Gormenghast is a fictional castle of titanic proportions that features prominently in a series of fantasy works penned by Mervyn Peake.
Gormenghast is also commonly used in reference to this series, even though the castle is present for a very small amount of time in Titus Alone. In fact, Peake intended to write a "biography" of protagonist Titus Groan, not the castle's history, so it would make more sense to name the series after him. (An earlier collected edition was entitled The Titus Books).
Peake intended to write a series of books following Titus's life and his relationship with the castle. At least two other books, tentatively titled Titus Awakes and Gormenghast Revisited, were planned, but Peake's health complications and ensuing death prevented him from writing down more than a few rough chapters and ideas for these. Only three pages of Titus Awakes were coherently written, and these appear in the Overlook Press omnibus edition of the main novels (ISBN 0-87951-628-3).
In 2000, the BBC and the PBS station WGBH of Boston produced a miniseries, titled Gormenghast, based on the first two books of the trilogy.
The 30-minute TV short film A Boy In Darkness (also made in 2000 and adapted from Peake's short story Boy in Darkness) was the first production from the BBC Drama Lab. It was set in a 'virtual' computer-generated world created by young computer game designers, and starred Jack Ryder (from EastEnders) as Titus, with Terry Jones (Monty Python's Flying Circus) narrating.
A minimalist stage version of Gormenghast was adapted by John Constable and directed by David Glass. It has toured theatres in the UK during 2006.
Irmin Schmidt, founder of seminal German 'Krautrock' group Can has written an opera called Gormenghast, based on the novels, and a number of early songs by New Zealand rock group Split Enz were inspired by Peake's work, in addition to 'The Drowning Man' by The Cure.
Genre and Style
The series is usually described as a fantasy work. However, there is no magic and no intelligent races other than humans, as is usual in high fantasy such as The Lord of the Rings. Another valid classification would be to place Gormenghast in the genre of the fantastic, with marked gothic and surrealist influences.
Gormenghast has a much less focused plot than is usual for most novels. Though Titus and Steerpike are often considered the main characters, they share the narrative with many of the other denizens of the castle.
Gormenghast Castle
Gormenghast Castle is the setting for the first two books in the series, Titus Groan and Gormenghast. It incorporates many of the elements of both mediæval castles and Regency period stately homes, though in practice it operates like a small city-state. It has its own government, a Byzantine system of laws and rituals, a rigid class system, and is seemingly self-sufficient. The castle is huge, giving the impression more of a semi-deserted city than a single structure. A character climbing across one of the roofs sees it as an unending and monumentally complex roofscape. In the second book a flood drowns the lowest levels of the castle and turns the upper regions into stone islands, yet still there is accomodation for the regular inhabitants and an influx of refugees, with very substantial areas still empty. It is impractical to guess at even an approximate layout. Most of the castle seems to be bordered by a vast curtain wall separating it from the shanty-town of the Bright Carvers, while other regions (such as the area around the library) appear to be unwalled and overlook woodland. The castle is divided into four wings named after the cardinal points, with at least one wing possessing its own unique fauna. The tallest point of the castle is the forbidding, bat-infested Tower of Flints. Among the countless buildings and rooms are libraries, a huge kitchen (eighteen men are required just to scrub the walls), outer walls, an art gallery (specifically carvings), a dining hall, a lake and a school. Vast areas of the castle are abandoned.
Ritual plays a large part in the daily life of all characters in the castle, most of all the Earl of Gormenghast, whose days are largely spent adhering to the obscure and esoteric tenets of Gormenghast tradition. Titus' dread and rebellion against the iron letter of Gormenghast Law becomes one of the main themes in the series leading to his preoccupation with freedom.
The castle has become synonymous with large, sprawling buildings and has been used as a reference point in other works of fiction.
Peake populated his imaginary castle with a large cast of dickensian characters. These include:
The ruling family
Titus Groan: The main character of the series, and heir to the Earldom of Gormenghast. He succeeds to the title while still a child, but as he grows older, he develops ambivalent feelings toward his home. He is torn between pride in his lineage and the desire to escape from the castle and its traditions.
Lord Sepulchrave: Titus's father. He is a melancholy man who feels shackled by his duties as Earl, although he never questions them. His only escape is reading. However, when the castle's Library burns down, he is driven insane and comes to believe that he is one of the death-owls that live in the abandoned Tower of Flints.
The Countess Gertrude: Titus's mother. An obese woman with dark red hair, she pays no attention to her family or the rest of Gormenghast. Instead, she spends her time locked away in her bedroom, in the company of a legion of cats and birds, the only things toward which she shows affection. However, once given the chance to use her intelligence she turns out to be one of the cleverest people in the castle, when (along with Flay and the doctor) she recognizes and investigates the worrying changes transpiring in Gormenghast.
Fuchsia: Titus's sister. At times snobbish, annoying, and self-absorbed, she can also be extremely warm and caring. At first, she resents Titus, but soon develops a deep bond with him. Of all Titus's family, she is the one he loves most.
Cora and Clarice Groan: Titus's aunts, a pair of identical twins. Both suffered from spasms in their youth, so the left sides of their bodies are paralyzed. They have virtually the same personalities and neither of them is very intelligent -- they are perhaps even mentally impaired -- although Cora is slightly cleverer than Clarice. Both crave political power and dislike Gertrude, whom they believe robbed them of their rightful place in the hierarchy of Gormenghast. Their mindless ambition and thirst for revenge lead them to become Steerpike's pawns.
Other major characters
Steerpike: A youthful outsider, beginning as a kitchen boy, who worms his way into the hierarchy of Gormenghast for his own personal gain. Ruthlessly murderous, with a Machiavellian mind and a talent for manipulation, he can appear charming and sometimes even noble. He has natural personal enmity with Titus.
Flay: Lord Sepulchrave's personal servant, who believes in strictly holding to the rules of Gormenghast. Nevertheless, he is not completely hard-hearted and cares a great deal for Titus and Fuchsia. He is eventually exiled from Gormenghast for throwing one of the Countess's cats at Steerpike.
Dr. Alfred Prunesquallor: The castle's resident physician. He is an eccentric individual with a high-pitched laugh and a grandiose wit which he uses on the castle's less intelligent inhabitants. Despite his acid tongue, he is an extremely kind and caring man who also is greatly fond of Fuchsia and Titus. (In a few places in the text, Dr. Prunesquallor is given the first name of Bernard, but this was an error by Peake.)
Irma Prunesquallor: Doctor Prunesquallor's sister. Though she is anything but pretty, she is considerably vain. She desperately desires to be admired and loved by men.
Abiatha Swelter: The fat, sadistic head chef of Gormenghast. His profound hatred for Flay leads him to attempt murder.
Nannie Slagg: An ancient dwarf who serves as the nurse for infant Titus and Fuchsia before him. She is somewhat senile and has an inferiority complex.
Sourdust: The Master of Ritual when the series begins. He is the one who coordinates the various arcane rituals that make up daily life in Gormenghast. After his death, his position is taken up by his son Barquentine.
Barquentine: Follows his father into the role of Master of Ritual. He is lame in one leg, hideous, and unbelieveably dirty. He is a consummate misanthrope who only cares for the laws and traditions of Gormenghast. He makes the grievous error of allowing Steerpike to become his assistant.
Bellgrove: One of Titus's teachers, who eventually ascends to Headmaster of Gormenghast. In many respects, he is the standard absent-minded professor who falls asleep during his own class and plays with marbles. However, deep inside him there is a certain element of dignity and nobility. He begins a rather unusual romance with Irma Prunesquallor.
Keda: One of the Outer Dwellers who lives just outside the walls of Gormenghast. She is chosen to be Titus's wet nurse, but eventually leaves this position. She has two lovers who fight a duel and both die for her, but not before one of them impregnates her. Eventually she kills herself.
Thing: The daughter of Keda. Due to her illegitimacy she is an outcast who becomes a feral child living in the wilderness surrounding Gormenghast. Believing that she is in every way the opposite of Gormenghast, Titus becomes infatuated with her.
Minor characters
Rottcodd: The curator of the Hall of Bright Carvings and the first character introduced in the series. Rottcodd lives the life of a recluse in the castle, rarely speaking to anyone and, when not dusting the statues at exactly seven o' clock, is usually sleeping in his hammock by the windowside.
Pentecost: Pentecost was one of the Outer Dwellers once, but worked himself up to become the head gardener of the palace. He is always busy tending the palace orchards and filling vases with fresh water and bright flowers.
The Poet: Known only by his professional name, the Poet holds a relatively important function of ritual in the castle. He is described as having a wedge-shaped head and a voice "as strange and deep as a lugubrious ocean". After Steerpike's death, he is hastily appointed as the new Master of Rituals.
Rantel & Braigon: Keda's lovers, whose rivalry eventually leads to their death in a nighttime duel.
