# Mr. Flosky — Nightmare Abbey character guide

> Mr. Flosky in Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the sublime Mr. Flosky, Mr. Flosky Filling

**First appearance:** 0004-iii

## Snapshot

A transcendental philosopher who speaks in impenetrable riddles, writes a ballad with no bottom, and considers mystery the keystone of all beauty.

## Who they are

Mr. Flosky haunts Nightmare Abbey as its resident metaphysician, dispensing obscurities about pure reason and the pleasures of unattainable abstraction. When Marionetta begs a plain answer about Scythrop's melancholy, he lectures her on the art of being miserable for misery's sake and refuses to speak intelligibly. His parody of Coleridgean idealism satirizes the intellectual fashions that Scythrop himself half-imbibes.

## Relationships

### [Scythrop Glowry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/characters/scythrop_glowry)

_social_

Mr. Flosky is a German transcendental philosopher who confuses Scythrop with abstract theories about love and reality.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/i)

A lachrymose and morbid literary gentleman, a welcome guest at the Abbey, who delights in dismal stories and Kantian metaphysics.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/ii)

Recommended transcendental philosophy to Scythrop, influencing his intellectual pursuits.

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

Inspects the literary arrivals, criticizes the new novel and poem, and takes credit for the blight of modern literature.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/vi)

Dominates the conversation with a satirical critique of contemporary fiction and philosophy, defending synthetic reasoning and mystery over analytical truth.

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

Engages in a philosophical discussion about happiness and perception, asserting that happiness exists as it is perceived.

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

Engaged in composing a dismal ballad in a darkened room; parries Marionetta's questions with elaborate metaphysical and satirical evasions.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/xi)

Participates in the philosophical discussion, offering a definition of ideal beauty.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/xii)

Discourses on the nature of ghosts, claiming to have seen many, and flees when the actual apparition appears.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/chapters/xiii)

Attracted by the tumult to the scene of action.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/characters/mr_flosky
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nightmare_abbey_se/characters