SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t read The
Moonstone.
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| A picture of a yellow diamond, because some of us can only dream... |
I’d heard that people had decided to write character
analyses but I have instead decided to examine the role of opium in Wilkie
Collins’ The Moonstone.
Wilkie Collins’ own opium
addiction started at the age of thirty, when he began to suffer from gout. Both
his legs and eyes were greatly affected, so he continued to turn to laudanum (opium
concoction) to ease the pain, carrying it around in a sliver flask. According
to my research, Collins consumed enough opium mixture to kill 12 people. So I
suppose he’d be an expert on the effects of opium…
In his detective novel, The Moonstone, opium is the key to
the crime. Here’s the general gist of the crime as it was revealed: Rosanna
revealed through a letter to Franklin that he must’ve stolen the diamond
because of his nightgown being stained with paint. However, Franklin didn’t
remember stealing the diamond. Ezra Jennings, an opium addict, suggests that it
is possible that he was under the influence of the drug the night he stole the
diamond. It is revealed that even Rachel, who loves Franklin and was the new
owner of the moonstone, saw him take the diamond. After recreating the theft,
it was proven that after quitting his smoking addiction and anxiously talking
about the diamond, drugged with opium, Franklin stole the diamond. But he didn’t
have it. When he took it, Franklin saw Godfrey and asked him to take it and put
it in his father’s safe. Godfrey was the one who’d drugged Franklin’s drink as
per Mr. Candy’s request—so that he could prove opium was a sleeping aide. Due
to financial trouble, Godfrey took the diamond and pawned it. A year later, he’s
killed by the Indians who take the diamond back to India. The End.
Essentially, the opium was meant to put Franklin to sleep
but instead led to him to sleepwalk and steal the diamond. I was curious about how
Collins used the opium. It almost seemed like a scapegoat to me. How convenient!
He was drugged and that’s why the diamond was stolen in the first place, not
out of desperation and dishonesty but worry. If the purpose of doping Franklin
was to put him to sleep, this must’ve meant that this was the effect opium
should’ve had on Franklin. He should’ve slept soundly…unless…is sleepwalking
also a side effect of opium? I did a little research.
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| Raw opium...looks questionable to me...more like earwax. |
The purposes behind using opium are to relax, relieve pain
and anxiety, decrease alertness, but also impair coordination and cause constipation.
The effects of opium last up to four hours and are things such as euphoria,
absence of pain and stress, altered mood and mental processes, sleepiness,
vomiting, loss of appetite sweating, inability to concentrate, impaired vision
and death. Considering this, I reevaluated Franklin’s reaction to the drug. I
think it’s possible that while Mr. Candy intended for the opium to put Franklin
to sleep, maybe the anxiety Franklin experienced over Rachel’s refusal to lock
up the diamond led to his taking it in the night time. Also the only excuse for
Franklin’s actual sleepwalking might be a result of the altered mood and mental
processes side effect.
But who am I to really judge what a person can or cannot do
under the influence of opium? Wilkie Collins’ own addiction to opium is the
only redeeming factor of this argument. He knew firsthand what could and could
not happen under the influence of opium. He’s more of an expert than I would
ever presume to be simply because of some quick Google search.
sources:
photo credit: http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/tiffanyyellowdiamond.html (diamond)
Yeah, I liked your take on the story a whole lot better. It is so informative and interesting.....not to say that everyone else is dreadfully boring, but it is a fresh new way to read about the story.
ReplyDeleteIt really makes me think about how many artists created masterpieces when they were either high or drunk. So I guess it would have been safe to assume that Collins would have been under the influence of Opium when he thought of the story. Everyone wants to share their fun or horror stories of drugs it seems these days proving that they are adventurous so this may have been his way of doing a "share all" while making some money on the side.
Way to go the extra mile! I love your post Sarah! Thank you for sharing this, it really does make you have a different outlook on the story. How interesting that Collins had an opium addiction, makes me wonder if he had a specific character that kind of reflected himself like Erza or how Frankin reacted to the use of opium in the book. All the information you shared makes me want to reread it and see if there are things possibly about himself inlaid in the story that I would not have caught in reading it the first time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, with wonderful info and humor that made me laugh! :)
Intersting post and thoughtful comments. I think it's interesting that Collins makes sure to cite "objective" sources when he has Ezra explain and rationalize hismreasons for the opium experiment. Perhaps he wanted to make sure that this portion of the novel wouldn't be dismissed as unrealistic or supernatural.
ReplyDeleteI really like your insight about Collins making the opium the scapegoat in the story, I had kind of the same thought when I reached the part where Rachel reveals that she saw Franklin taking the diamond. I was actually thinking there wasn't going to be an actual culprit but just Franklin acting under the influence of the drug, so I was impressed with how Collins made Godfrey the perpetrator. Very interesting, thought-provoking post. Great job!
ReplyDelete