Absinthe became popular in late 19th Century Paris, especially in bohemian artist circles. Colloquially called the "Green Fairy," absinthe became a symbol of social defiance and gained opposition from politicians and social conservatives. The alleged hallucinatory substance was eventually banned in many countries.

The sheer scale of Manet's The Absinthe Drinker forces viewers to see a mundane subject in a heroic pose at a size often reserved for portraits of royalty. The man, who is supposedly modeled after a man named Collardet, wears a dark cloak and top hat. Framed by an empty liquor bottle and a half-filled glass of absinthe, he seems to retreat into the shadows. The crumbling wall and dimly lit scene seems to hint at disorder, immorality, chaos, all of which lie in stark contrast to the period's fascination with order. This painting, with its muted and dusty colors, is the epitome of realism. It offers a glimpse of the disorder that balanced out the suffocating regulation and rote nature of factory life.