Thomas Love Peacock’s second novel, Melincourt (1817), continues the fictional format initiated by the earlier Headlong Hall but with some differences. Named for its country-house setting – this time an authentic medieval castle – this novel also gathers together a group of eccentric guests with diverse intellectual interests and obsessions. It boasts a similarly rudimentary plot connecting a series of debates and culminating in marriage. At the same time, this plot is developed at greater length than in any of Peacock’s other novels and is considerably more ambulatory – covering, in fact, a considerable amount of ground once the novel’s action gets started. Melincourt is also the most politically engaged of Peacock’s novels. Where Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey are even-handed to the point of elusiveness where their author’s own opinions are concerned, Melincourt may...
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Citation: Mulvihill, James. "Melincourt". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21394, accessed 09 June 2026.]
