Crotchet Castle (1831) is a satirical novel by Thomas Love Peacock. Set at the country estate of Mr. Crotchet, a retired banker, it gathers an eccentric company of political economists, transcendental philosophers, antiquarians, and clergymen whose dinner-table debates brilliantly parody the intellectual fashions of Regency England—from utilitarian economics and the "March of Mind" to medieval romanticism. Amid the sparkling dialogue, romantic entanglements unfold among the younger guests, complicated by disguises, mistaken identities, and would-be knights-errant. The jovial Reverend Folliott, connoisseur of good dinners, supplies the sharpest wit. A delightful comedy of ideas, the novel skewers reformers and reactionaries alike with affectionate irreverence.
