Scudéry]].+===Prose===
-* The novels of [[Jack Kerouac]], most famously ''[[On the Road]]'' and ''[[The Dharma Bums]]''.+* ''[[Jean V de Bueil#Le Jouvencel|Le Jouvencel]]'' (1466) is based on the life of [[Jean V de Bueil]], companion of [[Joan of Arc]]
-* Virtually all of the novels of [[Thomas Love Peacock]] (1785–1866) presuppose a knowledge of [[England|English]] intellectuals and currents of thought of the time. +* The novels of 17th century French writer [[Madeleine de Scudéry]] (1607–1701)
-* ''[[Glenarvon]]'' (1816) by [[Lady Caroline Lamb]] which chronicles her affair with [[Lord Byron]] (thinly disguised as the title character).+* ''The Countess of Montgomery's Urania'' (1621) by [[Mary Wroth]] is considered to contain significant autobiographical elements
-* ''[[The Blithedale Romance]]'' by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] is a fictional account inspired by, but not specifically depicting, Hawthorne's experiences at the [[Brook Farm]] experiment. +* ''[[Glenarvon]]'' (1816) by [[Lady Caroline Lamb]] chronicles her affair with [[Lord Byron]] (thinly disguised as the title character)
-* ''[[The Lady of Aroostook]]'' depicts [[Emily Dickinson]]'s romantic engagements with several men.+* Virtually all of the novels of [[Thomas Love Peacock]] (1785–1866) presuppose a knowledge of [[England|English]] intellectuals and currents of thought of the time
-* ''[[Röda rummet]]'' (''[[The Red Room]]'') by [[August Strindberg]] presents thinly-disguised depictions of intellectuals of the period.+* ''[[The Blithedale Romance]]'' (1852) by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] is a fictional account inspired by, but not specifically depicting, Hawthorne's experiences at the [[Brook Farm]] experiment
-* ''[[Crome Yellow]]'' (1921), ''[[Antic Hay]]'' (1923) and ''[[Those Barren Leaves]]'' (1925) by [[Aldous Huxley]] are all satires of contemporary events. +* ''[[Ruth Hall (novel)|Ruth Hall]]'' (1854) by [[Fanny Fern]] (Sarah Payson Willis) describes Fern's own struggle to become a successful newspaper columnist, and puts her family (including her brother, [[Nathaniel Parker Willis]]) and two of her early editors in a most unflattering light
-* ''[[The Sun Also Rises]]'' by [[Ernest Hemingway]] is a disguised account of Hemingway's literary life in [[Paris]] and his [[1925]] trip to [[Spain]] with several known personalities.+* ''[[The Lady of Aroostook]]'' (1879) by [[William Dean Howells]] depicts [[Emily Dickinson]]'s romantic engagements with several men
-* ''[[The Moon and Sixpence]]'' by [[William Somerset Maugham]] follows the life of [[Paul Gauguin]], especially his time in [[Tahiti]].+* ''[[The Red Room (Strindberg)|Röda rummet]]'' (''[[The Red Room (Strindberg)|The Red Room]]'') (1879) by [[August Strindberg]] presents thinly disguised depictions of intellectuals of the period
-* ''[[Tender Is the Night]]'' by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] depicts acquaintances of [[Gerald and Sara Murphy]] in the [[1920s]].+* ''[[The Green Carnation]]'' (1894) by [[Robert Smythe Hichens|Robert Hichens]] is based on the relationship between [[Oscar Wilde]] and his lover, [[Lord Alfred Douglas]]
-* ''[[Point Counter Point]]'' (1928) by [[Aldous Huxley]] includes easily detected portraits of Huxley's friends [[D.H. Lawrence]] and [[John Middleton Murry]].+*''[[Buddenbrooks]]'' (1901) is a portrayal of [[Thomas Mann]]'s family and of society in [[Luebeck]]
-* Roman à clef is one of the many dimensions of ''[[Orlando: A Biography]]'' (1928) by [[Virginia Woolf]].+* The protagonists of both ''[[Tonio Kröger]]'' (1903) and ''[[Death in Venice]]'' (1912) are representations of [[Thomas Mann]]
-* ''[[Mephisto (novel)|Mephisto]]'' by [[Klaus Mann]]. Mann's brother-in-law, the actor [[Gustaf Gründgens]], was so offended by the main character Henrik Hoffgen (based on Gründgens himself) that the novel was banned after a libel case.+* ''[[The Seething Pot]]'' (1905) by [[George A. Birmingham]] is based on the citizens of [[County Mayo]]
-* ''[[The Bell Jar]]'' by [[Sylvia Plath]], her semi-autobiographical novel, detailing a young girl's attempts at suicides and her mental breakdown.+* ''[[The Fiery Angel (novel)|The Fiery Angel]]'' (1908) by [[Valery Bryusov]] depicts the real-life triangle of black magic, obsession and love between himself, [[Andrei Bely]] and Nina Petrovskaya while describing a story of witchcraft in 16th century Germany
-* ''[[The Things They Carried]]'' (1990) by [[Tim O'Brien]] is widely considered a truthful if knowingly distorted account of the author's experiences in [[Vietnam]] and subsequent methods of coping with the [[Vietnam war|war]]'s aftermath.+* ''[[Ann Veronica]]'' (1909) by [[H. G. Wells]] is based in the real relationship between H. G. Wells and [[Amber Reeves]]
-* ''[[All the King's Men]]'' (1946) by [[Robert Penn Warren]] is loosely based on the rise and fall of [[Louisiana]] governor [[Huey Long]].+* ''[[The Moon and Sixpence]]'' (1919) by [[W. Somerset Maugham]] follows the life of [[Paul Gauguin]], especially his time in [[Tahiti]]
-* ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (novel)|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'' (1971) by [[Hunter S. Thompson]], a fictionalized account of Thompson's trip to Las Vegas in a drug-induced haze.+* ''[[Crome Yellow]]'' (1921), ''[[Antic Hay]]'' (1923) and ''[[Those Barren Leaves]]'' (1925) by [[Aldous Huxley]] are all satires of contemporary events
-* ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]'' (1977) by [[Philip K. Dick]] is a semi-autobiographical novel featuring an extensive portrayal of Dick's experiences with drug culture and drug use.+*''[[An American Tragedy]]'' (1925) by [[Theodore Dreiser]] is based on the murder case against [[Chester Gillette]], reported as ''People v. Gillette'', 191 N.Y. 107, 83 N.E. 680 (1908)
-* [[Dominick Dunne]]'s novels depict various upheavals in high society, with many thinly-veiled prominent persons among the casts of characters. Among the novels and respective cases alluded to are ''[[The Two Mrs. Grenvilles]]'' (the shooting of [[Belair Stud]] owner William Woodward, Jr. by his wife, Ann Arden Woodward); ''[[People Like Us]]'' (the downfall of a socially-ambitious [[junk bond]] trader, thought to be a conflation of [[John Gutfreund]], [[Michael Milken]] and [[Ivan Boesky]]); ''[[A Season in Purgatory]]'' (the [[Michael Skakel]]/[[Martha Moxley]] murder case) and ''[[An Inconvenient Woman]]'' (the [[Alfred S. Bloomingdale]]/[[Vicki Morgan]] affair and ensuing scandal).+* ''[[Nigger Heaven]]'' (1926) by [[Carl Van Vechten]] is set during the [[Harlem Renaissance]] in the United States in the 1920s
-* ''[[Primary Colors]]'' (1996) about [[Bill Clinton]]'s presidential campaign, published [[anonymous]]ly but later confirmed to have been written by [[Joe Klein]].+* ''[[The Sun Also Rises]]'' (1926) by [[Ernest Hemingway]] is a disguised account of Hemingway's literary life in [[Paris]] and his 1925 trip to Spain with several known personalities
-* ''[[The_Devil_Wears_Prada_(novel)|The Devil Wears Prada]]'' (2003) about a woman constantly bullied by her boss while working as an intern at a fashion magazine. Although author [[Lauren Weisberger]] worked as an intern at [[Vogue magazine]], she denies that the book's antagonist, Miranda Priestly, is modeled after the magazine's editor-in-chief [[Anna Wintour]].+* ''[[The Benson Murder Case]]'' (1926) by [[S. S. Van Dine]], the first in a series of [[detective novel]]s featuring detective [[Philo Vance]], was based on the unsolved murder of bridge expert [[Joseph Bowne Elwell|Joseph Elwell]], who was found shot dead in a room locked from the inside, minus his toupee, in physical circumstances duplicated in the novel
-* ''[[The Washingtonienne]]'' (2005) based on the author [[Jessica Cutler]]'s sexual affairs as a congressional intern with various men in [[Washington, D.C.]]+* ''[[Big Blonde]]'' (1928) by [[Dorothy Parker]], details her descent into alcoholism.
-* ''[[The Body Politic (Lynne Cheney novel)|The Body Politic]]'' (2000) by [[Lynne Cheney]] in which a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Nelson Rockefeller|vice-president dies of a heart attack]] while making love to his mistress. [http://www.jeetheer.com/culture/torystories.htm] [http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art19337.asp] [http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/11/28/cheney/index.html]+* ''[[Point Counter Point]]'' (1928) by [[Aldous Huxley]] includes easily detected portraits of Huxley's friends [[D. H. Lawrence]] and [[John Middleton Murry]]
-* ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' by [[Joseph Conrad]] mirrors his own journey up the [[Congo River|Congo]]. The character of Kurtz is most likely a compilation of several different colonial officials. The story inspired the film ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''.+* ''Roman à clef'' is one of the many dimensions of ''[[Orlando: A Biography]]'' (1928) by [[Virginia Woolf]]
-*The protagonists of both ''[[Tonio Kröger]]'' and ''[[Death in Venice]]'' are representations of [[Thomas Mann]].+* ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' (1928) by [[Erich Maria Remarque]] is based on what he perceived to be a soldier's experiences during [[World War I]]
-*''[[The Ugly American]]'' by [[Eugene Burdick]] and [[William Lederer]], a book that criticized American foreign policy in [[Southeast Asia]] during the [[Vietnam War]]; the book uses the fictional country of Sarkhan (a fictionalized [[Vietnam]]) as the setting and includes several real people, most of whose names have been changed.+*''[[Look Homeward, Angel]]'' (1929) by [[Thomas Wolfe]]
-*''[[Ravelstein]]'' by [[Saul Bellow]] is a thinly disguised memoir of friendship between [[Allan Bloom]] and Bellow. Also from Bellow is [[Humboldt's Gift]], about his friendship with the poet Delmore Schwartz.+* The novels of [[Laura Ingalls Wilder]] (1867–1957)
-* In [[Mexican literature]], [[Martin Luis Guzman]]'s ''[[La Sombra del Caudillo]]'' was inspired by accounts of the abuses of the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party|Revolutionary Party]] during the [[1920s]] when ex-president [[Álvaro Obregón]] was [[Mexico]]'s most powerful personality.+* ''[[Tender Is the Night]]'' (1934) by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] depicts acquaintances of [[Gerald and Sara Murphy]] in the 1920s
-*''[[This All Happened]]'' (2000) by Michael Winter was inspired by his time with the Burning Rock Writers Collective in St. John's, Newfoundland.+* ''[[Entirely Surrounded]]'' (1934) by [[Charles Brackett]] observes several thinly disguised members of the [[Algonquin Round Table]] coterie while they are guests of [[Alexander Woollcott]] at his [[Neshobe Island]] retreat in Vermont
-*''[[Lunar Park]]'' (2005) by [[Bret Easton Ellis]] is partly a fiction ghost story and an autobiographical novel describing Ellis' early years of fame and his difficult relationship with his father.+* ''[[Mephisto (novel)|Mephisto]]'' (1936) by [[Klaus Mann]]. Mann's brother-in-law, the actor [[Gustaf Gründgens]], was so offended by the main character Hendrik Höfgen (based on Gründgens himself) that the novel was banned after a libel case
-*''[[The Rape of the Lock]]'' by Alexander Pope, inspired by a story recounted by his friend involving stolen hair.+* ''[[Animal Farm]]'' by [[George Orwell]] includes characters who represent specific people in the history of the [[Soviet Union]]
-*''[[Postcards from the Edge]]'' by [[Carrie Fisher]] which outlines the often-strained relationship between Fisher and her mother [[Debbie Reynolds]] and Carrie's substance abuse.+* ''[[Power Without Glory]]'' (1950) by [[Frank Hardy]] is an unveiled and highly critical account of the life of Australian businessman and political figure [[John Wren]] (referred to by Hardy as John West). Hardy, a socialist, blamed Wren for what he saw as the corruption of the [[Australian Labor Party]] during the early 20th century. Hardy was sued for criminal libel for having depicted Wren's wife having an affair
-*''[[Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit]]'' by [[Jeanette Winterson]].+* ''Broderie Anglaise'' (1953) by [[Violet Trefusis]] represents her [[lesbian]] affair with [[Vita Sackville-West]] and Vita's with [[Virginia Woolf]] in the form of a heterosexual romance She also weaves the affairs of her mother, [[Alice Keppel]], with [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Edward VII]] into the book.
-*''[[Second Crossing]]'' by [[N. A. Diaman]] a semi-autobiographical coming-out novel set in San Francisco at the end of the Beat Era.+* ''[[On the Road]]'' (1957) and ''[[The Dharma Bums]]'' (1958) by [[Jack Kerouac]]
 +* ''[[The Ugly American]]'' (1958) by [[Eugene Burdick]] and [[William Lederer]], a book that criticized American foreign policy in [[Southeast Asia]] prior to the [[Vietnam War]]. The book uses the fictional country of Sarkhan in Southeast Asia that closely resembles Burma, but is meant to allude to [[Vietnam]], as the setting and includes several real people, most of whose names have been changed.
 +*''[[The Carpetbaggers]]'' (1961) by [[Harold Robbins]] is a fictionalized version of the early Hollywood exploits of [[Howard Hughes]] and actress [[Jean Harlow]]
 +* ''The Idle Warriors'' (1962), [[Kerry Wendell Thornley]]'s novel based on his old acquaintance from the Marine Corps, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]]
 +* ''[[The Bell Jar]]'' (1963) by [[Sylvia Plath]], her semi-autobiographical novel, detailing a young girl's attempts at suicides and her mental breakdown
 +* ''[[Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life]]'' is a fictional biography of William Shakespeare by [[Anthony Burgess]] first published in 1964
 +* ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'' (1971) by [[Hunter S. Thompson]], a fictionalized account of Thompson's trip to [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] in a drug-induced haze
 +* ''[[The Company (Ehrlichman novel)|The Company]]'' (1976) by [[John Ehrlichman]], a fictionalized account of [[Nixon administration]] involvement in events leading to the [[Watergate scandal]]
 +* ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]'' (1977) by [[Philip K. Dick]], a fictionalized account of Dick's experiences in the 1970s drug culture. Dick said in an interview, "Everything in ''A Scanner Darkly'' I actually saw".
 +* ''[[The Transmigration of Timothy Archer]]'' (1982) by [[Philip K. Dick]], a fictionalized account of last years of Episcopal Bishop [[James A. Pike]] and people close to him
 +* ''[[The Lords of Discipline]]'' (1980) by [[Pat Conroy]], supposedly about the integration of the first black cadets into [[The Citadel (military college)|The Citadel]]. The accuracy of the events depicted within is vehemently denied by other alumni who attended at the time
 +* [[Vasily Aksyonov]]'s ''Say Cheese'' (1983) recounts in a fictionalized form the story of the ''Metropol'' anthology by Soviet writers, the first project of its kind not subject to censorship
 +* ''[[Queenie (miniseries)|Queenie]]'' (1985) by [[Michael Korda]], nephew of [[Alexander Korda]] and the actress [[Merle Oberon]]. In the novel, Queenie Kelley, a girl of Indian and Irish descent, is based on Oberon, who went to great lengths to disguise her mixed-race background
 +* [[Dominick Dunne]]'s novels depict various upheavals in high society, with many prominent persons among the casts of characters. Among the novels and respective cases alluded to are ''[[The Two Mrs. Grenvilles]]'' (1985) (the shooting of [[Belair Stud]] owner [[William Woodward, Jr.]], by his wife Ann Arden Woodward); ''[[An Inconvenient Woman]]'' (1990) (the [[Alfred S. Bloomingdale]]/[[Vicki Morgan]] affair and ensuing scandal); and ''[[A Season in Purgatory]]'' (1993) (the [[Michael Skakel]]/[[Martha Moxley]] murder case). Dunne's last work, "[[Too Much Money]]", published posthumously (2009), is a quasi-autobiographical thinly veiled roman à clef. He became reluctant to use real names after he was sued for defamation in the [[Chandra Levy]] matter. Interestingly, Dunne comes out of the closet through the protagonist in this book
 +* ''[[Postcards from the Edge]]'' (1987) by [[Carrie Fisher]] describes her substance abuse and often-strained relationship with her mother, [[Debbie Reynolds]]
 +* ''[[Story of My Life (novel)|Story of My Life]]'' (1988) by [[Jay McInerney]] implies that the cause of protagonist [[Alison Poole]]'s "[[cocaine]]-addled, sexually voracious" behavior is her father's abuse, including the [[horse murders|murder of her prize jumping horse]]. McInerney has stated in interviews that Poole was based on his former girlfriend, [[Lisa Druck]], later known as [[Rielle Hunter]]
 +* ''[[The Things They Carried]]'' (1990) by [[Tim O'Brien (author)|Tim O'Brien]] is considered a truthful if knowingly distorted account of O'Brien's experiences in the [[Vietnam War]] and subsequent methods of coping with war's aftermath
 +* [[Stephen Fry]]'s ''[[The Liar (novel)|The Liar]]'' (1991)
 +* ''[[Primary Colors (novel)|Primary Colors]]'' (1996) about [[Bill Clinton]]'s presidential campaign, published [[Anonymity|anonymously]] but later confirmed to have been written by [[Joe Klein]]
 +* ''[[Windswept House]]: A Vatican Novel'' (1996) by [[Malachi Martin]] is a fictionalized account of conflict within the Catholic faith and within [[Vatican City]]; Martin claimed: "To speak in percentages, roughly 85% of the fictional characters mirror real people, and roughly 85% of events in the book mirror real events, except those which are obviously mythic"
 +* [[Mona Simpson]]'s ''A Regular Guy'' (1996) is a fictionalized version of the life of her biological brother, [[Apple Computers]] co-founder [[Steve Jobs]]
 +* ''[[The Untouchable]]'' (1997) by [[John Banville]] is a fictionalised biography of Anthony Blunt.
 +* Part 1 of ''[[TiHKAL|TiHKAL: The Continuation]]'' (1997) by [[Alexander Shulgin|Dr. Alexander]] and [[Ann Shulgin]] continues the fictionalized autobiography begun in ''[[PiHKAL]]'' (Part 2 is non-fiction)
 +* ''[[Ravelstein]]'' (2000) by [[Saul Bellow]] is a fictionalized memoir of his friendship with [[Allan Bloom]]. His ''[[Humboldt's Gift]]'' (1975), is about his friendship with the poet [[Delmore Schwartz]]
 +* ''[[The Devil Wears Prada (novel)|The Devil Wears Prada]]'' (2003) about a woman constantly bullied by her boss while working as an assistant at a fashion magazine. Although author [[Lauren Weisberger]] worked as an assistant at [[Vogue (magazine)|''Vogue'' magazine]], she denies that the book's antagonist, Miranda Priestly, is modeled after the magazine's editor-in-chief [[Anna Wintour]]
 +* ''[[2666: A Novel|2666]]'' (2004) by [[Roberto Bolaño]], which places the hundreds of real rapes and murders in [[Ciudad Juárez|Juárez]], Mexico, in a fictional border-town in the State of [[Sonora]] (west of Juárez)
 +* ''[[Descent: An Irresistible Tragicomedy of Everyday Life]]'' (2004) by Sabrina Broadbent, about the end of her marriage with [[Michael Winterbottom]]
 +* ''[[Lunar Park]]'' (2005) by [[Bret Easton Ellis]] is partly a ghost story and an autobiographical novel describing his early years of fame and difficult relationship with his father
 +* ''The Washingtonienne'' (2005) based on author [[Jessica Cutler]]'s affairs with various men while a congressional intern in [[Washington, D.C.]]
 +* ''[[Empress Bianca]]'' (2005) by [[Lady Colin Campbell]] was pulped after objections by [[Lily Safra]]'s lawyer; it was republished in a revised version
 +* ''[[The Ghost (novel)|The Ghost]]'' (2007) written by novelist [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]] in which the character of Adam Lang is loosely based on Harris' friend, former Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]. Director [[Roman Polanski]] turned the book into the movie ''[[The Ghost Writer (film)|The Ghost Writer]]'', in which the character is played by [[Pierce Brosnan]]
 +* '' [[The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian]]'' (2007) by [[Sherman Alexie]], detailing the decision of the protagonist to go to an all-white public high school in an off-reservation town
 +* ''The Society of Judas: A Novel'' (2009) by [[Charles T. Murr]]
 +* ''[[Hollywood (Bukowski novel)|Hollywood]]'', which chronicles the author [[Charles Bukowski]]'s experience in Los Angeles during the filming of the movie ''[[Barfly (film)|Barfly]]''
 +* ''[[The Insider (Rao novel)|The Insider]]'', the former [[Indian Prime Minister]] [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]'s first novel looks at the political career of its protagonist Anand who rises to become the Prime Minister of the country. The novel chronicles politics in [[independent India]], especially in the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]] whose capital, [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], is fictionalised as Afrozabad
 + 
 +===Verse, drama, and film===
 + 
 +* ''[[The Rape of the Lock]]'' (1714) by [[Alexander Pope]], inspired by a story recounted by his friend involving stolen hair.
 +* ''[[Le Roi s'amuse]]'', by [[Victor Hugo]]
 +* ''[[Rigoletto]]''
 +* ''[[Betrayal (play)|Betrayal]],'' by [[Harold Pinter]], is closely based on his affair with [[Joan Bakewell]]
 +* ''[[Dreamgirls (musical)|Dreamgirls]]'', a musical based on the career of [[The Supremes]]
 +* ''[[Mozart Was a Red]]'', a [[morality play]] inspired by author [[Murray Rothbard]]'s meetings with [[Ayn Rand]].
 +* Within the play [[Deathtrap (play)|''Deathtrap'']], the fictional play ''Deathtrap'' is a roman a clef based on the lives of its authors, Sidney Bruhl and Clifford Anderson, and their murder of Sidney's wife Myra.
 +* ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' is at least in part based upon the life of magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]].
 +* ''[[Velvet Goldmine]]'' is largely based on the career of [[David Bowie]].
 +* [[Patrick Hamilton (writer)|Patrick Hamilton]]'s play ''[[Rope (play)|Rope]]'' and the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] [[Rope (film)|film]] based on it are largely based on the [[Leopold and Loeb]] murder case.
 +* ''[[Last Days]]'' by [[Gus Van Sant]] imagines the last days of [[Nirvana]] lead singer [[Kurt Cobain]] before his death at age 27. The film's main character is identified simply as Blake.
 + 
 +==See also==
 + 
 +* [[Allegory]]
 +* [[Autobiographical novel]]
 +* [[Film à clef]]
 +* [[Literary technique]]
 +* [[Semi-fiction]]
 + 
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Roman à clef or roman à clé, French for novel with a key, is a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction. This "key" may be produced separately by the author, or implied through the use of epigraphs or other literary techniques.

Created by Madeleine de Scudery in the 17th century to provide a forum for her thinly veiled fiction featuring political and public figures, roman à clef has since been used by writers as diverse as George Orwell, Victor Hugo, Phillip K. Dick, and Bret Easton Ellis.

The reasons an author might choose the roman à clef format include satire; writing about controversial topics and/or reporting inside information on scandals without giving rise to charges of libel; the opportunity to turn the tale the way the author would like it to have gone; the opportunity to portray personal, autobiographical experiences without having to expose the author as the subject; avoiding self-incrimination or incrimination of others that could be used as evidence in civil, criminal, or disciplinary proceedings; and the settling of scores.

Biographically inspired works have also appeared in other literary genres and art forms, notably the film à clef.

Contents

Notable romans à clef

Prose

Verse, drama, and film

See also


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Roman à clef" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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