Representations of Addiction in 19th-century Literatures
The term “addiction” was not widely established in the 19th century. Even today, although amply attested in medical and legal dictionaries, it is not unambiguous: the label “addict” is highly stigmatizing, while “addiction” to yoga or organic sourdough is a status marker. Nineteenth-century writers nonetheless depicted recognizable states of dependency and loss of autonomy, which 21st-century readers find unmistakably familiar.