SOURCE: “Prodigal Narratives,” in A Genealogy of the Modern Self: Thomas De Quincey and the Intoxication of Writing, Stanford University Press, 1995, pp. 76-89.

In the following essay, Clej analyzes De Quincey's confessional narratives and essays through the trope of prodigiality and the figure of the pariah.

The prodigal narrative that stands at the center of De Quincey's early confessions is his reckless flight from school, the “fatal error” that will follow him throughout his life and for which he can find no excuse. This youthful act of disobedience estranged him from his family (and from his mother's financial support) and left him to fend for himself. This he soon did by squandering his small trust fund (a large sum went as an anonymous gift to Coleridge), which brought him to a state of insolvency that he maintained more or less consistently for the rest of his life. Although...