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Essay on Seeing through the Eyes of an Opium-eater

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Opium is a narcotic drug produced from the drying resin of unripe capsules of the opium poppy, Papaver Somniferum. The major constituent of opium is morphine, and these molecules have pain-killing properties similar to those of compounds called endorphins produced in the body. Several used it as a therapeutic drug to relieve depression, as well as physical pain. Opiates first produce a feeling of pleasure and euphoria, which is part of what is responsible for the psychological drive of certain people use this drug. By the 17th century, opium was used strictly for medication in Western Europe, but by the end of the 17th century, addiction became more widespread. At this time, the specific effects of opium on the human body and mind …show more content…

Not everyone accepted this idea, however, with England being as traditional as it was; but many Romantic writers were intrigued with the level of creativity and imagination they believed opium could induce. In Confessions, De Quincey says that he hopes to present a "useful and instructive" record of what he feels to be a remarkable period in his life, and how he feels opium addiction played an important role in his writing. Up until this point, traditional English society had frowned upon people revealing their personal faults and discrepancies. Although it was undeniable that people had their flaws, it was an unspoken rule that you had to keep your weak side hidden. De Quincey opens with an apology that he is "breaking through that delicate and honourable reserve, which, for the most part, restrains us from the public exposure of our own errors and infirmities" (1), because he understand that, normally, "guilt and misery shrink...from public notice" (1). However, he is prepared to stir things up and warns that the following confessions may come as a shock to some readers because it will go against the grain of tradition. De Quincey starts off by suggesting that "infirmity and misery do not, of necessity, imply guilt" (2). In other words, although he does call this his confessions, he means it only in the sense of admittance, not in the sense of being at fault. If

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