Melmoth the Wanderer (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
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
- Principal Characters: John Melmoth, Melmoth the Wanderer, Alonzo Moncada, Young Melmoth’s Uncle
- 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
The Story:
In the autumn of 1816, John Melmoth, a student at Trinity College, Dublin, left his school to visit an uncle, his only surviving relative, who was dying. Melmoth’s uncle was particularly glad to see his young nephew, for the old man was fearfully afraid of something that he had not revealed to anyone else. The uncle died and left all of his money and property to John Melmoth. A note at the end of the will told John Melmoth to destroy the hidden portrait of an earlier John Melmoth, a painting dated 1646, and also a packet of letters to be found in a secret...
[The entire page is 3168 words long]
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