Melmoth the Wanderer

by Charles Maturin

Overview

Revered as a true gothic masterpiece, “Melmoth the Wanderer” is the last complete work by the Irish author and playwright, Charles Maturin. Since its publication in 1820 it has been admired by such authors as Sir Walter Scott, Honoré de Balzac, Edgar Allan Poe, and Maturin’s great nephew, Oscar Wilde. In this story of temptation, villainy, and a satanic bargain for immortality, Maturin offers his social commentary on early nineteenth century England and unabashedly attacks Roman Catholicism. The Wanderer, having engaged in a pact with the devil in exchange for extended life, is doomed to a tortured existence searching for someone to take on his Satanic contract, allowing him to die a natural death. Although Melmoth epitomizes the Faustian figure, Maturin creates a singularly unique character with the added complexities of sympathy, love, and conscience, and secures this cryptic portrayal of evil a place in literary history as the quintessential Gothic novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420980233
Publisher:	Digireads.com Publishing
Publication date:	12/11/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Charles Maturin (1780-1824) was an Irish writer and clergyman. Born and raised in Dublin, Maturin was raised in a prominent Huguenot family. Educated at Trinity College, he became ordained as curate of Loughrea, County Galway, before returning to Dublin in 1903. Due to his position in the Church of Ireland, he was forced to publish his writing under a pseudonym, achieving some acclaim for his early novels. In 1816, his play Bertram was staged at the Drury Lane theatre in London. Although he was encouraged by Sir Water Scott and Lord Byron, he received a devastating review from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who deemed the play “melancholy proof of the depravation of the public mind.” Forced to reveal his identity in order to claim his profits, Maturin was barred from advancement by the Church of Ireland and turned his attention to novel writing. In 1820, his Gothic novel Melmoth the Wanderer was published to critical acclaim, earning Maturin a reputation as a leading Romantic, influencing such writers as Charles Baudelaire and Honoré de Balzac. Controversial in his lifetime, viewed as an eccentric in his native country, Maturin would serve as inspiration to his grandnephew Oscar Wilde, as well as countless writers, artists, and aesthetes.