Abstract
Zeluco. A novel by JOHN Moore published in 1786 with the sub-title, ‘Various views of Human Nature, Taken from Life and Manners,Foreign and Domestic’. It tells the story of the crimes committed by Zeluco, a vicious Sicilian nobleman whose life is corrupted by lust, cruelty and revenge. His childhood is marked by several cruel acts; as he grows into manhood his wickedness culminates in the enforced marriage, by treachery, of a beautiful and virtuous girl who is finally driven into madness. Zeluco is then himself killed in circumstances that mirror the uneven tenor of his own life. Although the sadistic and scandalous scenes link the novel to Gothic tales of horror, Zeluco is saved from the excesses of that genre by Moore’s psychological insights into the central character’s monstrous behaviour.
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© 1984 Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Royle, T. (1984). Z. In: The Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07587-4_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07587-4_25
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-37871-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-07587-4
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