Melmoth the Wanderer (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Charles Robert Maturin
- First Published: 1820
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Gothic
- Time of Work: Early nineteenth century
- Setting: Ireland
- Genres: Long fiction, Gothic fiction, Magical and occult fantasy
- Subjects: Supernatural, Nineteenth century, Betrayal, Ghosts or apparitions, Fear, Eighteenth century, Seventeenth century, Good and evil, Faustian bargains, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Shipwrecks, Devils or demons, Ireland or Irish people, Spain or Spanish people
- Locales: Spain, London, England, Ireland
Characters Discussed
John Melmoth, a young Irishman who inherits his uncle’s property, including a portrait of an early ancestor, which he is directed to destroy. He discovers a manuscript that tells about Melmoth the Wanderer, who visits John. Then a shipwrecked Spaniard tells of visitations of Melmoth the Wanderer. The Wanderer appears to John to tell him that he has finished his earthly pilgrimage of a century and a half. John hears strange noises in the night, and the next morning, his dread kinsman is gone.
John Melmoth’s Uncle, who, though not a superstitious...
[The entire page is 643 words long]
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