Or at least that, I think, is one of the themes. It’s important because the life of one person is not contained to a single place. Alfred was called Bernard (accidental but still) a few times, etc.īut even on the onset Peake wasn’t talking about a story to do with a castle, but the entire life of one person from birth to death. Titus’ eyes were described as purple and then never brought up again, Titus was said to have become a man after the death of the thing but then again in book 3. It’s very possible Peake radically changed his mind between writing book 1 and book 3 since he was never that committed to some internal canon (which makes him very different from most other fantasy authors). He's a well-known "dark artist" and I personally think his style is a good match for Peake's work. That Dave McKean's artwork in the upcoming Folio Society edition doesn't appear "gothic" in style is an odd criticism, though. That theme is, perhaps, the very heart of Gothic storytelling. While the only gothic trope seems to be the castle itself, as nothing "supernatural" really happens throughout the series, the theme that keeps repeating is that the sins of the father are visited upon the son, who tries to become independent from old social structures. However, I do think there is a deep gothic undercurrent in the first two novels, and perhaps especially in the third. Like the shard of flint Titus carried with him, Peake couldn't simply leave the castle behind, even if he never intended use it again as a setting. By the time he wrote Boy in Darkness he seemed keen on leaving the castle behind, although perhaps he was afraid to abandon the legacy he had started with some success in the character of Titus. His interests had, perhaps, changed after Titus Groan and Gormenghast. Personally, I doubt Peake planned to take the Gormenghast story in the direction it eventually went. The character psychology (and even terminology and language) are contemporary in nature, using the mold of some antiquated past as an atmospheric device to contextualize both the decaying institutions as well as perhaps commenting on the fundamental similarities between the medieval and the twentieth century (time periods that at face value assume opposite morals and habits)īy the third book the series has completely shed its skin and there were many more planned books but I guess we will never know what the full picture was meant to be but I certainly suspect it was more than just a castle. The crumbling stone is a thin facade for the inner workings and mechanical aspects of the rituals which like the gears of a clock evince a lack of independence, or better yet function like a giant hulking war engine. More specifically, the gothic vibes are replaced by a hectic jazz style which harkens to a more contemporary feel.īut I think that is an accurate portrayal because the series is masquerading as a gothic tale but has closer parallels towards world war 2 and other contemporary (modern) twentieth century issues. I read a comment about the new folio society edition of the trilogy that said the artwork isn’t representative of the ‘atmosphere’ associated with Gormenghast.
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