Typically the villain of a gothic novel is the master of the mysterious castle or gloomy manor house, the aristocratic tyrant. While the fictionalized nobility of King Arthur's court represented everything that was best in the aristocracy, in the revolution-conscious eighteenth century things were seen differently. In a subversive re-evaluation of the 'great chain of being', the titled classes of the old world order now represent abusive power, court intrigue, and libertinage. Typically represented as older, corrupt aristocrats in powdered wigs and knee breeches, the villains of the gothic novel are skilled in deception and artifice. Their power and influence makes them formidable foes, and they love nothing better than to enliven their leisure hours with acts of violence or sex, preferably combined.

Rakes and Mohawks

Now is the time that rakes their revels keep,
Kindlers of riot, enemies of sleep
-Gay: Trivia

In the days before streetlights, before even the surreal, gas-lit globes of the Victorian era, the only illumination at night, barring a full and unobscured moon, was from torches-for those who could afford them. We rarely ever see darkness in the city: only during a total power blackout can we get an idea of how dark and dangerous the urban centres were after nightfall. Maid servants were warned not to open the door to anyone, lest they be swarmed and sliced with knives. Groups setting off from Kensington and Hampstead rang bells before setting out to alert travellers wishing to join their armed convoy. There was no formal police force; a scattering of night watchmen guarded the city, but these were unequipped to protect people and property from determined assaults. Most of the damage was done by roving gangs of young, disaffected, aristocratic revellers who prowled the streets looking for amusement.

The best known and most violent group was known as the Mohawks, named for the North American warriors. Their speciality was known as 'tipping the lion' and consisted of crushing the noses of their victims while gouging out their eyes. For this they generally employed their bare hands, though some were known to carry an iron instrument specially designed to distend the mouths and slit the cheeks of their quarry. There were a remarkable number of other gangs or clubs, each of them named for some habitual practice. The Sweaters or Dancing Masters entertained themselves by pricking people in the legs with their swords. A favourite ploy was to surround a victim and punish him for 'turning his back on a gentleman' by pricking him in the rump. When the man turned, another would pretend to take offence and prick him in turn. The Hectors (or Scourers) were mere vandals who would walk along a road in force, ripping away shutters and door-knockers, and breaking any window they came across. The She-romps (or Tumblers) liked to turn women on their heads so that their skirts fell away exposing their legs and privates to the whip. A group called the Fun Club were known for setting fire to a row of workmen's cottages for the amusement of watching the panicked occupants escape in their nightclothes. Another, the Man Killers, had a favourite trick called 'boxing the watch'. This involved nailing the night watchman into his sentry box and rolling him down a steep hill. To give an idea how little effort there was to restrain these young men of privilege, one night watchman attacked by Lord Charteris and two friends managed to capture his attackers and take them to a justice of the peace. There he was chided for "spoiling the lads' fun" while the men involved were fined less than a penny apiece.

When not occupied in tearing up the town, duelling with each other, or gambling, bored young libertines focussed on sex. Whorehouses were available in such abundance that, to make the choice easier, the madams, girls and specialities were written up in readily-obtainable brochures. Virgins were a particularly popular item. Certain madams provided these with such alacrity that the price for a first night is said to have dropped from £50 to just over £5. Even so, the money was good enough that in spite of their pleas, some girls were forced to lose their virginities several times over, sewn up with needle and thread between sales. Syphilis (the pox) was rampant and, as there was a superstition (still lingering on in some parts of the world) that having sex with a virgin could cure sexually transmitted diseases, almost half of rape victims were under the age of ten. Rape cases were rarely taken to court, and children were not permitted to testify in any case, even if the victims could afford to prosecute. It was not uncommon for would-be rapists to stupefy their victims with drugs before attacking them, although for some this would diminish the sadistic pleasure taken in their struggles and pain.

Hellfire Clubs

As rakes became increasingly jaded, they needed something unconventional to stimulate their appetites, and they found it in the Hellfire Clubs. The original was founded in 1719 by Philip, Duke of Wharton. Wharton's father, Lord Thomas Wharton had been the greatest libertine of his age. Though he died when Philip was only a child, his son may still have felt the need either to compete with him or to carry on the family tradition.

Wharton's first club was called The Schemers. Mary Wortley Montagu wrote, They call themselves Schemers, and meet regularly three times a week to consult on Gallant Schemes for the advancement of that branch of Happiness which the vulgar call Whoring…if by Accident or the Lady's indiscretion her name should chance to be discover'd by one or more of the Schemers, that name should remain sacred and as unspeakable as the name of the Deity among the Jews. This perpetual Masquerade gives them entire Liberty of following their Inclinations without danger. Lady Mary may have had personal experience of the Club. Her father, Lord Kingston, was Wharton's guardian in his minority, and the two were very close. Mary is reputed to have been one of Wharton's many mistresses and a member of his Hellfire Club in her own right. Early Hellfire Club meetings involved the members dressing up as Biblical figures and practicing mock satanic rituals in a London tavern, later to became the famous gambling haven Brooks.

Although Wharton's father had been a close supporter of Robert Walpole and George I, Philip was an outspoken opponent of the government, and even published a newspaper for the purpose, True Briton. James VIII, George's rival to the throne, had given Wharton a Star and Garter, and he may well have been a covert Jacobite. Wharton's opposition coalition gained strength after a mismanaged government-sanctioned pyramid scheme known as the South Sea Bubble lost hundreds of investors (including Wharton) their savings. Some investors who, like Walpole, had inside information, sold their holdings before the crash and became rich. In order to divert attention away from the scandal and discredit Wharton's faction, Walpole exposed the Hell Fire club and its connections in Parliament, forcing Walpole to disband it. Politics aside, Walpole had a very personal reason to despise Wharton: his sister Dorothy (Dolly) had been seduced by Wharton before her marriage. When her husband came to learn of this, he imprisoned Dolly in her home, denying her access to their children. A number of people, including George IV, have encountered what is believed to be Dolly's ghost, a lady dressed in brown, who is particularly associated with the central staircase of Raynham Hall where she met her rather suspicious death.

After his club was disbanded Wharton went on to become Grand Master Mason of the London Grand Lodge. At the ceremony, the Jacobite anthem Let The King Enjoy His Own Again was played, making it clear the members' stand on the ruling monarchy. Like many another aristocrat ostracized at home, Wharton went traveling on the continent. He was outlawed in absentia, stripped of his title, and died destitute in a Bernardine monastery. Today he is perhaps best remembered as the model for the infidel Lorenzo in Edward Young's Night Thoughts and the rake, Lovelace, in Richardson's Clarissa. Both Richardson and Young knew Wharton well and had been employed by him. Richardson had been publisher of True Briton, in connection with which he was tried for libel

The better known Hell-fire club patronized by Frederick, Prince of Wales (and his wife's lover, Lord Bute, later Prime Minister) was founded by Sir Francis Dashwood. Upon coming of age, Dashwood made the grand tour with such exuberance, his tutor and chaperone reported that he "fornicated his way across Europe". While there, he too made connection with the Masons and exiled Jacobites. A second tour took him to Russia, where he reportedly seduced the Empress Anne while disguised as Charles XII of Sweden. Either Anne was unaware that Charles was dead, or she was happy to play along. Moving on to Turkey, Dashwood adopted Turkish dress, smoked a hookah, and gathered his own harem, prompting Horace Walpole to remark that he had "the staying powers of a stallion and the impetuosity of a bull". Back in England, and no doubt, bored to tears, Dashwood acquired the ruins of an isolated monastery and founded his own Hellfire Club, initially known as the Friars of Medmenham. Buildings and grounds were transformed into a mock-classical background for soft-core pornography of all kinds, including statuary, and an extensive library. The locale had the added advantage that it could be accessed by boat, quietly and privately. Most of the members were MPs, and could have inspired the young Matthew Lewis, who took William Beckford's parliamentary seat not long after, to write The Monk.

If the libertine preoccupations of young aristocrats seem strange, it may be helpful to consider that their model, the royal family, was so dysfunctional and excessive that it contributed to both the French and American revolutions and inspired several attempts to either replace them with the Stuarts or oust them altogether.

The Hanoverian Dynasty in a nutshell

George I, before he came to England, had discovered his beautiful wife was having an affair with a Swedish officer. The fate of the offending officer is unknown; however, it was rumoured that George had him dismembered and buried within the palace. The wife, Sophia, was locked away for thirty-two years, never to see her children again. Her eldest son, later to become George II, is said to have bravely swum the castle moat in a vain attempt to rescue her. When his father left for England to take the crown, he left the boy behind, preferring to arrive with two black slaves and two mistresses, known by his new subjects as "the Maypole" and "the Elephant". Both were ugly, both faithful. Once reunited, father and son had a stormy relationship resulting in the younger George being barred from court and refused access to his own children (he had nine before he came to the throne). He was only waiting for his father to die so he could see his mother again. The day the long-awaited news finally came, he is said to have exclaimed angrily "Dat is one big lie!" His mother had died only the year before.

As George II, the disappointed son was no better a father than George I had been. He had no interest in the arts, famously declaring to his courtiers, for whom culture was everything, "I hate bainting and boetry!" George's eldest son, Frederick, had been sent to Germany for his education, only arriving in England to take up his role as Prince of Wales the year after his father's coronation. George hated him, calling him a half-witted coxcomb, imbecile and moron, and attempted to block him from the line of succession. Queen Caroline was even less flattering, My dear first-born is the greatest ass, the greatest liar, the greatest canaille and the greatest beast in the whole world and we heartily wish he was out of it. When her daughter-in-law, Princess Augusta, was pregnant, the Queen insisted that Frederick could not be the father. The enraged Frederick refused to have his child born under their roof and, even though his wife was already in labour, they moved from the court. George II banned him from returning and ostracized anyone found visiting him. Even on her deathbed Queen Caroline was unrepentant: she refused to see him and declared spitefully, At least I shall have one comfort in having my eyes eternally closed-I shall never see that monster again.

The banished Frederick held his own opposition court, the Leicester House set, which drew support from those hoping to get preferment when he became king. They were instrumental in the defeat of the Prime Minister, Robert Walpole (Horace's father), who supported the king and queen. Frederick made no pretence of loving his parents, calling his father "an obstinate self-indulgent miserly martinet with an insatiable sexual appetite." Perhaps libertine tendencies ran in the family-Frederick was a member of the infamous Monks of Medmenham. To George II's great relief, Frederick predeceased him after a freak cricketing accident.

George III, Frederick's son, succeeded his grandfather and was the first of the Hanoverians to actually be born in England and speak English as his native tongue. Now mainly remembered for being the mad king whose refusal to compromise precipitated the American war of independence, George was tutored by one of his father's friends and fellow Medmenhamite, Lord Bute. It is interesting to speculate how much tutoring was actually being done as poor George could not read until he was 11 and Bute was generally accepted to be his mother's lover. Bute must have been kind to the neglected child, however, because as soon as George was able, he made Bute his Prime Minister.
In the Hanoverian tradition, there was no love lost between George III and his sons, particularly the eldest, whom he once threw across the room in a rage. The Prince of Wales was a compulsive drinker, gambler and womanizer, and to make matters worse, he got secretly married to a woman, Maria Fitzherbert, who could never become queen-she was twice divorced and a Catholic. A divorced woman was an ineligible bride, and, since the ousting of the Stuart line, it was illegal for the monarch to be, or to marry, a Catholic. The The vain, extravagant prince (or Prinny, as he was known to his friends) could deny himself nothing. Eventually he became so obese it was difficult to find a horse to support him when he had to go to official functions.

As it was necessary for the Prince Regent to make a more acceptable marriage, a cousin was chosen for him. They met only three days before the wedding and George's first reaction was to say, "I am not well; pray get me a glass of brandy." He was so drunk for the ceremony he had to be held upright. It was a very bad start, and got worse when he insisted on bringing his current mistress on the honeymoon. Nevertheless, nine months later, his wife Caroline gave birth to a daughter. Two days after that, George had a new will drawn up in which he left his wife a single shilling. Everything else was to go to Mrs. Fitzherbert. Caroline eventually left him even though it meant abandoning her daughter. Later, George took her to court in an unsuccessful attempt to divorce her for adultery. Caroline made the quip that she did indeed commit adultery, with the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert.

While George III went slowly mad, his son entertained assemblies with mocking imitations of the old man's antics while waiting impatiently to take over. There is still considerable debate over what caused George III's illness, one hypothesis being that he had porphyria, a disease which has caused speculation its victims may have been mistaken for vampires. More recently it has been discovered that his body contained extraordinary amounts of arsenic. When it was time for George IV's coronation, Caroline returned wanting to take her place as queen, but was denied entrance to the ceremony, and had to remain outside the abbey, banging on the door with her tiara. She died, very conveniently, less than three weeks later, some say of the same illness that drove her uncle George III mad.

There's an interesting, possibly partially apocryphal, digression to the story of George III concerning a man called the Chevalier d'Eon. D'Eon was a Frenchman who, because of his feminine appearance, won a bet that he could fool Mme Pompadour and Louis IV into believing him a woman. Not only did he win the bet, the king was so impressed with his cross-dressing performance that he immediately put it to use, sending d'Eon to infiltrate the female-only Russian court of Czarina Elisabeth. D'Eon's mission was such a success he was able to negotiate a treaty between France and Russia. Some maintain he became the Czarina's lover.

D'Eon's next career move took him, as a man this time, to England where he became close to the royal family. Here, the story goes, he became the lover of George III's wife, Queen Charlotte and fathered a son on her. When the boy became seriously ill, d'Eon was called to the Queen's rooms where he was discovered by George III. To salvage the situation, the Queen's assistant lied and said that d'Eon was really a woman in disguise. The King immediately wrote to the French court for confirmation. In order to preserve d'Eon and maintain his usefulness as a spy in the English court, King Louis responded in the affirmative. From this point on, D'Eon dressed as a woman. Not everyone was convinced, however, and by 1771 speculation on D'Eon's sex had reached such a pass that, in order to settle a large number of bets, he was taken to Medmenham Abbey, home of the Hellfire Club, to be examined. The results must have been kept quiet because he continued to dress as a woman, even after he returned to France in 1777 by order of the King (by this time the ill-fated Louis XVI). His gowns were made by Marie Antoinette's own dressmaker. Driven back to England by the Revolution, D'Eon and his wife lived together as two women until he died in 1810 at the age of 83, when his true sex was made public. Coincidentally, it was the following year George III was formally declared mad and the Prince of Wales became Regent.

George IV had no sons to hate, or at least no legitimate ones and had to content himself with loathing his daughter, Charlotte, who reminded him of her mother. When the unfortunate princess died in labour, George's brother William ascended. He was living with an actress when he got the news. Although he quickly dropped her to marry someone more suitable, he had no living legitimate children at his death. Ironically, he had ten children with the actress.

Another sad story is that of Frederick's youngest child, Caroline Mathilda, sister of George III. Born after her father's untimely death, she was unlucky enough to be married to her cousin Christian VII of Denmark, when she was only 15. Christian went insane, tempting her to take a lover. When this became known, the lover was beheaded and she went to prison