The Gormenghast Trilogy | The Gormenghast Trilogy

At a glance:

Author: Mervyn Peake
First Published: 1946
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Gothic
Time of Work: A mythical present
Setting: The castle of Gormenghast and the world beyond
Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
Subjects: Freedom, Family or family life, Self-discovery, Tradition, Politics, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Other worlds, Brothers and sisters, Inheritance or succession, Castles, Aristocracy or aristocrats, Adventure, Fire, Twins or multiple-birth siblings, Zoos, Arson, Parallel universes or alternate dimensions
Locales: Gormenghast (mythic)

Steerpike, an ambitious kitchen-boy. With great cunning, he employs flattery and deception gradually to increase his status and influence, until he becomes the effective master of Gormenghast. He fosters the antipathy that exists between Flay and Swelter until it explodes into violence, seduces Fuschia into craven dependence, and encourages Lord Sepulchrave’s gathering madness. Initially rather pathetic in his smallness and seeming weakness, he becomes increasingly demonic as he masters the hidden byways of the castle....

The Gormenghast Trilogy | The Gormenghast Trilogy

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

Titus Groan, 1946

The Gormenghast Trilogy | The Gormenghast Trilogy

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

Titus Groan, 1946

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