# Mercaptan — Antic Hay character guide

> Mercaptan in Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Mercaptan, precious Mr. Mercaptan, fluted Mr. Mercaptan

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

A fluted, self-delighted literary critic who turns every gallery wall and manifesto into a punchline, and every punchline into a performance of his own taste.

## Who they are

Mercaptan moves through Mrs. Viveash's exhibition as a one-man tribunal, ridiculing Lypiatt's catalogue mottoes and reducing a nude to 'Carracis with cubical muscles' before the paint is dry. His wit is genuine but parasitic: he needs other people's art, and other people's laughter, to feel himself exist. As the novel's sharpest satirical instrument, he sets the tone for its running quarrel between aesthetic pretension and actual feeling.

## Relationships

### [Casimir Lypiatt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/casimir_lypiatt)

_rivalry_

Lypiatt and Mercaptan are intellectual and artistic rivals, constantly bickering over aesthetics and philosophy.

### [Rosie Shearwater](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/rosie_shearwater)

_social_

Mercaptan is a pretentious aesthete who flirts with Rosie and participates in the same social circle.

### [Myra Viveash](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/myra_viveash)

_social_

Mercaptan is a frequent companion of Myra's, engaging in witty but shallow social banter.

### [Theodore Gumbril](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/theodore_gumbril)

_social_

Mercaptan and Gumbril are acquaintances who engage in intellectual and social sparring.

### [Coleman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/coleman)

_rivalry_

Coleman delights in mocking and provoking Mercaptan, viewing him as a pretentious fool.

### [Myra Viveash](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/myra_viveash)

_social_

Mercaptan is a frequent companion of Myra's, engaging in witty but shallow social banter.

### [Coleman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/coleman)

_rivalry_

Coleman delights in mocking and provoking Mercaptan, viewing him as a pretentious fool.

### [Casimir Lypiatt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/casimir_lypiatt)

_rivalry_

Lypiatt and Mercaptan are intellectual and artistic rivals, constantly bickering over aesthetics and philosophy.

### [Casimir Lypiatt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/casimir_lypiatt)

_rivalry_

Lypiatt and Mercaptan are intellectual and artistic rivals, constantly bickering over aesthetics and philosophy.

### [Rosie Shearwater](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/rosie_shearwater)

_social_

Mercaptan is a pretentious aesthete who flirts with Rosie and participates in the same social circle.

### [Theodore Gumbril](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/theodore_gumbril)

_social_

Mercaptan and Gumbril are acquaintances who engage in intellectual and social sparring.

### [Rosie Shearwater](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/rosie_shearwater)

_social_

Mercaptan is a pretentious aesthete who flirts with Rosie and participates in the same social circle.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/iv)

Represents the civilized, rococo aesthetic, dismissing Lypiatt's ideals and advocating for a refined, middle-way existence.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/v)

Quotes Latin poetry and comments on Bruin's frank expression of class prejudice.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/vii)

He accompanies Mrs. Viveash, making witty and dismissive comments about Lypiatt's art and catalogue.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/viii)

Mentioned as part of the herds Gumbril belongs to.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/ix)

Referenced indirectly as the 'great exponent of civilization' whose sense of the term 'highly civilized' is used to describe the mysterious woman's apparent sophistication.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/xviii)

Mercaptan is attacked by Lypiatt in his boudoir after publishing a review accusing Lypiatt of insincerity; he reveals that the vermouth advertisement remark came from Myra Viveash.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/chapters/xx)

Mentioned as having dropped a hint about Coleman's lack of civilization; Rosie had planned to complain to him about Coleman.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters/mercaptan
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/antic_hay_se/characters