Fatal Revenge, Works of Charles Robert Maturin, Vol. 1

Fatal Revenge, Works of Charles Robert Maturin, Vol. 1Charles Robert Maturins first novel, Fatal Revenge; or, The Family of Montorio, was published in 1807. Maturins dark tale of the brothers Ippolito and Annibal Montorio is a complexly plotted adventure, full of strong and vigorous fancy, with great command of language, according to Sir Walter Scott. Maturins relish for the gothic and horrid, so brilliantly exploited in his masterpiece of 1820, Melmoth the Wanderer, here makes its first appearance, and

Charles Robert MaturinÕs first novel, Fatal Revenge; or, The Family of Montorio, was published in 1807. MaturinÕs dark tale of the brothers Ippolito and Annibal Montorio is a complexly plotted adventure, full of Òstrong and vigorous fancy, with great command of language,Ó according to Sir Walter Scott. MaturinÕs relish for the gothic and horrid, so brilliantly exploited in his masterpiece of 1820, Melmoth the Wanderer, here makes its first appearance, and the themes that haunted the later novel find their initial expression in Fatal Revenge. MaturinÕs unique talents of Òdarkening the gloomy, and of deepening the sad; of painting life in extremes, and representing those struggles of passion when the soul trembles on the verge of the unlawful and the unhallowed,Ó make Fatal Revenge a compelling essay into the twilight world of the late gothic novel, one in which both innocence and evil are ultimately unable to triumph over the forces that overwhelm them.