Melincourt (1817), Thomas Love Peacock's only three-volume novel, is also his most comprehensive work. In it, he explores a broad range of controversies: the dangers of 'paper money'; British consumers' complicity in slavery; the inequities of the current system of parliamentary representation; the problem of differentiating between human beings and other animals; and, most centrally, the question of whether and how the human condition might be improved. Peacock's brilliant synthesis of courtship novel and quest romance can only be fully appreciated against its colourful and fraught historical background, and Gary Dyer expertly equips readers with the historical and literary awareness required to recognise it as one of Peacock's most stimulating works. Vividly illuminating its remarkable plot – from the suitors' courtship of Anthelia Melincourt to the rescue party comprised of Sylvan Forester, Mr Fax and the chivalrous 'oran outang' Sir Oran Haut-ton – this edition makes Melincourt more accessible than ever before.
This is the first scholarly edition of Thomas Love Peacock's most ambitious and comprehensive satire, a novel brilliantly engaged with myriad early nineteenth-century controversies. Alongside an authoritative text, this edition features an introduction and explanatory notes that expertly situate Melincourt in its historical and literary contexts.
