After the death of her children, Anna partakes in a dab of opium to ease her pain. It works like a charm: instead of obsessing all day about the things that she's lost, she's able to enjoy a thoughtless bliss. Needless to say, however, none of this ends well.

Anna relieves a great deal of her suffering by taking opium, but the feeling is only temporary. Even worse than that—her supply is limited. In this way, Anna's drug use ends up biting her in the butt because it only highlights the emotional pain she's been fighting against since the plague arrived in Eyam.

This might explain why Mompellion is so different from the stereotype of a Puritan minister. Before his life as a professional man of god, Mompellion was your average working-class Joe, which gives him a uniquely egalitarian perspective on society.

This horrible event shows just how powerful repression can be. Elinor's big sin—sleeping with the wrong person—is something that many people have done. Her shame is so strong, however, that it basically drives her temporarily insane.

No one is exempt from the horrors of the plague. The villagers were gung ho to stay in town when Mompellion first suggested the idea, but now that they're experiencing the consequences of their decision, they're left wondering whether they made the right call. Unfortunately, things will only get worse before they get better.