The depiction of the Inquisition is overall very derogatory. Because he resists, Moncada is beaten, tortured, and locked up in a cell without light. Much of the novel is the story of Moncada, who is forced by his family members-themselves manipulated by the clergy-to enter a seminary and become a priest. The novel is the most extreme example of anti-Catholicism of all the Gothic novels I have read. However, the child dies before it can be taken from its mother and Immalee dies soon after.Īlthough the novel was written by an Irishman, it’s important to note that Maturin had a low opinion of Catholics and was himself Anglican. Because of her sin for loving a minion of Satan, she is condemned to lifetime imprisonment in the Inquisition’s prison, and her child is to be taken from her and raised in a convent. She is then taken to the prisons of the Inquisition where she gives birth to a daughter. When her brother accosts Melmoth, Melmoth slays him and Immalee nearly dies from grief. After Immalee returns to Spain, Melmoth convinces her to marry him in a dark ceremony, and then she conceives his child. However, before Immalee is found, Melmoth visits her on the island and educates her in religion and other problems and hypocrisies of human society-or rather he miseducates her. Immalee was lost in childhood and has grown up alone in nature, innocent and childlike, but eventually, she is found and returned to her family in Spain. Although he does try to tempt people, at times Melmoth feels torn with guilt, especially when he attempts to convince the innocent Immalee to marry him. He is not immortal, but he does have an extended life of about 170 years before he meets his fate at the end of the novel. Melmoth is a member of an Irish family who in the seventeenth century was cursed and now wanders about Europe causing terror and tempting the innocent. Its stories-within-a-story technique, a common element of the Gothic, makes the reader wonder how all the stories will come together, but in the tale of Immalee, the full extent of Melmoth’s Gothic wanderer role is apparent. In this article, I will discuss a little about why Melmoth the Wanderer is an important Gothic novel, especially for its title Gothic wanderer figure and its anti-Catholicism, and then I will look at some of the other works it influenced.Ĭontribution to the Gothic Wanderer Figure and Anti-CatholicismĪ good summary of Melmoth the Wanderer can be found at Wikipedia for those not familiar with the novel although I would encourage you to read it.

Charles Maturin (1780-1824) wrote several novels including historical fiction that predated Sir Walter Scott, whom he was friends with, and a popular tragedy, “Bertram.”

Melmoth legend