“To do without Opium”: Pain Management and Memory in Middlemarch

Middlemarch studies physiological pains as they are influenced by past psychological distress: malaise due to uncertain purpose, crises of identity, traumatic wounding, and pressure arising from past misdeeds. However, the available anodynes of alcohol and opium do not offer viable treatments for these ills. Eliot was well aware of the debilitating effects of chronic pain, from both disease and emotional distress, and her novel demonstrates the then-controversial view that physiological pain can be intensified by and even emerge from psychological causes. Ultimately, the novel points to the insufficiency of both sedatives as means of pain management, advocating the need “to do without opium” even in coping with recurring traumatic memories. By emphasizing the negative effects of sedatives, Eliot maintains that only the compassion fostered by bearing pain can lead to meaningful healing for the individual as for society; her holistic conception of pain and its role in developing social consciousness not only expands on the innovative research of George Henry Lewes, but also concludes that even traumatic emotional sensations can be experienced physically and integrated socially.