Thomas De Quincey is commonly considered a key figure in the history of crime fiction, notably thanks to his influential essay ‘On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts’ (1827), where he explores the public impact and the aesthetic potential of the 1811 Ratfcliffe Highway murders. The present essay discusses the Romantics’ conception of crime and De Quincey’s interest for the ‘performative’ and ‘sublime’ dimensions of murder in order to focus on ‘The Avenger’ (1838), a text where the category of the sublime conflates with the theme of revenge and the sophisticated rhetorical strategies of Romantic irony.
In pursuit of the sublime: De Quincey and the Romantics’ metaphysical conception of crime
ASCARI, MAURIZIO
2015
Abstract
Thomas De Quincey is commonly considered a key figure in the history of crime fiction, notably thanks to his influential essay ‘On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts’ (1827), where he explores the public impact and the aesthetic potential of the 1811 Ratfcliffe Highway murders. The present essay discusses the Romantics’ conception of crime and De Quincey’s interest for the ‘performative’ and ‘sublime’ dimensions of murder in order to focus on ‘The Avenger’ (1838), a text where the category of the sublime conflates with the theme of revenge and the sophisticated rhetorical strategies of Romantic irony.File in questo prodotto:
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