The magazine article “Lazarus Lotus Eating” is often mentioned in academic literature as the first published Victorian nineteenth-century journalistic article which was indicative of a shift in the portrayal of opium dens.
The article is especially noteworthy it is still more ambiguous and complex in its attitude towards the Orient than the journalistic articles and fictional opium-den-portrayals that would follow it. Hence, in “Lazarus Lotus Eating” the narrator undergoes a great change as his initial racist and xenophile attitude towards the Oriental foreigners changes drastically in the course of the story to feelings of pity and empathy for the poor, pathetic and miserable Oriental opium addicts.
However, there are very few academic texts which provide detailed analysis of Dickens's “Lazarus Lotus Eating” which is necessary to understand the article in its full extent. Academic research has thus not yet fully spotted the article’s ambiguous attitude towards the Orient which constantly alternates between fear and fascination.
The paper seeks to close this gap in research by analyzing how Dickens depicts the ambivalent British attitude towards the Orient in his article “Lazarus Lotus Eating” through the portrayal of Lazarus, the opium den, the Oriental opium smokers, the opium master Yahee and the English women in the opium den.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Opium, the Orient and the British Empire – Fears Relating to Matters of Imperialism, British Culture and National Identity
3. Fear and Fascination in Dickens’s “Lazarus Lotus Eating”
3.1. The Narrator’s Xenophobic Attitude towards the Beggar Lazarus and his Chinese Countrymen
3.2. Revealing Racial Stereotypes, Prejudices and Xenophobia in Victorian Society - The Narrator’s Fascinating Journey through London’s East End to the Opium Den
3.3. The Description of the Opium Den as a Place of Delight and Trepidation and the Ambiguous Portrayal of the Pitiful and Dangerous-looking Oriental Opium Smokers
3.4. The Secrets of the Mysterious Old Opium Den Owner Yahee
3.5. English Woman in the Opium Den – Anxieties about Racial Purity and the Destabilization of English Domestic Life
3.6. An Attitude of Tolerance and Understanding - The Narrator’s Changed Perception of Lazarus and the Oriental Opium Smokers
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this study is to examine the ambivalent British attitude toward the Orient as depicted in Charles Dickens's 1866 article "Lazarus Lotus Eating." The research explores how the narrator's perspective shifts from initial xenophobic prejudice to empathy, reflecting Victorian anxieties and fascination regarding imperialism and cultural contamination.
- The role of opium as both a medical substance and a symbol of moral decay in Victorian society.
- The literary representation of opium dens as "miniature Orients" within London.
- Victorian racial stereotypes and anxieties concerning Chinese immigrants and the stability of the British Empire.
- The character development of the narrator through his engagement with the opium-smoking subculture.
Excerpt from the Book
The Description of the Opium Den as a Place of Delight and Trepidation and the Ambiguous Portrayal of the Pitiful and Dangerous-looking Oriental Opium Smokers
“The curious dry burning odour, which is making your eye-lids quiver painfully, which is giving you temples the throbbing which so often predicates a severe headache, and which is tickling your gullet as if a feather and fine dust, is opium. Its fumes are curling overhead, the air is laden with them, and the bed-clothes and the rags hanging on the string above are all steeped through and through with the fascinating drug” (423).
The picture of the curling shapes of the opium fumes which steep and stick to everything in the room evokes associations of the Orient, indicating that all visitors of the opium den – including the reader - are contaminated and overwhelmed by the Oriental drug. Hence, the description evokes the fear of a possible Oriental infection by the opium fumes but also increases the fascination and the interest with the Oriental sphere. The opium debauch is therefore depicted in highly positive terms as “not noisy, not turbulent, not quarrelsome, but fervent, all engrossing, and keenly enjoyable to those engaged in it” (424).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter contextualizes the emergence of opium den descriptions in Victorian literature and defines the research gap regarding the complex, ambiguous attitude towards the Orient in Dickens’s article.
2. Opium, the Orient and the British Empire – Fears Relating to Matters of Imperialism, British Culture and National Identity: This section outlines the historical shift in perception of opium from a medicinal substance to a dangerous, foreign contaminant linked to imperial anxieties and xenophobia.
3. Fear and Fascination in Dickens’s “Lazarus Lotus Eating”: This chapter analyzes the article’s narrative structure and the central themes of the Orient as experienced by the Victorian narrator.
3.1. The Narrator’s Xenophobic Attitude towards the Beggar Lazarus and his Chinese Countrymen: This section details the initial dehumanizing portrayal of Lazarus and how the narrator's language reflects common Victorian prejudices against Chinese immigrants.
3.2. Revealing Racial Stereotypes, Prejudices and Xenophobia in Victorian Society - The Narrator’s Fascinating Journey through London’s East End to the Opium Den: This part examines the narrator's journey through London, showing how he interacts with contemporary stereotypes and encounters crime, which shifts his focus away from Asian "otherness."
3.3. The Description of the Opium Den as a Place of Delight and Trepidation and the Ambiguous Portrayal of the Pitiful and Dangerous-looking Oriental Opium Smokers: This chapter analyzes how the author balances the "exotic" appeal of opium with the "vampire-like" dangers attributed to those addicted to it.
3.4. The Secrets of the Mysterious Old Opium Den Owner Yahee: This analysis focuses on the enigmatic character of Yahee, exploring his perceived power and the narrator's inability to reconcile his "respectable" traits with his role as a drug supplier.
3.5. English Woman in the Opium Den – Anxieties about Racial Purity and the Destabilization of English Domestic Life: This section explores how English women in the opium den were depicted as victims of "Orientalization" and why this was viewed as a direct threat to the moral stability of the Victorian home.
3.6. An Attitude of Tolerance and Understanding - The Narrator’s Changed Perception of Lazarus and the Oriental Opium Smokers: The final section of the analysis chronicles the narrator's shift toward empathy and cross-cultural understanding after realizing the desperate reality of the smokers' lives.
4. Conclusion: The summary synthesizes how Dickens moves from sensationalism to a nuanced critique of racial prejudices and links these Victorian patterns to modern-day social discourses.
Keywords
Charles Dickens, Lazarus Lotus Eating, Opium Dens, Victorian Era, Orientalism, Imperialism, Xenophobia, Racial Stereotypes, British Identity, Opium Addiction, Colonial Dynamics, Cultural Blending, Literary Analysis, Social Anxiety, Narrator Development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this study?
The study analyzes Charles Dickens’s 1866 article "Lazarus Lotus Eating" to understand how it reflects the ambivalent Victorian attitude towards the Orient, characterized by an oscillation between fear and fascination.
What are the central themes explored?
Key themes include the impact of imperialism on national identity, the construction of racial stereotypes, the fear of cultural contamination, and the portrayal of opium addiction within Victorian London.
What is the core research question?
The work seeks to uncover how Dickens depicts the ambivalent British attitude toward the Orient by analyzing his portrayal of specific characters like Lazarus and the opium den owner Yahee.
Which methodology is employed?
The research uses a literary analysis approach, closely examining the text of Dickens’s article while integrating historical and cultural context regarding Victorian society and British imperial policies.
What does the main part of the paper cover?
The main part reconstructs the narrator’s journey, examines the depictions of opium smokers and their environment, and evaluates the author's changing attitude toward these subjects.
Which keywords define this work?
Essential keywords include Orientalism, Victorian literature, imperialism, xenophobia, cultural contamination, and Dickens’s literary characterization of the "other."
How does the narrator's perception evolve in the text?
The narrator initially holds racist, xenophobic views of the opium-smoking Chinese. However, as he engages with their individual lives and suffering, he develops empathy and a more tolerant, understanding perspective.
What is the significance of the character "Yahee"?
Yahee serves as an ambiguous, mysterious figure. He embodies both the "exotic" fascination of the Orient and the terrifying power of an immigrant who controls a market that creates "groveling" British addicts, reversing colonial dynamics.
Why does the author focus on English women in the opium den?
The depiction of English women in these dens highlights Victorian anxieties about "racial purity." Their "Orientalization" was seen as a direct threat to the moral structure of the British home and national identity.
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- Sabrina Rutner (Autor:in), 2016, Dickens's Early Portrayal of a Victorian Opium Den in "Lazarus Lotus Eating" (1866), München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/369942
