The Role of Opium in British Society
Written by
Angelina T. Garcia, Raj Bajwa, Aaron Nevins
and Matthew Van Der Haeghen
The opium poppy was first cultivated in Mesopotamia in 3400 B.C. In 1606, ships chartered by Elizabeth I were instructed to purchase the finest Indian opium and transport it back to England. From 1637 onwards, Opium became the main product of British trade with China. In 1680, Sydenham’s Laudanum, a pill compounded of opium, sherry wine and herbs, was introduced to England as one of many new ailments. In the 18th and 19th century, opium became a part of not only British literature but also a part of British culture. From this point on, regardless of outside circumstances such as the opium wars, novelists along with the rest of society turned to opium. Opium began as a new medical product but was quickly used for recreational use, a use that affected literature and took lives.
The Opium Wars
The 18th and 19th Centuries saw the introduction of opium to
China. This was a “triangle trade” across the Indian and Pacific oceans
similar to the American slave trade across the Atlantic. The British imported
opium into China from its colonies in India. Chinese silks, spices, tea,
and other delicacies were also imported from China to England while British
manufactured goods to India
.
From the beginning, the ruling Tang dynasty opposed the importation
of opium into its territory and actively discouraged its use by placing a
stigma of immorality on those who used the drug. However, the British importers
saw opium, as merely a product for which there was a strong demand for in
China. Opium did not have any correlation with morality or lack thereof
in the British mind. These two divergent viewpoints eventually came to a
head in the early 1840s with violent conflict between British merchants,
sailors and their Chinese counterparts. These conflicts areknown as The
Opium Wars.
In 1776, British merchants imported roughly one thousand chests
of opium into China per year. But by the eve of the wars in 1837, that number
had exploded to forty thousand chests per year. Before the wars, one chest
of opium typically sold at that time for $150 to $200. However, ironically,
by the time war broke out, each opium chest sold for roughly $800 to $1000.
As the opium, trade became more lucrative, the British House
of Commons thought it could increase the influx of money and Chinese goods
into Britain by revoking the monopoly, which the East India Company had in
China in 1833. The House then took over the Chinese trade itself a few years
later. However, the Chinese feared the British government would be more difficult
to deal with than the private British merchants, and so at the end of the
1830s the Chinese suspended delivery of goods to any ship flying the British
flag. This was also the Chinese government’s way of saying that the British
used opium to control trade in all other goods.
During the fighting in 1840 and 1841, the British justified
their violent actions by refusing to recognize the Chinese government’s view
of the immorality of opium use. On June 26, 1843, the Chinese signed the
treaty of Nanking, which gave Britain control of Hong Kong. This allowed
them to establish a permanent settlement near China and meant the opium
trade would continue, despite the conclusion of the war.
The effects of opium on society in 19th century England
Opium use did continue, particularly in the lives of working class people.
Opium served as a cure-all drug for mild as well as serious ailments (used
for soothing small children, coughs, sleeplessness, etc). When the working
week would total up to 120 hours, opium provided a much-needed release from
the world. (www.drugs.uta.edu/opium3.html
). Unfortunately, most of the suppliers were not physicians, or even medically
trained to handle a serious drug like opium. The lack of understanding and
misuse of opium and related drugs caused many addictions and accidental deaths.
In 1850, there were estimated to be 16,000 to 26,000 suppliers of opium, yet
around this same time there were enough narcotic related deaths to present
opium as a public health problem (Opium and the People, 25). The poor
farmers were more susceptible to opium overdoses and related problems because
of their limited medical facilities as well as their aversion to doctors and
practicing physicians. Since many people accidentally took an opium-based
drug, like laudanum, instead of their prescribed cough syrup or other non-opium
based medicine, home remedies for opium problems were widespread (38-40).
Though many deaths from opium were accidental, it did not protect the shop
owners or bar tenders from being held accountable. In Guisborough, a shopkeeper
named Mr. Story accidentally prescribed Turkish opium instead of Turkish rhubarb,
resulting in the death of the patient who took a teaspoon of powdered opium
(the shop keeper faced manslaughter charges) (27). Even though there were
many risks involved in selling opium for medical use, almost every small business
owner would provide the drug; from bar tenders to shoemakers, if they had
the capital they could possess opium for distribution.
Most middle class use of opium is centered on poets, writers
and artists who used opium recreationally for the euphoric feeling. Many
novels and poems were written about opium, or under the influence of opium,
and critics’ debate whether the drug had any effect on the writing and imagery,
or if the writer could have produced the same work without the drug. Unlike
the poor classes, middle class use of opium because a social convention.
Opium eating became a humorous pastime, proving the relaxed attitude about
the obviously dangerous drug (54). Recreational use of opium was not only
centered on the artistic world, politicians, Kings, and many of the upper
class used opium for a variety of reasons (though most were self-diagnosed
ailments or recreational use) (58-60).
In the late 19th century, more and more laws were passed trying
to limit the use of opium, to create a monopoly on drugs controlled by practicing
physicians, and to make opium users less acceptable in society. During the
height of opium use, opium and especially laudanum were rarely prescribed
for actual medical reasons. Most were self-diagnosed and with limited knowledge
about opium and its effects, plus the availability and social desire for the
drug made opium a hard substance to control. Only in the 1890's did the increase
in opium restriction become desirable, caused by the problems with China
and India and the increase propaganda by medical groups against morphine and
opium (192-3).
Opium use in 19th Century British Literature
The extent of opium use in British society can also be seen through its
representation in the literary works of the time.
In 1890, Oscar Wilde published the novel The Picture of Dorian
Gray . This novel portrayed a
protagonist who desires all the pleasures of life, but eventually becomes
a murderous opium addict. In The
Moonstone , an 1868 novel by Wilkie Collins, opium is used as a plot
device for both its medicinal properties and its mysterious associations.
In another novel by Collins titled No Name (1860), the character
Magdalene Vanstone contemplates suicide by means of laudanum overdose.
In Charles Dickens’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870),
the protagonist, John Jasper, plays the villain of the novel.
He is an opium addict who has a scandalous dual identity, switching
between a sober choirmaster in Cloisterham and villainous addict in a London
opium den. Opium is implicitly referred
to in many other works including: Sir Walter Scott’s novels Ivanhoe
(1791) and The Talisman (1825) and Charles Tennyson’s poem “Silkworms
and Spiders” (1830). Opium is also alleged to have provided the motivation
for Lewis Carroll’s hallucinatory ideas in his book Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland, published in 1865.
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Opium not only played a role in novels but also in the lives of the novelists.
In 1819, John Keats along with other writers of the time began using opium
for recreation.
Opium cultivation in 3400B.C. started a trend in its use and
its addiction throughout history.
Opium arrived in London for a noble purpose, to heal and to restore the health
of the ill. Unfortunately, it quickly
turned into one of the most popular drugs in British society. It was a drug
that caused political conflict along with two opium wars. Overall, opium
affected 18th and 19th century British society by being
used for medication, recreation, inspiration and even death.
