Melmoth ou l’homme errant

Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters

in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for

immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is

pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over

his pact with the devil. Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th

century, Maturin's diabolic tale raised the genre to a new and macabre pitch.

Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire.