The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The plot of Edwin Drood, and particularly the character of John Jasper, illuminates examples of obsessive and destructive behavior; interestingly, Jasper also displays attempts at self-control, particularly in service of concealment. The tension between these elements of his character shows that obsession can end up necessitating self-control, while also ensuring that a character will eventually lose it. Jasper’s obsessive tendencies coalesce around two objects: Rosa and opium (it is worth noting that physiological elements may play a role in Jasper’s addiction, but the notion of addiction as a disease was less clearly established in the Victorian era). Jasper’s obsessive fascination with Rosa is so pronounced that characters like Helena and Neville notice it almost immediately; Rosa is terrified of him: “he haunts my thoughts, like a dreadful ghost. I feel that I am never safe from him” (66).

Jasper’s obsession with Rosa is so pronounced that it may have led him to murder his own nephew; when, after Edwin’s disappearance, Jasper learns that the two of them broke off their engagement, he reacts by “throw[ing] back [his] head, clutching [his] hair with [his] hands” (168); his horrified reaction may reflect the dawning realization that he has needlessly committed murder. When Jasper finally confesses his feelings to Rosa, he alludes to an utter lack of control over his emotions, explaining that “even when my dear boy was affianced to you, I loved you madly” (206). The fact that it was highly inappropriate for Jasper to be infatuated with his nephew’s fiancée led him to attempt concealment, and this required some element of self-control. Jasper claims, “I endured it all in silence […] I hid my secret loyally” (206). He is partially correct, in that Edwin certainly never seemed to suspect his uncle’s true feelings for Rosa, but he is also wrong in that Jasper displayed a great deal of suspicious behavior, and his motives were more or less transparent to more discerning characters such as Neville, Helena, and Rosa.

Jasper attempts to conceal his reliance on opium in a way similar to how he tries to conceal his fixation on Rosa. Early in the novel, he lies and tells Edwin that “I have been taking opium for a pain—an agony—that sometimes overcomes me” (14). Jasper traveling to London to consume opium is likely because it would be hard to access the drug in the small community of Cloisterham, but it also functions to separate his public persona as an upstanding citizen from his secret, illicit life. Jasper cannot stay away from opium all together; towards the end of the completed portion of the novel, he returns to the opium den, but he also attempts to conceal and control this habit. Jasper’s fixations and obsession put him in a vulnerable and precarious position, but he clings to the belief that he can manage his image by lying and concealing his true nature and behavior.