Peacock, Thomas Love
Peacock, Thomas Love (1785–1866),British novelist, poet, and satirist, who composed two romances inspired by British and Welsh folklore in which he adeptly combined romanticism with biting political satire. Maid Marian (1822), as the title suggests, is based on the folklore of Robin Hood, Peacock's main source being Joseph Ritson's Robin Hood: A Collection of All the Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads Now Extant Relative to that Celebrated Outlaw (1795). In 1822 Maid Marian was made into a comic opera, with libretto by J. R. Planché. For The Misfortunes of Elfin (1829), Peacock drew heavily from Welsh folklore, the sources of which his Welsh wife, Jane Gryffydh, helped him translate. Here Peacock intertwined traditional Welsh folk ballads with ironic parodies of contemporary political discourse, resulting in one of his most acclaimed works.
Anne Duggan
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