Peacock
His Circle and His Age

Dr Mills' critical study examines the life and times of Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866).

Howard Mills (Author)

9780521148306, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 June 2010

276 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.58 kg

Thomas Love Peacock, 1785–1866, is known as the author of half a dozen brief satiric 'novels' which caricature men and movements of the early nineteenth century. Dr Mills' critical study treats Peacock as a man who was particularly alive to the important literary development and the general movements of thought in his time. The main contention in this book is that in the Regency period Peacock suddenly became more than the conventional minor writer he had been. There is also a detailed critique of Peacock's novels, and a study of his neglected music criticism. The whole book amounts to an in depth treatment of the literary and intellectual life of the Regency period considered as a time when old tastes and ideas were giving way to new. Peacock's mixture of scepticism and intelligent sympathy gives him an important place as reporter and critic.

Acknowledgements
Chronological table
1. Introduction
2. Peacock in the Regency
3. Peacock on the Regency
4. Peacock and Shelley
5. 'Headlong Hall', 1815
6. 'Melincourt', 1817
7. 'Nightmare Abbey', 1818
8. Three comparisons
9. Peacock after the Regency
10. Conclusions
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]