Thomas Love Peacock

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Henry Love Peacock (painting by Henry Wallis )

Thomas Love Peacock (* 18th October 1785 in Weymouth , Dorset , England ; † 23. January 1866 in Lower Halliford , Middlesex , England) was a British novelist , poet and playwright , who mainly through the novels Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle known was, and as chairman of the examination board for twenty years decisively influenced the actions of the British East India Company .

Life

First literary creation and Nightmare Abbey

Peacock, the son of a London glass manufacturer who died shortly after the birth of his only son, was educated at a private school in Englefield Green, Surrey, and began writing at an early age after a brief stint in the private sector .

In 1804 he made his literary debut with The Monks of St. Mark , which was followed by a few more poetic works of little importance with Palmyra (1806), The Genius of the Thames (1810) and The Philosophy of Melancholy (1812). In addition, he wrote some stage works , but they were not performed. After a brief activity as the private secretary of Sir Home Riggs Popham , he made some trips to Wales and met Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1812 . In 1814 Sir Horn-book, or Childe Lancelot's Expedition appeared .

In 1815 he achieved his first success with his novel Headlong Hall , which was followed in 1817 by a novella with Melincourt , which played in the era of the Regency and whose character was' Mr. Mystic ' reminds us of his friend Thomas Taylor . That year he lived in Great Marlow , where he had almost daily contact with Shelley. There he finally wrote the best of his longer poems, Nightmare Abbey (1818) and Rhododaphne (1818) .

Work for the British East India Company

The India House of the British East India Company

In 1819 he was appointed exam assistant in the India House of the British East India Company, this being done through the mediation of his school friend Peter Auber, the secretary of the British East India Company.

In 1820 he married Jane Gryffydh, whom he had never seen before, and had four children with her, with his daughter Mary Ellen Peacock becoming the first wife of the writer and poet George Meredith .

In the following years he wrote Maid Marian (1822), a parody of medieval romances such as Robin Hood , The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829) and Crotchet Castle (1831), three other novels, although he temporarily stopped his literary activity after the death of his mother in 1833 restricted. In addition, he also published articles in the daily newspapers Westminster Review and The Examiner .

On the other hand, he took on increasingly important tasks within the East India Company and defended them successfully against the attacks by James Silk Buckingham and the Liverpool salt tax through his statements . He also advocated the use of steam navigation to India and represented the company in this matter before several committees of the lower house ( House of Commons ) .

Peacock was also responsible for the management and preparation of Francis Rawdon Chesney's expedition to the Euphrates in 1835, and in 1836, after the death of James Mill as his successor, he was chairman of the Chief Examiner in India House. Between 1839 and 1840 he served as superintendent of the East India Company for the construction of steamboats of steel for the trip around the Cape of Good Hope in charge, which also is used in the First Opium War came.

In 1856 he resigned from his position as Chief Examiner of the British East India Company and subsequently received a public pension .

Effect of his works on English literature

In the last ten years of his life he returned to writing and published several articles in Fraser's Magazine , such as Memories of Shelley, of whom he was the executor . The magazine also published his last novel, Gryll Grange , in 1860, although this was inferior to his earlier works in terms of humor and liveliness.

Peacock's role in English literature is unique in that there have been no novels of this kind before him, although Jonathan Swift followed a similar approach in writing his "polite conversations." Peacock spoke both in person and through his characters, and his pithy jokes and feelings, with remarkable accuracy of grace and natural description, step back in favor of the combination of primitive simplicity of plot and characters.

Of his seven novels, Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle are among the best: while the first lives off the amusement ("vis comica") of the situation, the latter has the greatest completeness of intellectual power and the most skilful collection of a colorful mix of characters.

Maid Marian and The Misfortunes of Elgin , on the other hand, are far less entertaining, but still contain descriptive passages of exceptional beauty. His novel Melincourt , on the other hand, fails completely, especially since the excellent idea of ​​an orangutan imitating humans was unsuitable as the sole basis for a novel. The novel Headlong Hall gave a first impression of its later excellence, whereas the later work Gryll Grange no longer lived up to it.

In addition, he achieved great attention through his poems, especially with works like Years Ago , whereby his poetry was generally characterized by an exact and melodic language and an instinct for true feelings. With the exception of Rhododaphne, his more demanding poems were less valuable and demanding of the content and the perfection of the composition. His poem The War-Song of Dinas Vawr was cited by William Empson in Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930) as an example of a so-called antithetical series .

On the other hand, his literary critical work was mostly interested, in particular the restoration of lost classical dramas in Horae dramaticae , although the only lasting work was the ingenious, dissecting analysis of Thomas Moore's book The Episcurean from 1827 in the Westminster Review . In addition, he wrote literary-satirical caricatures in The Edinburgh Reviewer about famous romantic poets such as William Wordsworth , Samuel Taylor Coleridge , George Gordon Byron , Shelley and Robert Southey .

In German translation of the novel was published Nightmare Abbey 1989 at Manesse Verlag entitled Nightmare Abbey , which under the direction of Heinz von Cramer in 1991 as a radio play adapted was.

Background literature

  • A. Martin Freeman: Thomas Love Peacock . London: Martin Secker (1909)
  • Carl van Doren: The Life of Thomas Love Peacock . London: JM Dent (1911)
  • WH helmet: Thomas Love Peacock . Chicago, IL: FG Browne & Co. (1913)
  • JB Priestley : Thomas Love Peacock . London: Macmillan (1927)
  • Augustus H. Able: George Meredith and Thomas Love Peacock: A Study in Literary Influence . Gordian Press (1933, reprinted 1970)
  • Olwen W. Campbell: Thomas Love Peacock . London: Arthur Barker (1953)
  • Carl Dawson: His Fine Wit: A Study of Thomas Love Peacock . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (1970)
  • Carl van Doren, Felix Felton: Thomas Love Peacock . London: George Allen & Unwin (1973)
  • Robert Forbes Felton: Thomas Love Peacock . Allen and Unwin (1973)
  • James Mulvihill: Thomas Love Peacock . Twayne (1987)
  • Margaret McKay: Peacock's Progress: Aspects of Artistic Development in the Novels of Thomas Love Peacock . Uppsala University Press (1992)
  • Neil Tomkinson: The Christian Faith and Practice of Samuel Johnson , Thomas De Quincey and Thomas Love Peacock . Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press (1992)

Web links and sources

personal data
SURNAME Peacock, Thomas Love
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer and literary critic
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Weymouth , Dorset , England
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1866
Place of death Lower Halliford , Middlesex , England