Suspiria de Profundis · Question
How does Suspiria de Profundis develop the theme of Memory and the Past?
Answer
Suspiria de Profundis by Thomas De Quincey develops Memory and the Past across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
Memory is treated as a palimpsest, with past experiences layered and recoverable, and the act of recalling grief and joy serves as a central narrative device for understanding identity and fate.
The chapter revisits childhood afflictions as a key agency that, combined with opium, shaped the narrator's dreams.
The chapter is built on the narrator's memories of his sister, the nursery, and the Bible stories, showing how past experiences shape present emotions.
De Quincey recalls these events from a distance of 'some twenty or more years,' and notes how the mail-coaches 'tyrannise over my dreams,' linking past experiences to present memory.
Evidence in the book
- Dreaming
The chapter revisits childhood afflictions as a key agency that, combined with opium, shaped the narrator's dreams.
- The Affliction of Childhood
The chapter is built on the narrator's memories of his sister, the nursery, and the Bible stories, showing how past experiences shape present emotions.
- The Glory of Motion
De Quincey recalls these events from a distance of 'some twenty or more years,' and notes how the mail-coaches 'tyrannise over my dreams,' linking past experiences to present memory.
- The Palimpsest of the Human Brain
The central theme: the brain as a palimpsest where all past experiences are preserved and can be revived.
- Memorial Suspiria
The narrator invokes the past as a 'secret exhibition,' and the mother's letter serves as a tangible link to memory and maternal love.
- The Apparition of the Brocken
The narrator recalls a childhood affliction that returns in memory like April showers, linking past grief to present experience.
- The Daughter of Lebanon
The daughter yearns for her native hills and the memory of her twin sister, with whom she wandered among the cedars in childhood.
- The Princess Who Overlooked One Seed in a Pomegranate
The parable and personal reflection illustrate how past errors and griefs echo across time, resurging unexpectedly.
