Thomas Love Peacock is a unique figure in literature, standing apart as an individualist. While his work shares similarities with writers like Aristophanes, Plato, Rabelais, Voltaire, and even Aldous Huxley, he doesn’t fully resemble any of them. Though his writing is often categorized as a satirical novel of ideas, his humor is too lighthearted, his plots too meandering, and his critiques too playful to fit neatly into that genre.

As a young romantic and a close friend of Shelley, Peacock took aim at the romantic movement in Nightmare Abbey, humorously mocking figures like Coleridge, Byron, and even Shelley himself in a gentle, good-natured way. In Crotchet Castle, he turned his satirical eye toward political economists and scientific progress, using exaggeration and ridicule to poke fun at the intellectual trends of his time. Despite his biting wit, the romantic side of Peacock never fully disappeared. His characters often engage in long, witty conversations set against wild, natural backdrops, which Peacock describes with genuine affection.