Original Ambivalence explores a powerful psychic and existential dilemma running through the works upon which the reputation of Thomas De Quincey (1785-1869) as a prose artist has always rested: the dream-centered, visionary autobiographies thatMoreOriginal Ambivalence explores a powerful psychic and existential dilemma running through the works upon which the reputation of Thomas De Quincey (1785-1869) as a prose artist has always rested: the dream-centered, visionary autobiographies that began in 1821 with The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and concluded in 1849 with The English Mail-Coach.
Employing the theories of and insights afforded by Rene Girards -fundamental anthropology, - the study demonstrates how De Quinceys best known works both invoke and react against the Romantic assumptions of universality, originality, and authenticity which are their basis.