Thomas Love Peacock, The Misfortunes of Elphin

James Mulvihill (University of Alberta)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1829

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Comedy
Novel
Romance

Resources

Like Peacock’s other comic romance, Maid Marian (1822), The Misfortunes of Elphin recovers a picturesque past that serves as a foil to the present even as it reflects a number of contemporary concerns. Unlike Maid Marian, put together from legends and traditions taken from antiquarian sources, The Misfortunes of Elphin is more ambitiously conceived than Peacock’s medieval farce, even retaining some of the epic scope of its primitive provenance—albeit leavened with Peacock’s trademark humour and wit. In addition to learning the Welsh language (aided, no doubt, by his Welsh-speaking wife), Peacock possessed an extensive acquaintance with Welsh history and mythology, with the result that an …

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1190 words

Citation: Mulvihill, James. "The Misfortunes of Elphin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 April 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=21391, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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