Melmoth the Wanderer

Creator

Date

1993

Identifier

Special Collections

Type

Publisher

London: Folio Society

Abstract

Charles Maturin (1780-1824) was the great-uncle of Oscar Wilde. He wrote several Irish national tales and Gothic romances. His fifth novel, Melmoth the Wanderer (1820), was one of Wilde’s favourite books, and critics have noted the thematic resonances between it and Wilde’s own novels. One obvious influence of Maturin is in Wilde’s choice of the pseudonym ‘Sebastian Melmoth’, which he adopted upon his release from Reading Gaol. Wilde explained his reason to a friend: ‘to prevent postmen having fits I sometimes have my letters inscribed by the name of a curious novel by my great-uncle Maturin’.

Files

Cab18-0003.jpg

Citation

Charles Maturin, “Melmoth the Wanderer,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/10224.