The Last Night | Victorian Substance Abuse & Alice in Opiumland

     As Mr. Utterson and Mr. Poole break into the mysterious unknown territory of Dr. Jekyll, they discover many items such as papers and clothing scattered about. Despite these objects, however, one of the findings that intrigue the two men the most is a strange concoction. Mr. Utterson describes the scene as he says, "At one table there were traces of chemical work, various measured heaps of some white salt being laid on glass saucers, as though for an experiment in which the unhappy man had been prevented" (Stevenson, pp. 45). Furthermore, Mr. Poole shares that it was "the same drug I was always bringing him" (Stevenson, pp.46). What is this odd substance the two men discover? Well, we don't really know for sure. However, the reader can infer that this concoction-in-the-process is not something to play with. Upon further research, I discovered that, although substance abuse has been around for centuries, it was highly prevalent during the Victorian Era. Specifically speaking, the use of Opium was a trending topic for the upper class and people with some extra "pounds in the bank." Opium is made from the resin of the poppy seed and once dried up, it can be scraped off and used for smoking (although other methods of intake were soon discovered). Opium was a common pain reliever and often combined with cinnamon to offset the awful taste. It is said that the creation of Alice in Wonderland was "dreamt up" when it's creator, Lewis Carroll, was suffering from a substance-based hallucination (I'll leave it up to you to figure out what the caterpillar was really smoking.)

Am I concluding that it was Opium in the hands of Dr. Jekyll? No. However, from the viewpoint of a New Historicist and knowing that Opium was highly popular among literary figures and the intellectual in the Victorian Era, it is a great possibility.