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English 360
9 February 2013
Some Horrid Alien Nature
When we fall asleep, where do we go? For what purpose does the brain impose
dreams with a phantasmagoria of images and feelings upon our sleeping selvesAnd
how does the mind assemble this phantasmagoria? How does it choose which
manifestations of the unconscious to present us with? These are questions that have
puzzled and excited humanity from its beginnings, for which extensive spiritual and
scientific inquiry have been devoted-- questions that are therefore addressed in the
literature of all cultures with recorded writings. In terms of the Romantic Era, the
eminent thinkers of the time were deeply interested in the natural sciences and the
imagination, a combination which explains their propensity to ponder and write about
their dreams. In addition, the idea of the sublime enthralled the Romantics, an idea which
I will define as a beautifully grand or immeasurable nature that invokes awe to the point
of fear. For this reason, they were particularly interested in their nightmares. After
reading the writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and particularly Thomas De Quincey, I
became especially interested in the Romantic understanding of nightmares, and why the
Romantics were so deeply shaken by them. Upon researching these authors, I have come
to the conclusion that one element makes nightmares so frightening and worthy of study
(especially in the Romantic consciousness): the element of the grotesque.
In order to understand the context in which De Quincey and Coleridge sought to
comprehend their dreams, it is important to consider the literature that they looked to.
Scholar Jennifer Ford explores this subject in her book, Coleridge on Dreaming. She
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states that, In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, there was no consensus
on the origin and meaning of dreams (Ford 9). Therefore, In seeking to formulate his
own answers, Coleridge turned to the writings of antiquity as well as those of his
contemporaries (Ford 9). These two groups of writers had very different ideas about
where dreams come from and what they signify. The more contemporary viewpoints
Coleridge encountered were that [dreams] could impart moral lessons, or that they
were derived from the digestive process (Ford 10). Coleridge found these ideas in the
writings of Andrew Baxter, Erasmus Darwin, David Hartley, and men he labeled
Scotch Metapothecaries: Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and Dr. John
Brown (Ford 10). Although these scholars were great thinkers and highly influential in
science, philosophy, and economics, their ideas on dreaming seem highly antiquated. If
one is to believe that dreams are meant to teach a moral lesson, they must first accept that
there is someone or something controlling humanity, deeming it necessary to teach
people through dreams. This belief signifies a certain religiosity to human existence,
which only some, especially today, are willing to accept. Furthermore, modern science
has proven that dreaming and the digestive system are in no way reliant on one another.
As for Coleridges study of dreaming from the Classical Era, he read the works of
Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, and Galen, and the influential interpreter of dreams,
Artemidorus (Ford 10). While some of these writers proposed explanations for dreams
which I do not accept, such as that dreams are messages from the gods, or that they could
predict the future, some of their ideas are very relevant to the plight of Thomas De
Quincey. For example, one of their major understandings about dreams was a
rationalistic one, in which dreams were seen as natural phenomena, the result of the
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dreamers physical and physiological processes (Ford 10). Considering the content of
De Quinceys dreams in relation to his physical and physiological health, it is natural to
draw a distinct parallel. Almost everything about his health and mind, particularly in
Confessions of an English Opium Eater, seems out of balance. Therefore, his shocking
dreams and reveries could easily correspond to that imbalance. In terms of the
grotesquery De Quincey experienced while dreaming, I find Platos idea very interesting:
[dreams] were the reflections of the savage and terrible side of mans soul (Ford 11).
In keeping with the notion that dreams should not be coupled with the supernatural or
religious, I do not necessarily accept the word soul here, however, I think Platos idea
is applicable to De Quincey. Where does the grotesque imagery that haunted De Quincey
come from? I argue that a savage and terrible side of De Quincey, largely created and
exacerbated by his addiction to opium, enhanced his dreams to a degree of the grotesque
which shook him to his core. Since Coleridge and De Quincey were contemporaries, and
because De Quincey revered Coleridge, they shared many influences, and it can be
assumed that these writings informed both of their writings about dreams and nightmares.
It is not hard to comprehend why nightmares upset people. The dreamer, in a
nightmare, has terrifying and inescapable experiences: the only feeling or reality in this
state is the overwhelming sense of fear (Ford 111). However, what gives these
nightmares their character? Are they so disturbing because of fantastical, or everyday
elements? I believe a combination of both creates the distress experienced in nightmares,
a combination which denotes the grotesque. Consider Fuselis painting The
Nightmare, which was a relevant work of art for Coleridge and De Quincey. In his
depiction of a sleeping womans dream, Fuseli utilizes both a goblin and a horse in the
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terrifying and erotic visitation which he calls a nightmare: the goblin sits upon the
helpless womans breast, while a horses head leers from the darkness (Ford 111).
When viewing this image, I am struck by its grotesquery. The fanciful creature paired
with the horse signifies a perversion of nature in which a creature as mundane as a horse
occupies the same image as one conceived by the imagination. It is this pairing which
makes this painting such a disturbing and enduring work of art. The idea of a horse
leering is grotesque enough in itself. In my opinion, the horses distorted appearance
makes it even more frightening than the monster. While that is only my opinion, the
writing of Coleridge on nightmares supports it: While every goodly or familiar form/
Had a strange power of spreading terror (Ford 111). The horse is certainly a familiar
form, one of the most commonplace animals to us, which is precisely why a horse,
especially when distorted, is imbued with what Coleridge calls the power of spreading
terror. To me, images that combine the real and the surreal are the most upsetting in the
context of a nightmare, which I believe is precisely what wrought such terror for De
Quincey.
When describing his nightmares, Coleridge says that memory puts together some
form to fit [the imagination]which derives an over-powering sense of reality from the
circumstance (Roberts 93). Although nightmares are not real, they seem real. The
same sense of reality pervaded the nightmares of De Quincey:
The amalgamated images and emotional registers of the dreams are
"horrid" for De Quincey precisely because of their insistent reality, not
because of their potential for symbolism, allegory, or Freudian
association: a coachman with the head of a crocodile is presumably most
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fearful when each element of the amalgam - both the human body and the
reptiles head is believed to be real even as they retain symbolic or
biographical resonance (Schmid 35).
It is not surprising then, after seeing the head of a crocodile on a human body, that De
Quinceys most feared creature in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is the
crocodile. Although De Quincey saw all sorts of terrifying things, the cursed crocodile
became to [him] the object of more horror than almost all the rest (De Quincey 1139).
The element of the grotesque elevated the crocodile to an all-new realm of fear for him.
The grotesque is not reserved for only one animal, though, as De Quincey states, I was
stared at, hooted at, grinned at, chattered at, by monkeys, by parroquets, by cockatoos
(De Quincey 1138). Although grinning, chattering, staring, and hooting, are all actions
that such animals might do, the preposition at adds the grotesque. The idea that the
animals would act at De Quincey is terrifying because although they are natural
creatures, this suggests an unnatural amount of autonomy and an agenda that they could
not possess.
Despite the fright which befell De Quincey because of grotesque animals, the
warped and perverse nature of humans depicted in his nightmares disturbed him more.
This makes sense because he is human himself, thereby causing distortions of humanity
to be more grotesque than distortions of animals. It began for De Quincey when, upon
the rocking waters of the ocean the human face began to appear: the sea appeared paved
with innumerable faces, upturned to the heavens: faces, imploring, wrathful, despairing,
surged upwards by thousands, by myriads, by generations, by centuries (De Quincey
1137). He describes this awful torment as, the tyranny of the human face (De Quincey
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1137). When something as familiar as the human face becomes distorted, especially to
the extent depicted in this nightmare, it is no wonder that it became a tyrant to De
Quincey. Therefore, it makes sense that De Quincey is disturbed so deeply by the Malay
and the exotic cultures he is exposed to in his nightmares. Although the Malay meant no
harm to De Quincey, he became a fearful enemy for months (De Quincey 1137). This
fear is most likely derived from the fact that he sees exotic customs as a perversion of his
own. The Malay and De Quincey are the same speciesthey have the same DNA and
are made of the same elements, but their behavior is very different. De Quincey sees the
Malay in the context of what he calls Asiatic scenes (De Quincey 1137). In these
scenes, humanity becomes a grotesquery. For example, De Quincey says, In China,
over and above what it has in common with the rest of southern Asia, I am terrified by
the modes of life, by the manners, and the barrier of utter abhorrence (De Quincey
1138). Furthermore, the vast populations of these regions only add to their grotesque
image: southern Asia is, and has been for thousands of years, the part of the earth most
swarming with human lifeMan is a weed in those regions (De Quincey 1138).
Coming from a land more sparsely populated, De Quincey cannot comprehend the
population density of certain Asian countries. He fears what he cannot understand, and
makes Asian cultures seem perverse to him. Thus, the exotic becomes the grotesque in
De Quinceys nightmares.
So, within this vast conglomeration of terror, what is the role of opium? Based on
my research, it seems that opium serves to over-sensitize the receptors in the brain which
lead people to imagine fantastical, yet real scenes in their dreams:
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The long-suppressed dream drugstore [of a habitual user] now works
overtime, flooding the system to regain homeostasis. As a result, the
cholinergic system now becomes insistent, escaping the artificially
induced confines of opiate inhibition, producing hypnagogic visions akin
to hallucinations, and enhancing REM sleep (Schmid 37).
In other words, opium enhances the mental processes which lead the dreamer to see the

grotesque while sleeping. In De Quinceys Suspiria de Profundis, he explains how
opium influenced his dreams: opium possesses a specific power not merely for
exalting the colours of dream-scenery, but for deepening its shadows; and, above all, for
strengthening the sense of its fearful realities (Schmid 36).
It is these realities, which create the grotesque, because they are distorted by the
unconscious, and in the cases of De Quincey and Coleridge, by opium. Due to the fact
they had infected forms of the unconscious, they experienced these distortions to a
higher, more frightening degree (Roberts 96). The writings of Coleridge and De Quincey
prove that the more natural and commonplace something is, the greater its potential to
invoke fear is. This phenomenon defines the grotesque in its true essence--A
phenomenon which pursued Thomas De Quincey to the verge of insanity.



Works Cited
Schmid, Thomas H. "Crocodiles And 'Inoculation' Reconsidered: De Quincey,
Opium, And The Dream Object." Wordsworth Circle 39.1-2 (2008): 35-38.
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MLA International Bibliography. Web. 9 Feb. 2013.
De Quincey, Thomas. "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater." The Longman
Anthology of British Literature. Ed. Joseph Terry. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 1115-
142. Print.
Ford, Jennifer. Coleridge on Dreaming: Romanticism, Dreams, and the Medical
Imagination. Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
Roberts, Daniel S. "Exorcising the Malay: Dreams and the Unconscious in Coleridge and
De Quincey." Ed. David S. Miall. The Wordsworth Circle XXIV.2 (1993): 91-96.
Print.
Fuseli, Henry. The Nightmare. Painting. Webartacademy.com 9 February 2013.