Chapter 2: The Cry of Death
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Published:17 May 2023
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Product Type: Popular Science
Poisonous Tales
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Using a scene from Christopher Marlowe’s 1590 play The Jew of Malta, this chapter examines the feasibility of the plot device of death-like drug-induced unconsciousness. The two poisons at play are opium poppies (morphine) and mandrakes (scopolamine) and they are used to give our protagonist the temporary appearance of death, to allow him to escape prison. Mandrakes in particular also have many other mentions and uses in literature including as a witches brew, a restorative potion or antidote, a remedy to increase female fertility, or a way of bringing on madness or memory loss. Both chemicals also have modern medical uses and are part of the forensic toxicologists’ casebook in accidental and deliberate poisonings and drug-facilitated crimes.