RKS Literature: Murder: Aesthetics and Morality (Thomas De Quincey)

“Murder, for instance, may be laid hold of by its moral handle, (as it generally is in the pulpit, and at the Old Bailey) and that I confess, is its weak side; or it may also be treated aesthetically, as the Germans call it, that is in relation to good taste.”  Thomas de Quincey, “OnContinue reading “RKS Literature: Murder: Aesthetics and Morality (Thomas De Quincey)”

RKS Literature: The Composition of the Fine Art of Murder (Thomas De Quincey)

“People begin to see that something more goes to the composition of a fine murder than two blockheads to kill and be killed-a knife-a purse-and a dark lane. Design, gentlemen, grouping, light and shade, poetry, sentiment, are now deemed indispensable to attempts of this nature.” Thomas de Quincey, “On Murder Considered as One of theContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Composition of the Fine Art of Murder (Thomas De Quincey)”