Opium
Posted by Mary Anne on March 07, 1998 at 21:42:41:
Lynne--to answer your question, it's my understanding that laudanum is opium dissolved in alcohol. I had the same thoughts, that the cure can be worse than the disease! However, it's an effective painkiller, and perhaps part of the rationale is that a patient who isn't fighting off pain has a better chance at recovery.
From what I've read, it can also cause (in sufficient quantity) hallucinations and strange dreams. That scene where Marianne "sees" her father didn't make it into the film, but she might well see such things if she's having laudanum poured down her throat. Coleridge was taking it when he wrote "Kubla Khan," and , well . . . 8-)
No thoughts on exactly what ails Marianne--obviously a physical component from wandering through the rain, but she also talks at one point of making herself ill, so whatever it was is aggravated by melancholy, I suppose.
But SOOOO moving, that sickroom scene: "Colonel Brandon . . . thank you." As Brandon stands in the door, tears in his eyes. SOB! I'd say hit us with a picture, Barbara, but you've done that one already! ;-)
- Laudanum. Kathleen Ann 18:40:46 3/10/98
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- Yes, another great scene!! Lynne 22:33:14 3/07/98
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- Opium addicts Erin 13:07:01 3/08/98
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- edgar allen poe Christy meek 20:32:02 3/26/98
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- edgar allen poe christy meek 20:33:34 3/26/98
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- edgar allen poe christy meek 20:33:34 3/26/98
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- edgar allen poe Christy meek 20:32:02 3/26/98
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- Poe Mary Anne 11:37:44 3/08/98
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- Opium addicts Erin 13:07:01 3/08/98
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