Drug use in Alices Adventures essays

Drug use in Alice's Adventures essays Alices Adventures in Wonderland Paper In Victorian England the drug Opium was commonly used. This drug did not have the connotation that drugs have today; studies show that five out of every six families used Opium regularly (Connell). Lewis Carroll uses actions of characters and situations to portray the positive effects of Opium and other drugs on a person. Characters like the caterpillar and especially Alice seem to be under the influence of some type of drugs. Carroll never showed characters acting scared of their surroundings while being high, concluding that the characters curiously enjoyed the effects of the drugs. Throughout the novel Alice seems to be in a dream like state (Connell). On page one Alice is said to feel stupid and tired. Opium is labeled as a narcotic, which slows a person down and gives them a feeling of euphoria and can have hallucinogenic effects also. Page one quotes, So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daises, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. This quote suggest that Alice must already be under the influence of some drug (Opium seems to be the best fit due to the times in which the book was written). She clearly is feeling too relaxed to want to get up but ends up seeing a strange White Rabbit run by her. This is an example of how Alice is not scared of the eerie rabbit running by her that talks and has a watch and jacket, she actually pays it no mind the r ealizes afterwards that she should. Alice thinks that seeing this take place is natural. It can be Natural only if being under the effects of hallucinogenic drugs. For example this is quoted on the bottom of page one and top of page two; There was nothing so very remarkable in that, nor d...