*England

*England. Peregrine’s home and the scene of many of his adventures. Most members of the genteel society in which Peregrine prefers to move, spend the great majority of their time in London and at various country estates, entertaining and visiting friends. Smollett’s setting is England before the Industrial Revolution. For Peregrine, the great metropolis of London does not significantly differ from the rural counties, with lovers and scoundrels to be found in both places, and ruination or advancement equally likely to happen in either.

Very much a writer of his time, Smollett is unlike the Romantics of a later generation in that he does not use location as an organic or emotional backdrop for his characters and their actions. The landscape is a knowable quantity, as it had been for centuries. Thus when Peregrine visits London the first time, he is not overwhelmed by new sensations. New places merely represent new opportunities—usually for mischief.

*Continental Europe

*Continental Europe. The grand tour of Europe was requisite for all gentlemen of fashion. Peregrine is sent on a journey through France and the Low Countries (future Belgium and Holland) with the idea of improving his education and exposing himself to the niceties of French society. Being a spirited young man, however, he tends to devote his energy to wooing women, getting in fights, playing pranks on his companions, and avoiding the law. He dutifully sees the various tourist sights of the day, usually at the instigation of his tutor or a local person, but he is far more interested in the people he meets, as Smollett’s aim is to critique society’s follies, not to write a travelogue. Though some peculiarities of nationality are observed, the people Peregrine encounters in Europe do not differ greatly from those he meets in England.

Commodore’s Garrison

Commodore’s Garrison. Home of Peregrine’s salty old sea-captain uncle, Commodore Hawser Trunnion, who adopts Peregrine after the latter’s parents disown him. The commodore has outfitted his home like a ship. He and his mates, Lieutenant Hatch and Tom Pipes, sleep in hammocks, fire cannons from the roof, and generally carry on as though they are aboard a ship at sea. Built like a fortress, the garrison becomes a loving home for Peregrine and, in the commodore’s parlance, a “safe harbor” to which he can always return.

When Peregrine and his entourage arrive back from the Continent, they are welcomed at the garrison like conquering heroes. Guns are fired, torches are lit, and a giant keg of beer is tapped. It is a warm, festive atmosphere indicative of the love the commodore has for the young man. After the cruelty Peregrine has been shown by his own parents and a sometimes hostile world, the garrison is a sorely needed refuge.

*Bath

*Bath. Fashionable English resort and spa town. Bath was one of the favorite “in” spots of the beau monde (upper class) in Georgian England. Peregrine and his friend Godfrey conquer the town soon after their arrival. They outwit a band of con men at billiards, humiliate a notorious bully, and win the hearts (and favors) of many women. Although Peregrine emerges a local gentleman of some fame, it is a dubious distinction, as Bath society itself is exposed for all its chicanery, vanity, and hypocrisy. It is a world in which Peregrine’s showy brilliance can triumph but ultimately not a place in which substantiality and human goodness are prized.

*Fleet Street Prison

*Fleet Street Prison. Large citylike jail in London. A victim of bad judgment and duplicitous schemers, Peregrine at last finds himself behind bars. The Fleet is really more...