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The title of this book is taken from a passage by Keats:
Imperceptibly impelled by the awakening of the thinking principle—within us—we … get into the Chamber of Maiden-Thought … intoxicated with the light and the atmosphere, we see nothing but pleasant wonders, and think of delaying there for ever in delight. However among the effects this breathing is father of is that tremendous one of sharpening one's vision into the heart and nature of Man—of convincing one's nerves that the World is full of Misery and Heartbreak, Pain, Sickness and oppression—whereby This Chamber of Maiden-Thought becomes gradually darken'd and at the same time on all sides of it many doors are set open—but all dark—all leading to dark passages—We see not the balance of good and evil. We are in a Mist—We are now in that state—We feel 'the burden of the Mystery' (Keats, letter to Reynolds, 3 May 1818).
The 'Chamber of Maiden Thought' is a metaphor returned to repeatedly by the authors in their attempt to show how English literature has foreshadowed psychoanalytic attempts to understand the creative processes of the mind. The book attempts to trace the evolution of the ideas of Shakespeare, Milton, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Emily Brontë and George Eliot. The main thesis is that literature has found ways of describing conflicting or unconscious feelings and of containing these feelings in such a way that emotional development can take place in a central character or characters. Literary works are seen to have anticipated many of the insights of psychoanalytic thinking. The 'Chamber of Maiden Thought' seems to represent a place in the mind where not knowing can be tolerated and where there is an intense aesthetic experience as well as increased awareness of dark or painful feelings.
There is a departure in this book from the tradition in psychoanalytic literary criticism of writing a character-analysis of the hero (cf. Jones). While this is still seen to be of major importance, the