Thomas Dequincey - the Essays of an Opium Eater
Thomas De Quincey: The Essays of an Opium Eater
In his own words he spent his life “selling knowledge”. Did he not understand his potential or did his potential not give him enough self determination? He was born Thomas Quincey in 1785 to a textile importer in Manchester, England. One of eight children, he was the fifth child and second son. His struggles began as a young child and continued throughout his long life.
He was a sickly child suffering from the whooping cough. He would later remember the dreams that he had when he was a small child. After the death of his father, his mother moved the family to Bath; Quincey was eight years old. As a family, they did not struggle financially due to the money that his father left behind. Mrs. Quincey sent him to school under the name of Thomas de Quincey. Upon reading the Lyrical Ballads, he described them as “the greatest event in the unfolding of my mind”. His love for literature started here. While his interest in writing was sparked, he also hated the school. After the early death of his young sister he found himself wanting to change his life and run away from his depression and troubles. His sister’s death would haunt him for the rest of his life and would lead him to a life that he would want to escape.
Thomas ran away from the school and found himself penniless and hungry on the streets of London for months. Eventually he returned to live with his family and continued to explore literature. While he began to grow as a writer, he also started his longest struggle – what would someday make him an opium addict and a famous writer writing about a confession that he was an opium user.
He started using opium as a pain killer because of a problem with facial pain. His interest in literature led him to correspond and seek English writers. His opium use led him to become an opium addict with an overwhelming fascination of dreams and fantasy. But, it also led him to have more debt in trying to
In his own words he spent his life “selling knowledge”. Did he not understand his potential or did his potential not give him enough self determination? He was born Thomas Quincey in 1785 to a textile importer in Manchester, England. One of eight children, he was the fifth child and second son. His struggles began as a young child and continued throughout his long life.
He was a sickly child suffering from the whooping cough. He would later remember the dreams that he had when he was a small child. After the death of his father, his mother moved the family to Bath; Quincey was eight years old. As a family, they did not struggle financially due to the money that his father left behind. Mrs. Quincey sent him to school under the name of Thomas de Quincey. Upon reading the Lyrical Ballads, he described them as “the greatest event in the unfolding of my mind”. His love for literature started here. While his interest in writing was sparked, he also hated the school. After the early death of his young sister he found himself wanting to change his life and run away from his depression and troubles. His sister’s death would haunt him for the rest of his life and would lead him to a life that he would want to escape.
Thomas ran away from the school and found himself penniless and hungry on the streets of London for months. Eventually he returned to live with his family and continued to explore literature. While he began to grow as a writer, he also started his longest struggle – what would someday make him an opium addict and a famous writer writing about a confession that he was an opium user.
He started using opium as a pain killer because of a problem with facial pain. His interest in literature led him to correspond and seek English writers. His opium use led him to become an opium addict with an overwhelming fascination of dreams and fantasy. But, it also led him to have more debt in trying to
Cited: Bloom, H. (1994). The Western Canon: The Books and School of Ages. New York, NY: River Head Books. De Quincey, Thomas. (2003). Thomas de Quincey - Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings. London, England: Penguin Group Harman, W., Holman, H. (2006). A Handbook to Literature. (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Landry, P. (2001). Biographies: Thomas de Quincey. Retrieved on March 30, 2010 from http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Literary/DeQuincey.htm Lindop, G. (1981). The Opium-Eater: A Life of Thomas De Quincey. New York, NY: Tap linger Publishing Company Morrison, C., Morrison, K. (January, 2010). Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859). Retrieved on March 25, 2010 from http://www.queensu.ca/engligh/tdq/index.html Murphy, B. (2005). Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. (5th Ed.). New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Schmidt, M. (1988). Lives of the Poets. New York, NY: Random House