''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' is a

picaresque novel The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

by the Scottish author

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' (1751) a ...

, first published in 1751 and revised and published again in 1758. It tells the story of an egotistical man who experiences luck and misfortunes in the height of 18th-century European society.

Plot summary

Francis William Edmonds - Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway

The novel begins with the character of Peregrine as a young country gentleman rejected by his cruel mother, ignored by his indifferent father, and hated by his degenerate brother. After their alienation, he turns to Commodore Hawser Trunnion, who raises him. Peregrine's detailed life experience provides a scope for Smollett's

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

on human cruelty, stupidity, and greed: from his upbringing, education at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, journey to France, jailing at the Fleet, and unexpected succession to his father's fortune and his final repentance and marriage to his beloved Emilia. The novel is written as a series of adventures, with every chapter depicting a new experience. The novel also contains a lengthy independent story called "The Memoirs of a Lady of Quality", written by

Frances Vane, Viscountess Vane Frances Anne Vane, Viscountess Vane (formerly Hamilton, ''née'' Hawes; c. January 1715 – 31 March 1788), was a British memoirist known for her highly public adulterous relationships. Early life and first marriage Frances Anne Hawes was th ...

. ''Peregrine Pickle'' features several amusing characters, most notably Commodore Hawser Trunnion, an old seaman and

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

who lives in a house with his former shipmates. Trunnion's lifestyle may have inspired

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

to create the character of

Wemmick John Wemmick is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's novel '' Great Expectations''. He is Mr Jaggers's clerk and the protagonist Pip's friend. Some scholars consider him to be the "most modern man in the book".Pickrel, Paul. ''Great Expectat ...

in ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

''. Another interesting character is Peregrine's friend Cadwallader Crabtree, an old

misanthrope Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

who amuses himself by playing ingenious jokes on naive people. Smollett also caricatured many of his enemies in the novel, most notably

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

and the actor

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

. Fitzroy Henry Lee was supposedly the model for Hawser Trunnion.

Criticism

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

, writing in the ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

'' in 1944, said regarding the novels ''Roderick Random'' and ''Peregrine Pickle'': :"Peregrine devotes himself for months at a time to the elaborate and horribly cruel practical jokes in which the eighteenth century delighted. When, for instance, an unfortunate English painter is thrown into the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

for some trifling offence and is about to be released, Peregrine and his friends, playing on his ignorance of the language, let him think he has been sentenced to be broken on a wheel. A little later they tell him that his punishment has been commuted to castration. Why are these petty rogueries worth reading about? In the first place because they are funny. Secondly, by simply ruling out 'good' motives and showing no respect whatever for human dignity, Smollett often attains a truthfulness that more serious novelists have missed."

Legacy

George P. Upton George Putnam Upton (18341919) was an American journalist and author. Biography George Putnam Upton was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on October 25, 1834. He took an MA at Brown University in 1854, and soon after started writing for newspapers ...

published the ''Letters of Peregrine Pickle'' in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' from 1866 to 1869 as weekly letters and then in book forms.

References

External links

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''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures Of Peregrine Pickle, The 1751 novels Novels by Tobias Smollett Picaresque novels Maritime books 1758 in Scotland 18th-century British novels Novels first published in serial form