Influences of Opium on Creativity
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Introduction to Opium
Opium, a narcotic derived from poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum), is an isoquinoline alkaloid used for pain relief. The alkaloid derives from poppy-seed sap which seeps out of the pericarp when sliced open (Armstrong). When exposed to air, the sap oxidizes and solidifies. Morphine, heroine, and codeine have all been created by chemically acetylating or manipulating raw opium sap. Opium has been used recreationally for over 5,000 years, since the Sumerians discovered its uses in 4500 BCE and named it ‘Hul Gil,’ the “joy plant” (Latimer). In The Odyssey, Homer describes opium with: “She slipped a drug [into their wine] that had the power of robbing grief and anger of [its] sting and banishing all painful memories” (Ladd). Opium has also incited one of the longest lived and influential drug trades in history: From ancient Egyptians selling it to fund the Great Pyramids, to the Opium Wars between China and Britain, to current day regulation on opium-trafficking. In Europe, opium was introduced as “Stones of Immortality” in the form of laudanum, a mixture of opium, alcohol, and gold, during the Reformation (Ladd). However, opium reached its hay-day in the West during the 19th century’s Romantic Era.
The Romantic Era
The Romantic Era was a reaction against the mechanization and cultural shifts brought forth by the Industrial Revolution. Instead of praising the efficiency of their modern world, Romanticists were mistrustful of it, revolting against the established order through artwork. Romanticism is marked by the invention of idiosyncratic characters and the idea of fictional landscapes “reflecting” emotional states. Opium use skyrocketed for several reasons. Its ability to
“intensify perceptions” and “disinhibit impulses” had a strong appeal (Dormandy). Tuberculosis was rampant, and laudanum was the most effective pain reliever. The “style” of the wasting, morose, tuberculosis-riddle poet was popular, and opium helped create the affect (Dormandy). Laudanum use was widespread and completely unrestricted, treating everything from coughs, headaches, and calming down crying infants to recreational opium dens. Five out of six families habitually used opium (Connell). Adverse Effects and Artistic Influence Opiates function by binding to u-opiod receptors in the intestines and CNS. When opium binds, the brain manufactures “psuedo receptors” that bind to opium, but not the natural endorphins it mimics (Le Coutuer). Adverse effects include nausea, vomiting, itching, and dizziness. Long term use can result in osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass, amenorrhea in women and low free testosterone levels in men (Le Coutuer). Opium reduces activity in intestinal muscles, making constipation another common side effect. Even so, Keats wrote of the “magical conspiracy between opium, tuberculosis, and God,” and many artists attributed their greatest works to opium highs. The affects of opium went perfectly with Romanticist values, who cherished “imagination over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over science” (Schwartz). Famous opium users include Frankenstein’s author Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas de Quincey, and Lewis Carroll (his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, but he wrote under a pseudonym), the author of Alice in Wonderland. Of these writers, Carroll’s Wonderland has often been interpreted as a metaphor for opium use, or at least influenced by the mind-altering effects of narcotics. |
In Wonderland
In Wonderland, Alice’s dream atmosphere is complex, surreal, and often confusing. One of the first pieces of “evidence” for opium influence comes from Alice’s growing and shrinking size. Alice says: “It was much pleasanter at home [...] when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down the rabbit-hole” (Carroll). The distortion of physical reality like the kind Alice experiences is called micropsia/macropsia. In modern day terms, the neurological condition is called “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome,” and can result from psychoactive drug use, migraines, temporal lobe epilepsy, or brain tumors. It is possible Carroll experienced micropsia/macropsia when high on opium, and incorporated it into the novel.
Another reference to opium comes with the hookah-smoking Caterpillar. In Victorian age opium-dens (that Carroll would be accustomed to), opium was primarily smoked from hookahs (Dormandy). Alice stumbles upon Caterpillar when he is sitting on a mushroom cap, smoking, and he advises her to eat special mushrooms to regain her normal size. The Caterpillar functions as a secondary reference to opium in that he is “Oriental.” Caterpillar has an “Oriental Grove,” “Origami Ants,” “Samurai Wasps” and an “Oriental Scroll.” The significance in this character’s supposed nationality is that Britain and China had two Opium Wars during Lewis Carroll’s lifetime, the first ending in 1842 and the second war beginning in 1856. Alice in Wonderland was published in 1865. As a British citizen, opium user, and partaking in a culture where 83% of the population habitually used opium, wars over its availability would have had an effect on Carroll’s life. The third pervasive reference to opium comes from Alice’s warped idea of time when she falls down the rabbit hole. Carroll’s contemporary, Thomas De Quincey, best know for his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater states: The sense of space, and in the end, the sense of time, were both powerfully affected [by opium]. Buildings, landscapes, were exhibited in proportions so vast as the bodily eye is not fitted to conceive. Space swelled, and was amplified to an extent of unutterable infinity. This, however, did not disturb me so much as the vast expansion of time; I sometimes seemed to have lived for 70 or 100 years in one night; nay, sometimes had feelings representative of a millennium passed in that time, or, however, of a duration far beyond the limits of any human experience. For Alice, she falls slowly through time, floating down the rabbit hole. Her journey appears to take weeks, but in actuality occurred in a few minutes. Within Wonderland, Alice asks: “How long is forever?” and the White Rabbit replies: “Sometimes, just one second” (Carroll). While there is still a measure of speculation concerning his drug use, the influence of Lewis Carroll’s work cannot be underestimated. Alice’s trip to Wonderland has inspired 150 years of controversy, intrigue, literary and medical interpretation, and the making of other creative works. Some of our most natural phrases, such as “down the rabbit hole,” “a Mad Hatter,” “birds of a feather flock together” come from Carroll’s opium-inspired writings. In science, “Alice in Wonderland” syndrome and “The Red Queen Hypothesis” also stem from Carroll’s tale. Despite its damaging effects, it is evident that opium has made its mark on creative culture. References: Armstrong, W.P. "The Opium Poppy (Papaver Somniferum)." Palomar. 2006. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Macmillan, 1865. Print. Connell, K. "Opium as a Possible Influence Upon the Alice Books." Victorian Authors. Brown University Press. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. Dormandy, Thomas. "Opium: Reality’s Dark Dream." Yale University Press. 24 Mar. 2012. Print. Ladd, Branndon. "Ten Ways Opium Has Changed the World." Science. List Verse, 8 May 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. Latimer, Dean, and Jeff Goldberg with an Introduction by William Burroughs. Flowers in the Blood: The Story of Opium. New York: Franklin Watts, 1981. Le Coutuer, Penny and Jay Burreson. Napolean's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2003. Schwartz, Robert. "The Romance, The Arrangement, The Consequence." Unmasking the Bourgeois. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. |