ABSTRACT
Antonin Artaud's own life frequently reads as though from a Gothic novel, from his early identification with the romantic figure of the 'accursed outsider', as with the 'Wandering Jew', through to his later wanderings in Mexico and Ireland. For a short period between his first involvement with the surrealist group in September 1924 until cast out in December 1926 due to his immersion in theatre and disinterest in politics, Artaud seemed to offer a possible alternative path to that of mainstream Bretonian surrealism. Artaud's project could be considered 'gothic' in terms his core concerns during the mid-1930s, when issues such as incest, purity and cruelty come to dominate his thought, together with a growing obsession with magic, the Cabbala and the Tarot. Anna Balakian characterised Artaud as the 'dark angel of surrealism', the one who, as Breton observed, went 'right through the mirror' and whose behaviour frequently alarmed those who encountered him.
