---
title: "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle — AP Lit Guide"
description: "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) is Tobias Smollett's picaresque novel that appeared on the 2017 AP Lit exam, testing conflict and plot analysis from Unit 3."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP English Literature"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle — AP Lit Guide

## Definition

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett that follows its protagonist through a string of episodic misadventures; an excerpt appeared on the 2017 AP Lit exam, where you had to analyze a tense confrontation between Peregrine and Godfrey Gauntlet.

## What It Is

**The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle** is a 1751 novel by [Tobias Smollett](/ap-lit/key-terms/tobias-smollett "fv-autolink") built in the picaresque tradition. That means the [plot](/ap-lit/unit-1/narrator-perspective-short-fiction/study-guide/X1gB63ee9piXJdVjAdyh "fv-autolink") isn't one tight arc; it's a chain of episodes where the protagonist, Peregrine Pickle, stumbles from one adventure (and misadventure) to the next. Each encounter works as its own mini-conflict while still feeding the larger story.

For [AP Lit](/ap-lit "fv-autolink"), you don't need to read the whole novel. It matters because the College Board pulled an excerpt from it for a released exam question. In the passage, Peregrine confronts Godfrey Gauntlet, the brother of his beloved Emilia, and the scene runs on the unspoken rules of 18th-century honor culture. That makes it a perfect case study for how setting (the social and historical situation) and a single significant event can carry a conflict, which is exactly what Topic 3.3 trains you to analyze.

## Why It Matters

This text lives in **[Unit 3](/ap-lit/unit-3 "fv-autolink"): Intro to Longer Fiction & Drama**, specifically **Topic 3.3: Conflict and plot development**. It hits both learning objectives there. For **AP Lit 3.3.A**, the confrontation scene only makes sense once you spot the [textual details](/ap-lit/key-terms/textual-details "fv-autolink") revealing the setting, meaning the 18th-century codes of honor, dueling, and gentlemanly insult that shape how the two men talk to each other. For **AP Lit 3.3.B**, the encounter with Godfrey Gauntlet is a textbook 'significant event': a single episode that introduces conflict, reveals character, and pushes the plot. Because the novel is picaresque, it's basically a stack of these episodes, so it's an ideal mental model for how individual scenes do narrative work.

## Connections

### [Tobias Smollett (Unit 3)](/ap-lit/key-terms/tobias-smollett)

Smollett is the author behind the novel, and the College Board credits him by name on the exam passage. Knowing he wrote episodic, satirical picaresques helps you predict the passage's [tone](/ap-lit/unit-4/archetypes-literature/study-guide/fGPFj9bhifKo2kyY43mO "fv-autolink") before you even start annotating.

### [Internal Conflict (Unit 3)](/ap-lit/key-terms/internal-conflict)

The Peregrine-Godfrey confrontation looks like pure [external conflict](/ap-lit/unit-3/character-evolution-throughout-narrative/study-guide/mG0e86Knto3XGWxPEkHf "fv-autolink") (two men squaring off), but each character also wrestles internally with pride, honor, and what he owes Emilia. Strong prose analysis tracks both layers at once.

### Setting as social situation (Unit 3, Topic 3.3)

The CED defines [setting](/ap-lit/unit-1/story-structure-short-fiction/study-guide/68sZtbZ6KjpBckBQRf6V "fv-autolink") as the social, cultural, and historical situation, not just time and place. This passage proves the point. The 'where' barely matters; the honor-bound social world of 1751 is what makes the scene tense.

## On the AP Exam

This novel showed up directly on the exam. The 2017 FRQ Q2 gave an excerpt from The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle in which Mr. Pickle encounters Godfrey Gauntlet, Emilia's brother, and asked you to consider how the two men confront each other. The job wasn't plot summary. You had to analyze how Smollett's choices (dialogue, diction, the formal politeness masking hostility) convey the conflict between them. That's the standard AP Lit prose analysis move. If a passage from this novel or any 18th-century picaresque appears, do three things. First, use textual details to nail down the social setting (3.3.A). Second, explain what this specific event does for the conflict and the characters (3.3.B). Third, build a defensible thesis about how the author's choices create meaning. You will never be asked to recall the novel's full plot from memory.

## The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle vs Bildungsroman

Both follow a young protagonist over time, so they get mixed up. A bildungsroman traces steady moral and psychological growth toward maturity. A picaresque like Peregrine Pickle is episodic: the hero bounces through adventures, often without learning much, and the fun is in the satire of the social worlds he passes through. If a passage's energy comes from the episode itself rather than the character's growth, you're likely in picaresque territory.

## Key Takeaways

- The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle is a 1751 picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, meaning the plot is a series of loosely connected episodes rather than one continuous arc.
- An excerpt from the novel appeared on the 2017 AP Lit FRQ Q2, where you had to analyze the confrontation between Peregrine Pickle and Godfrey Gauntlet, Emilia's brother.
- The confrontation scene is a model 'significant event' under AP Lit 3.3.B because one episode introduces conflict, reveals character, and develops the plot all at once.
- Setting in this passage means the 18th-century honor culture surrounding the two men, which matches the CED's definition of setting as a social, cultural, and historical situation (AP Lit 3.3.A).
- You never need to have read the full novel for the exam; the passage is provided, and your job is close analysis of the author's choices.

## FAQs

### What is The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle?

It's a picaresque novel published in 1751 by Tobias Smollett, following the protagonist Peregrine Pickle through a series of episodic adventures and misadventures. In AP Lit, it's best known as the source of a released prose analysis FRQ.

### Do I need to read The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle for the AP Lit exam?

No. AP Lit never requires you to have read a specific novel. When the 2017 exam used a passage from it (FRQ Q2), the excerpt was printed right there, and the task was to analyze how Smollett presents the confrontation between Peregrine and Godfrey Gauntlet.

### What was the 2017 AP Lit FRQ about Peregrine Pickle?

The 2017 FRQ Q2 gave a passage where Mr. Pickle encounters Godfrey Gauntlet, the brother of his beloved Emilia, and asked how the two men confront each other. Strong answers analyzed Smollett's literary choices, not just what happens in the scene.

### How is a picaresque novel like Peregrine Pickle different from a bildungsroman?

A bildungsroman tracks a protagonist's growth into maturity, while a picaresque strings together episodes where the hero often doesn't change much. Peregrine Pickle is picaresque, so each adventure works as its own self-contained conflict.

### Why does Peregrine Pickle connect to Topic 3.3 in AP Lit?

Topic 3.3 covers conflict and plot development. The Gauntlet confrontation is a clear example of a significant event driving conflict (AP Lit 3.3.B), and the 18th-century honor culture in the scene shows how setting includes the social and historical situation (AP Lit 3.3.A).

## Related Study Guides

- [3.3 Conflict and plot development](/ap-lit/unit-3/conflict-plot-development/study-guide/IzUz2Kq1miXLL4wKntgE)

## Structured Data

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle#resource","name":"The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle — AP Lit Guide","url":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-06-11T05:53:26.712Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"AP English Literature Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle#term","name":"The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle","description":"The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett that follows its protagonist through a string of episodic misadventures; an excerpt appeared on the 2017 AP Lit exam, where you had to analyze a tense confrontation between Peregrine and Godfrey Gauntlet.","url":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms/the-adventures-of-peregrine-pickle","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","name":"AP English Literature Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It's a picaresque novel published in 1751 by Tobias Smollett, following the protagonist Peregrine Pickle through a series of episodic adventures and misadventures. In AP Lit, it's best known as the source of a released prose analysis FRQ."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Do I need to read The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle for the AP Lit exam?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. AP Lit never requires you to have read a specific novel. When the 2017 exam used a passage from it (FRQ Q2), the excerpt was printed right there, and the task was to analyze how Smollett presents the confrontation between Peregrine and Godfrey Gauntlet."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What was the 2017 AP Lit FRQ about Peregrine Pickle?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The 2017 FRQ Q2 gave a passage where Mr. Pickle encounters Godfrey Gauntlet, the brother of his beloved Emilia, and asked how the two men confront each other. Strong answers analyzed Smollett's literary choices, not just what happens in the scene."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How is a picaresque novel like Peregrine Pickle different from a bildungsroman?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A bildungsroman tracks a protagonist's growth into maturity, while a picaresque strings together episodes where the hero often doesn't change much. Peregrine Pickle is picaresque, so each adventure works as its own self-contained conflict."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does Peregrine Pickle connect to Topic 3.3 in AP Lit?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Topic 3.3 covers conflict and plot development. The Gauntlet confrontation is a clear example of a significant event driving conflict (AP Lit 3.3.B), and the 18th-century honor culture in the scene shows how setting includes the social and historical situation (AP Lit 3.3.A)."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"AP English Literature","item":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Key Terms","item":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/key-terms"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Unit 3","item":"https://fiveable.me/ap-lit/unit-3"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle"}]}]}
```