'Make It Make Sense!' Reconsidering Titus Groan as Literature of the Absurd

Abstract

This thesis argues against the placement of Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan (1946) in Gothic Fantasy and is a reconsideration of the novel as one belonging to the literature of the Absurd. The thematic core of Titus Groan is a world that is ruled by a tradition which is all-encompassing and unknowable. This impenetrable tradition that rules every member of Gormenghast is comparable to Albert Camus’ phenomenon of ‘the Absurd:’ the paradox of humanity’s search for meaning in a meaningless universe or modified as the paradox of searching for purpose in a predestined society. The core struggle of Titus Groan can be argued to be the meeting the characters have with this meaninglessness, either transcending it through adopting Absurdism (transcending Nihilism through Nihilism) or by committing suicide (Lord Sepulchrave) and thereby negating the value of life itself. It has been discussed by many scholars that Mervyn Peake’s categorization as a fantast is inadequate, as it is a shallow representation of Mervyn Peake’s prose style and the content of especially his Gormenghast trilogy as deeply dark, but still humorous and celebratory of life’s absurdities. The novel’s placement in fantasy has been refuted, though not much further than its inadequacy, since the myth of Titus Groan as Gothic Fantasy still persists. Gothic Fantasy is a misnomer as it is merely related to the novel’s setting of a crumbling castle, and the novel otherwise fails to include consistent tropes of either fantasy or the Gothic. This thesis argues that Mervyn Peake’s novel belongs to the literature of the Absurd from the beginning of the 20th century due to the novel’s concern with the themes of humanity’s estrangement from their universe and the questioning of life’s purpose, as well as the novel’s dense and overwhelming prose and the exploration of dread with a soft underbelly of humour. Peake is therefore closer to authors like Kafka, Beckett, and Carroll than he has ever been to authors like Tolkien and Lewis. By classifying his novel Titus Groan as a part of the literature of the Absurd, a new light is shed on his work as celebratory of life due to its representation of the inherent meaninglessness of it.

This thesis argues against the placement of Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan (1946) in Gothic Fantasy and is a reconsideration of the novel as one belonging to the literature of the Absurd. The thematic core of Titus Groan is a world that is ruled by a tradition which is all-encompassing and unknowable. This impenetrable tradition that rules every member of Gormenghast is comparable to Albert Camus’ phenomenon of ‘the Absurd:’ the paradox of humanity’s search for meaning in a meaningless universe or modified as the paradox of searching for purpose in a predestined society. The core struggle of Titus Groan can be argued to be the meeting the characters have with this meaninglessness, either transcending it through adopting Absurdism (transcending Nihilism through Nihilism) or by committing suicide (Lord Sepulchrave) and thereby negating the value of life itself. It has been discussed by many scholars that Mervyn Peake’s categorization as a fantast is inadequate, as it is a shallow representation of Mervyn Peake’s prose style and the content of especially his Gormenghast trilogy as deeply dark, but still humorous and celebratory of life’s absurdities. The novel’s placement in fantasy has been refuted, though not much further than its inadequacy, since the myth of Titus Groan as Gothic Fantasy still persists. Gothic Fantasy is a misnomer as it is merely related to the novel’s setting of a crumbling castle, and the novel otherwise fails to include consistent tropes of either fantasy or the Gothic. This thesis argues that Mervyn Peake’s novel belongs to the literature of the Absurd from the beginning of the 20th century due to the novel’s concern with the themes of humanity’s estrangement from their universe and the questioning of life’s purpose, as well as the novel’s dense and overwhelming prose and the exploration of dread with a soft underbelly of humour. Peake is therefore closer to authors like Kafka, Beckett, and Carroll than he has ever been to authors like Tolkien and Lewis. By classifying his novel Titus Groan as a part of the literature of the Absurd, a new light is shed on his work as celebratory of life due to its representation of the inherent meaninglessness of it.