The start of an addiction ? Nostalgia ?

The start of an addiction ? Nostalgia ?

British Romanticism has shown a consistent representation of the author's passions since the publication of William Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads. This man is important because he acted as a mentor to Thomas de Quincey, the author of our text, but he was also the one who pushed him to use opium to cure his teeth. The author's first consumption is told in his autobiography "Confession of an English opium-Eater" published in 1821. In the excerpt presented to us, which is situated at the beginning of the section "The pleasures of opium", the author tells of his first consumption of opium, describing it as a miraculous experience. Nevertheless, the view that describes this scene in 1804 is retrospective, it comes from 1821, decades after the event as it is told to us. The author is thus attempting to write an autobiography, but rather than remaining faithful to his life, the extract follows his writing moods, and thus moves away from the autobiographical process. This departure might invite us to question Thomas de Quincey's processes, to what extent his extract is part of a "Failure of Autobiography"?

        We can prove it firstly through the recollections of memories, which is a romantic way of proceeding in the autobiographical genre. However, this autobiography may seem unreal, almost like a dream. And finally, it can be considered a failure because of how Thomas de Quincey is steeped in an artificial paradise in the extract.  

I/ A recollection of memories, a romantic way of proceeding

A - Un homme en souffrance, perdu

The event of his first consumption of opium in the beginning of this part "The pleasures of Opium" is above all part of a certain context, that of a lost and suffering man who introduces his feelings in his text. Indeed, upon his return to London in 1804, he ends up falling ill, he is "seized with tooth-ache" l.6. Nevertheless, he attributes this to a habit he has had since his "early age" l.5, but from which he has taken a break, as evidenced by the term "intermission" l.7. From the very beginning, the author shows us his own person from a retrospective point of view in terms of suffering, which becomes even more pronounced in lines 8 and 9: "I awoke with excruciating rheumatic pains of the head and face" and which lasted "for about twenty days". Thomas de Quincey is consumed by his pains, which makes him lose his bearings, and pushes him to "run away" l.10 from his own "torments" l.11. He is no longer able to cope with these sufferings, which makes him ramble. He wanders, he is lost again, he even expresses that he has no "distinct purpose" l.11. The way that Thomas Quincey recollects his life in this autobiography proves that at the time, he had great troubles to bear the pain he was feeling. Not only is he in a state of pain, but his surroundings are also putting him in a sort of uneasiness, because of how blank they are.

B - A blank place

Indeed, when he narrates to us about the place where he was, “in London” l.3, the characteristic that’s recurrent in this scenery is that it’s a “dull”. The entire environment of London is colorless, in other words meaningless to the author. This is shown in the text by the “rainy Sunday in London” l.18 which is considered by the author as the dullest spectacle on earth. He lives in a world where everything is meaningless, pointless, but also depressing. We can see it through the word “cheerless” l.16, that points out how empty the world seemed to the author back in the days. Furthermore, even the “druggist” l.20 that Thomas de Quincey meets in 1804 seems empty inside, almost as if he had no soul. The author even calls him “unconscious” l.20, as if he was asleep. And the fact that the druggist is the only other person than Thomas de Quincey in the text proves that his world is actually empty. However, we could also argue that the missing characters or the emptiness of London are just literary processes to focus on the main event in the text : Thomas de Quincey first encounter with Opium.

C - Un événement marquant

This event is the one that marks the whole text, all that precedes is expressed only to lead to the description of Opium from line 32. It is for him a significant event which he remembers clearly, he even speaks of "cardinal events" l.2, something he cannot forget the fact, despite the fact that "It is so long since I first took opium" l.1. To prove this importance, he multiplies the details to resituate the reader "autumn of 1804" l.3, "in London" l.3, "a Sunday" l.10, "Oxford-street" l.17. This array of details shows us how impactful Thomas de Quincey's first experience with opium was in terms of his precise memories of it. Even without quoting them, we can see its great effects on the author through his description of it: "what solemn chords does it now strike upon my heart! what heart-quaking vibrations of sad and happy remembrances" l.13-14. He was so affected by this drug that the mere mention of it brings back many memories. Thomas de Quincey was thus marked by the use of this drug for 2 reasons: first of all the circumstances in which he was confronted with it, which were very rapid. First, the circumstances in which he was confronted with them, which were very quick. Indeed, he learnt of the existence of this drug through "a college acquaintance" l.11 and consumed it only a few hours later. The second is that it seems to be a solution to all these problems, a medicine that has fallen from the sky and solves all these pains.

Transition :

Opium is thus seen in this text as something almost intended for Thomas de Quincey, with a prophetic character, thus demonstrating the aspect of autobiography almost immersed in a dream.

II/ A dream-like autobiography

A - Opium a miracle ingredient

Opium is considered a miracle ingredient in the text, a "dread agent of unimaginable pleasure and pain" l.12. This drug arrived fortuitously to cure all of Thomas de Quincey's ailments, as he expresses it in lines 35-36: "my pains had vanished." More than that, it is the universal medicine, "for all human woes" l.38. It not only cured the author's health problems, but in addition to that it took him to a new world, so much so that he states "here was the secret of happiness" l.38-39. This drug does not even come from this world, given the effects it has on the author, who sees in it "the celestial drug" l.31. The author goes so far as to give it a divine origin, speaking of "panacea" l.38, in other words the universal remedy for all ills, of "manna" l.14, which is the providential food offered to the Hebrews during the Exodus. He also describes it as "Ambrosia" which corresponds to the food of the gods in Greek mythology. Thomas de Quincey thus offers a divine domain to opium, because of the pleasure and sensations that his first experiences with the drug may have given him. Nevertheless, the intermediary who provides the author with the sacred ingredient is equally mysterious, even ghostly.

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