Thomas Love Peacock

Thomas Love Peacock

October 18, 1785 – January 23, 1866

Thomas Love Peacock was born in Weymouth, England and was raised by his mother until he was sent to private school at age eight. He started writing poetry but later, around the age of thirty, began to publish the satirical novels for which he is most well-known. Three years before the publication of his first novel, “Headlong Hall”, Peacock met Percy Bysshe Shelley, with whom he would share an influential friendship. “Nightmare Abbey”, in which Shelley was featured as a character, was published in 1818. This same year Shelley left England; he and Peacock would never meet again in life. When Shelley drowned in 1822, Peacock attended and played a key role in his cremation. Later, he was active in securing money from Shelley’s father, Sir Timothy, to provide for both Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley.

Putting aside the question of the literary merits of his texts, Peacock’s works were known predominantly for their satire. Peacock’s comedy is often described as Aristophanic, or following in the tradition of the Greek playwright Aristophanes. The modern knowledge of Peacock’s life at various points in his personal history is often only accessible through his relationship with his contemporaries. He was in contact with many of the great minds of his age and despite living through various intellectual movements, his work remains very much independent of the signs of the times.

This short bit of background information was complied from both Thomas Love Peacock’s Wikipedia article and the Biographic & Critical Excerpts provided on the Thomas Love Peacock Society Website. The Society’s website also contains links to many of Peacock’s prose, verse and miscellaneous works, as well as fun goodies like songs that appear in Peacock works set to music by Society members, a list of uncommon words, quotations and reviews.

The Thomas Love Peacock Society was formed in 1996 to promote and study the works of Thomas Love Peacock and his contemporaries. The Society established its website in 1998 and held its first conference in Hobart, Tasmania (where the Society was founded) in July of 2002. The Society plans to hold its second conference in 2010 in either Great Britain or Australia and is currently seeking submissions for papers on all topics concerning Peacock’s life and works. Membership to the Thomas Love Peacock Society is open to all who appreciate Peacock’s works and subscriptions are available for both annual and lifetime membership.