Drug Addiction as an Important Element in Victorian Novels: A Brief Discussion with reference to The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The consumption of drug has always been a common part in the lives of people. People consume different type of drugs for several reasons. Some take it for medical reasons while some others take it for pleasure. The addiction towards a certain drug can have great influence on one’s life both physically and mentally. While talking about drug addiction we mainly refer to the illegal drugs whose consumption is restricted. England in the Victorian Era is well known for the rampant growth of drug consumption, which is actually a result of the Industrial Revolution. In Early and mid Victorian period, until the year of 1868, the people of England were free to buy and sold drugs like Laudanum, Cocaine, and Arsenic. The most common drug, Opium was sold in the …show more content…
The Moonstone is a nineteenth century epistolary novel, which is often considered as the first full-length detective novel of English Literature. It is based on the historical event of the ‘Siege of Seringapatam’ in India by The East India Company in 1799. The story of the novel develops as several narrators narrate about the theft of the precious ‘Moonstone’ stolen by a corrupted English Colonel, Herncastle during the time of the siege and ends with the restoration of the stone in the Forehead of Indian Moon God ‘Chandra’. Drug addiction is used as an important motif in the novel. The novel deals with the idea of drug addiction mostly through the character of Ezra Jennings who is also the fourth narrator of the novel. He is the assistant to Dr. Candy, the most symbolic at the same time the most human character of the novel. The description of Ezra Jennings through the words of Franklin Blake tells many things about his drug
The consumption of drug has always been a common part in the lives of people. People consume different type of drugs for several reasons. Some take it for medical reasons while some others take it for pleasure. The addiction towards a certain drug can have great influence on one’s life both physically and mentally. While talking about drug addiction we mainly refer to the illegal drugs whose consumption is restricted. England in the Victorian Era is well known for the rampant growth of drug consumption, which is actually a result of the Industrial Revolution. In Early and mid Victorian period, until the year of 1868, the people of England were free to buy and sold drugs like Laudanum, Cocaine, and Arsenic. The most common drug, Opium was sold in the …show more content…
The Moonstone is a nineteenth century epistolary novel, which is often considered as the first full-length detective novel of English Literature. It is based on the historical event of the ‘Siege of Seringapatam’ in India by The East India Company in 1799. The story of the novel develops as several narrators narrate about the theft of the precious ‘Moonstone’ stolen by a corrupted English Colonel, Herncastle during the time of the siege and ends with the restoration of the stone in the Forehead of Indian Moon God ‘Chandra’. Drug addiction is used as an important motif in the novel. The novel deals with the idea of drug addiction mostly through the character of Ezra Jennings who is also the fourth narrator of the novel. He is the assistant to Dr. Candy, the most symbolic at the same time the most human character of the novel. The description of Ezra Jennings through the words of Franklin Blake tells many things about his drug