The Moonstone and the Addict

Addiction, compulsion, and obsession can be found at the very core of Wilkie Collins' book "The Moonstone." By refusing to outright condemn the idea of drug use, and by allowing the presence of opiates and other drugs to play a major role in his novel, Collins, a known opium addict himself, allows the reader an uncommon insight into the lives of the addicted and even goes so far as to make room for the possibility that drug use and other obsessive behavior can play a somewhat positive role in the world.

Collins addresses the issue of addiction and compulsive behavior, in various degrees of severity, through several characters in "The Moonstone." Franklin Blake and Gabriel Betteredge are both habitual tobacco users, and Blake's attempts to quit the stuff leave him restless and irritable. Ezra Jennings eases the pain of a mysterious fatal disease through heavy doses of opium but suffers from "a series of frightful dreams" as a result (pg. 392). Betteredge explains through his narration that John Herncastle, the original thief of the Moonstone, may have "given up to smoking opium and collecting old books..." after being shunned by his family and friends (pg. 31). When told that Franklin Blake is having trouble sleeping, Dr. Candy recommends that he take laudanum to help achieve a decent night's rest and, trying to prove a point in defense of medicine, secretly administers the drug to Franklin without his knowledge. Franklin's odd reaction to the drug later sets the stage for the disappearance of the Moonstone and the investigation that follows.

Beyond the world of drugs we find even stranger things. Miss Clack, an obnoxiously pious faux-Christian, has an apparent compulsion to force religious tracts on her friends and those within her social circle whom she feels need to be "saved." One could even make the argument that the ex-thief Rosanna Spears harbours a dangerous obsession with Franklin Blake - her passionate but unrequited love for him drives her to commit suicide.

Despite the negative qualities shown to be inherent in addiction, it is not impossible to analyse the story in such a way as to create a case for the positive as well. Ezra Jennings' dangerous reliance on opium may result in his near-comatose state of being and his terrible nightmares, but the agony of his illness is dulled by the drug and it is through its use alone that he is able to maintain a relatively active life - it is only after he refrains from using opium that he finally succumbs to death. The sleeplessness that befalls Franklin Blake when he attempts to quit smoking tobacco leads Jennings to his (ultimately correct) hypothesis that Franklin may have unknowingly taken the Moonstone while under the influence of laudanum. Further, misguided as they both may have been, even Dr. Candy and Miss Clack believe that their actions are justified on some level, despite the complications and aggravation that arise on their behalf. Finally, although the positive side in this example may be decidedly more difficult to see, Rosanna Spears' misplaced love and her subsequent tragic suicide can be seen to serve for the reader as a macabre contrast to the seemingly blissful life that Rachel Verinder is able to share with Franklin Blake at the story's end.

Throughout this novel, Wilkie Collins consistently defies norm and stereotype by shaping characters that are multi-faceted and complex. Disfigured, ugly and otherwise unheroic characters are found to be emotionally intelligent, creative and passionate, whereas handsome, upper-class and supposedly noble characters are found to be capable of deceit, greed and other loathsome qualities. When reading "The Moonstone," it is often hard to find the true blacks and whites among all the shades of grey, and the book's even-handed depiction of obsession, addiction, and consequence does nothing to detract from the remarkable underyling theme of subjectivity.

Works Cited:
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone.
New York: Oxford University
Press. 1999.