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49-519: Titus Groan is a novel by Mervyn Peake , first published in 1946. It is the first novel in the Gormenghast series . The other books in the series are the novels Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959) and the novella Boy in Darkness (1956). The book is set in the huge castle of Gormenghast, a vast landscape of crumbling towers and ivy-filled quadrangles that has for centuries been

98-406: A child from her late husband, volunteers to take on the role. Keda comes to live in the castle for a time helping to raise Titus. Later, she leaves the castle walls and is impregnated by one of her previous two suitors. The suitors promptly kill each other in a duel for her hand in marriage. On the same day as Titus' birth, an ambitious kitchen boy of seventeen by the name of Steerpike escapes from

147-530: A degree little short of malformation, slender and adroit of limb and frame, his eyes close-set and the colour of dried blood, he is climbing the spiral staircase of the soul of Gormenghast, bound for some pinnacle of the itching fancy — some wild, invulnerable eyrie best known to himself; where he can watch the world spread out below him, and shake exultantly his clotted wings. And his appearance, as described in Titus Groan : Limb by limb, it appeared that he

196-468: A full-time retainer of the twins, having quit Doctor Prunesquallor's service, angers Flay by sarcastically imitating Sepulchrave's madness. Flay loses control and hurls one of the countess's white cats at Steerpike. At that moment, the Countess enters the room, and seeing that one of her beloved cats has been abused, immediately banishes Flay from Gormenghast. Flay is forced to learn how to survive outside

245-441: A short while terrorizes the castle, using his intimate knowledge of its layout and extensive passageways to evade capture. Matters are brought to a head when a huge rainstorm floods the castle, submerging the lower levels and forcing the inhabitants (and Steerpike) higher and higher. Although he evades the Countess's forces, Titus, who blamed Steerpike for his sister's death, eventually finds and kills him. Stefan Vinzberg portrayed

294-549: A surrogate parent across the lake with the Bright Carvers. In 1984, BBC Radio 4 broadcast two 90-minute plays based on Titus Groan and Gormenghast , adapted by Brian Sibley and starring Sting as Steerpike and Freddie Jones as the Artist (narrator). A slightly abridged compilation of the two, running to 160 minutes, and entitled Titus Groan of Gormenghast , was broadcast on Christmas Day, 1992. BBC 7 repeated

343-460: A window into the secret attic of Lady Fuchsia Groan . Fuchsia, who has a great affinity to the large area of long-abandoned attic space she has had all to herself, is at first appalled and outraged by his entry. He senses the importance of her naivety and seizes her attention by putting on an elaborate performance. She is the first of the royal characters on whom Steerpike will use his cunning to exploit. A while later, Steerpike accompanies Fuchsia to

392-447: Is Steerpike , a ruthlessly ambitious kitchen boy, whose rise to power drives the plot of Titus Groan . His escape from the kitchen during the castle's celebration of Lord Titus' birth introduces change into the stultified Gormenghast society. Steerpike is Machiavellian in his rise, but he can also appear charming and sometimes even noble. The novel begins as the imperious and ritual-driven servant Mr. Flay seeks to inform someone new of

441-419: Is able to gain a good knowledge of all the rooms in the castle. Flay lives in the mountains, making two caves and a shed for himself—living in seclusion but adept as a naturalist. He later witnesses Keda's suicide as she throws herself off a ledge. Initially just one of a number of minor background characters, Keda's story shows some of the world outside the castle, and her choices, journey and resolution are among

490-479: Is an elderly, somewhat senile woman who serves as the nurse and mother figure for the Groan children. She is often unsure of herself, but relishes the small bit of power that comes with raising the heir to the house of Groan. Her first duty is to go to the dwellings of the Bright Carvers just outside the walls of Gormenghast to choose a wet nurse for Titus. Keda, the widow of a well-respected Carver who has recently lost

539-525: Is an extremely kind and caring man who also is greatly fond of Fuchsia and Titus. He lives with his sister Irma Prunesquallor. Though she is anything but pretty, she is considerably vain. She desperately desires to be admired and loved by men. In this position, Steerpike is able to come into even closer contact with members of the Groan family, in particular Lord Sepulchrave's twin sisters, Cora and Clarice Groan. The sisters are not very bright and are power-hungry and resentful, believing that Countess Gertrude holds

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588-510: Is not there, and soon realizes that he has been followed. Flay lures Swelter to the Hall of Spiders (making use of the fact that Sepulchrave—who is by now quite insane—is sleepwalking), and there they fight a long duel. Eventually, Flay kills Swelter. Lord Sepulchrave arrives on the scene, and decides that Swelter's body should be taken to the Tower of Flints. After helping Sepulchrave carry the body to

637-475: Is only after several years as Master of Ritual that he finds time to bother to confirm their deaths (during which time, among other things, he attempts to woo Fuchsia). Unfortunately for him he is followed to their room by Flay, Doctor Prunesquallor, and Titus and is discovered with the corpses. His behaviour at this point shows evident signs of madness, in stark contrast to the cool and rational mastermind he once was. With his crimes exposed, Steerpike flees and for

686-454: Is succeeded by Sourdust's son Barquentine , a crippled and fiercely traditional man. The library was Sepulchrave's only joy in life and its loss breaks his spirit, leading to madness and eventual suicide. During this period, Steerpike unintentionally causes the removal of the Earl's manservant, Mr. Flay , who had always been suspicious of him. Steerpike enrages the manservant, who throws one of

735-519: The Countess had usurped their rightful position beside their brother). He persuades them to set fire to Sepulchrave 's Library and uses the circumstances to play the hero in rescuing those trapped inside (including all the surviving members of the House of Groan). Sourdust , the Master of Ritual, dies and Steerpike hopes to take his place, but like so many offices in the castle the position is hereditary and

784-477: The Countess's precious white cats at the youth; Flay is subsequently banished. His resultant vendetta against Steerpike becomes a key factor in Steerpike's eventual downfall. Deciding to remove the twins, Steerpike convinces them to move into a distant and abandoned region of the castle by confabulating an epidemic of "Weasel Plague", which they must be quarantined from. He then explains their disappearance to

833-476: The Earl of Gormenghast. Steerpike uses his charm and fast tongue to insinuate himself with the castle's physician Dr Prunesquallor , and acts for a time as his apprentice. From there Steerpike uses the doctor's connections to gain access to the upper hierarchy of Gormenghast. Shortly afterwards he starts to work for the simpleton sisters of the Earl, the twins Cora and Clarice , manipulating them with appeals to their vanity and desire for power (they believed that

882-404: The Master of Ceremonies, Steerpike has a good, stable position in the castle, and can now study its inner workings. Steerpike fears that Cora and Clarice are too careless and may tell others that he convinced them to burn down Sepulchrave's library. Steerpike dresses as Death and convinces the twins they will die if they ever speak of the fire. By this stage, Steerpike has considerable influence in

931-407: The affairs of Gormenghast, even if he is not yet a recognised figure of authority. He still has to influence people to do his work for him. Despite this, both the Countess and Dr. Prunesquallor are disturbed and uneasy about all that has happened, and disturbed about Steerpike's sudden rise. Yet neither is able to connect Steerpike as the cause of the tragic events, as he was their apparent saviour from

980-429: The attempt, underestimating the seemingly frail and disabled old man. Although aflame and dying, Barquentine clings to Steerpike in an attempt to take his murderer with him. Steerpike jumps from the nearest window into the moat below and drowns Barquentine. Steerpike nearly loses his own life in the process, but uses this to his advantage, claiming that the jump into the moat was a desperate attempt to save his master from

1029-533: The birth of an heir to the House of Groan in a remote part of the sprawling castle of Gormenghast. He relays the information to the curator of the Hall of the Bright Carvings, Mr Rottcodd, notable for being the focal character in the first and last scenes. A son is born to Lord Sepulchrave, Earl of Groan and monarchical ruler of Gormenghast, and his wife, Countess Gertrude. He is named Titus and entrusted to Nannie Slagg by his indifferent mother. Nannie Slagg

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1078-524: The castle for sixty years. He is lame in his one leg, hideous, and unbelievably dirty. Barquentine is a consummate misanthrope who only cares for the laws and traditions of Gormenghast. During the weeks following the burning, Lord Sepulchrave becomes increasingly insane, starting to believe that he is one of the Death Owls living in the Tower of Flints, the tallest tower in the castle. Flay learns that Swelter intends to kill him. Flay had hit him across

1127-556: The castle, and he sets up various homes in the nearby forest and on Gormenghast Mountain. Having a strong attachment to the castle, and feeling a need to watch over Steerpike and to protect Titus, Flay returns secretly to Gormenghast during the night. Four nights after Titus’ first birthday, Flay finds Swelter wandering the castle with a meat cleaver. Swelter does not know of Flay's banishment, and expects him to be sleeping where he has always slept up until now. Flay follows him to just outside Sepulchrave's door, where Swelter discovers that Flay

1176-432: The castle. Everything goes according to plan: the entire Groan family (including the Earl and his heir) and all but one of the retainers are saved. Sourdust, the old Master of Ceremonies, dies of smoke inhalation and all the books in the library are destroyed in the flames. This comes as a great blow to Sepulchrave, a rather melancholic man, to whom the library was the only joy in his otherwise monotonous life, dominated by

1225-515: The character in the opera adaptation , and he was played by Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the BBC miniseries . Sting played Steerpike in 1984 radio adaption of the first two Gormenghast novels on BBC Radio 4 . The Daily Telegraph has described Steerpike as one of the greatest villains in English literature. They also proposed that post-war readers were not prepared to fully appreciate

1274-417: The day that Titus , 77th Earl of Gormenghast, is born, Steerpike escapes from the kitchen after Swelter collapses from drink. He is discovered by the chief retainer of the castle, Flay , and locked in a small room. Steerpike escapes through the window and climbs over the vast roofscape of Gormenghast, spending the night in a great stone square, before arriving by accident in the attic of Fuchsia , daughter to

1323-414: The details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 924459467 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:52:26 GMT Steerpike Steerpike might be called the antagonist of the Gormenghast trilogy , but in truth he is more of an anti-hero ; the first book for example is largely focused on him, only covering the first year of

1372-492: The eponymous hero Titus 's life. Steerpike could also be considered an archetypal Machiavellian schemer: a highly intelligent, ruthless character willing to justify any and all means to reach his end. In the books, Mervyn Peake describes his personality as follows: if ever he had harboured a conscience in his tough narrow breast he had by now dug out and flung away the awkward thing — flung it so far away that were he ever to need it again he could never find it. High-shouldered to

1421-403: The face with a chain before Titus' christening, escalating a mutual loathing into plans for vengeful murder. Flay observes Swelter practising the blow with a large cleaver, and so prepares himself for an attack, acquiring a sword for his protection, in case Swelter should ever attempt to murder him while he is sleeping in front of his master's door. Things happen differently though: Steerpike, now

1470-423: The fiercely loyal Flay is angered by Steerpike's eavesdropping and locks him in a small room. Steerpike, however, escapes out of a window, risking his life above a sheer drop. He manages to climb up onto the roofs and towers of Gormenghast, and from there begins his rise to power. After spending twenty-four hours clambering over the enormous castle searching for a means to enter, Steerpike manages to climb in through

1519-433: The fire in the library. Soon afterwards, the "Earling" takes place, and young Titus is officially made Earl of Gormenghast. In a ridiculously elaborate ceremony on a nearby lake, little Titus holds aloft the sacred symbols of his status—the stone and ivy branch—and to the horror of observers, promptly drops them both into the lake. The scene is silent except for the shout of Titus and for the shout of Keda's unnamed baby, with

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1568-681: The fire. The incident, however, leaves Steerpike permanently scarred; his face now red and blotched. The fire and injury also appears to cause changes in his personality, namely a distinct fear of fire and an increasing loss of rationality. The plan succeeds, however, and the death of Barquentine leads to him being appointed Master of Ritual. At approximately this time the Twins die of starvation in their remote room; locked away they were completely dependent on Steerpike for supplies, but he ceased to visit them when they attempted to kill him and escape. Steerpike of course realizes that they must have died, but it

1617-490: The hereditary residence of the Groan family and with them a legion of servants. The Groan family is headed by Lord Sepulchrave , the seventy-sixth Earl of Groan. He is a melancholy man who feels shackled by his duties as Earl, although he never questions them. His only escape is reading in his library. His wife is the Countess Gertrude. Large and imposing, with dark red hair, she pays no attention to her family or to

1666-440: The hierarchy of Gormenghast and of any involvement in its affairs. This desire for power, along with their general ignorance, allows for them to be easily manipulated by Steerpike in his quest for authority. Also important to the life of the castle is Lord Sepulchrave's personal servant, Mr. Flay , who believes in strictly adhering to the rules of Gormenghast. At the beginning of the novel, two agents of change are introduced into

1715-403: The house of Dr. Prunesquallor, and becomes his apprentice for a while. Dr. Alfred Prunesquallor is the castle's resident physician whom readers have theorised is perhaps based on the actor Ernest Thesiger , although this is unconfirmed. 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

1764-438: The inhabitants of the castle with a suicide note (including a confession to arson ) and wax models of the Twins (helped by the fact that the half-paralyzed twins were hardly more animated than wax-works in real life). Steerpike then insinuates himself into Barquentine's work, acting as apprentice and doing his best to make himself indispensable. When he considers the time ripe, he attempts to kill Barquentine by fire, but botches

1813-430: The kitchens and the obese, sadistic chef, Abiatha Swelter. Lord Sepulchrave's chief servant, Mr. Flay (Swelter's archenemy), comes upon Steerpike who has become lost in the confines of the castle, and takes him through the castle (large parts of which are uninhabited) to a room outside the quarters of the Earl and the Countess. Here, Steerpike takes the opportunity to spy on the Groan family. Despite having led him there,

1862-408: The library for a family gathering (Steerpike intentionally failed to tell the twins that they were invited as well, strengthening their feeling of bitterness towards Sepulchrave and Gertrude). He intends to lock the doors to prevent an escape, and then come through the window and save everyone inside from the fire, appearing as a hero and possibly strengthening his position and granting him more power in

1911-399: The most emotive parts of the story. Nine days after Sepulchrave's disappearance, Steerpike has a conversation with Barquentine. The Master of Ceremonies tells Steerpike that Titus is now to become Earl of Groan, despite the fact that he is only one year old. He also gives Steerpike the position of his assistant and heir to his post, since Barquentine does not have a child. As the apprentice to

1960-653: The most recent of which was by theatre company Blackshaw and debuted at the Actors' Church in London's Covent Garden in April 2012. ^a Prunesquallor's first name is also given as "Bernard" on several occasions in the text. Apparently this was an oversight by Peake. Mervyn Peake Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

2009-478: The novels written by Mervyn Peake and the concluding volume, Titus Awakes , written by his widow Maeve Gilmore . It starred Luke Treadaway as Titus, David Warner as the Artist and Carl Prekopp as Steerpike. It also starred Paul Rhys , Miranda Richardson , James Fleet , Tamsin Greig , Fenella Woolgar , Adrian Scarborough and Mark Benton among others. There have been stage adaptations of Titus Groan ,

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2058-552: The original versions on 21 and 28 September 2003. In 2000, the BBC and the PBS station WGBH of Boston produced a miniseries for television, titled Gormenghast , based on the first two books of the trilogy. In 2011, Brian Sibley adapted the story again, this time as six one-hour episodes broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as the Classic Serial starting on 10 July 2011. The serial was titled The History of Titus Groan and adapted

2107-414: The position that they rightfully deserve. Steerpike manages to use the twins' ambition for his own ends. He promises them power and influence, and convinces them that they could achieve their goal by burning down Sepulchrave's beloved library. Steerpike prepares meticulously for the act of arson . He arranges for the burning to happen when the entire Groan family and their most important servants are inside

2156-415: The rest of Gormenghast. Instead, she spends her time either in her bedroom or in walking selected areas, in the company of a legion of birds and her white cats that alone command her affections. Their daughter is 15-year-old Fuchsia Groan , attended to by the easily upset Nannie Slagg. Self-absorbed, childish and thoughtless, she is also impulsive, imaginative and at times fiercely affectionate. Sequestered in

2205-470: The ritualistic duties he must perform every day, every week, every month and every year at appropriate times. Steerpike hoped to become Master of Ritual (a very prestigious job in Gormenghast) after Sourdust died, but the title, like so many things in the castle, is hereditary, and so goes to Sourdust's seventy-four-year-old son Barquentine , who has lived almost completely forgotten in a remote part of

2254-485: The south wing of the castle are Sepulchrave's identical twin sisters Cora and Clarice Groan, notable for always being dressed in purple. Both suffered from epileptic fits in their youth, as a result of which their left arms and legs are "rather starved". They have the same vague and vacant personalities, lacking intelligence to the point of intellectual disability . Both crave political power and bitterly resent Gertrude, believing that she robbed them of their rightful place in

2303-522: The stagnant society of Gormenghast. The first catalyst is the birth of Titus Groan , the heir to Lord Sepulchrave , which interrupts the centuries-old daily rituals which are practiced at all levels of the castle's society, from the kitchens to the Hall of Bright Carvings in Gormenghast's upper reaches. Though he is the title character and integral to the plot, Titus appears only infrequently as an infant during his first two years of life. The second

2352-463: The tower, Flay is ordered to stay where he is. The mad Earl babbles about possible reincarnation , bids Flay farewell, and then drags the body into the tower by himself and is attacked and eaten by the starved Death Owls, along with Swelter's remains. After the disappearance of the Earl and the chief cook (the exiled Flay is not able to tell anyone what has happened), Steerpike leads a search for them. Naturally, their remains are not found, but Steerpike

2401-426: Was sound enough, but the sum of these several members accrued to an unexpectedly twisted total. His face was pale like clay and save for his eyes, mask-like. These eyes were set very close together, and were small, dark red, and of startling concentration. Steerpike first appears as a youth of seventeen years with an unclear past, working in Gormenghast's Great Kitchen under the chef Abiatha Swelter , whom he hates. On

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