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 mu

The Dormouse in chapter seven is very tired and just sleeps; "...a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using hit as a cushion..." The Dormouse is on character in the Mad-Tea Party. In Victorian times opium was processed into tea called Poppy tea (Wohl). This could have been the tea that they were all drinking which was making the Dormouse fall into such a deep sleep. Another example of the Dormouse sleeping an just talking nonsense is this (page forty-six); "The Dormouse is sleeping again," said the Hatter, and he poured a little hot tea upon its nose. The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its eyes, "Of course: just what u was going to remark myself."" The Dormouse is under the influence of the drugs which make him sleep, sleeping is the only way he can escape the reality of living in the same time forever which is how the Hatter and the March Hare live, because it is always six o'clock which is tea time. The Dormouse uses his sleep as a way to escape this which, Carroll can use as a positive effect of the drug, because who would want to have to go through something harsh when the can escape it and sleep it away.

Lewis Carroll again shows that the use of drugs isn't negative at all. Alice might have gotten scared but she didn't fear the mushroom because she ate more of it to get taller.

"There was nothing so very remarkable in that, nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear a Rabbit say to itself "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural)..."

st 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

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Approximate Word count = 1303
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)