gas·light

/ˈɡaslīt/






verb
gerund or present participle: gaslighting








manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.

Have you ever wondered where the term gaslighting comes from? I wondered about this term shortly after seeing the 1944 movie staring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. This was also Angela Landsbury’s debut film. The movie is a classic, but for those unfamiliar with the plot, the following is an excerpt from Wikipedia that does a great job describing the film. Pay close attention to the use of the gaslight, which was the way people lit their homes back in the day, and you will discover the truth behind the term.

“World-famous opera singer Alice Alquist has just been murdered at her home, No.9 Thornton Square. The perpetrator left without the jewels, for which he had killed her, after being interrupted by Paula, Alice’s fourteen-year-old niece. Paula had been raised by her aunt Alice following her mother’s death. After Alice was murdered, Paula was sent to Italy to train to become an opera star herself.

Years later, an adult Paula (Ingrid Bergman) meets and marries Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) after a two-week-long whirlwind romance. At his insistence, Paula returns to London, where she has no friends, to live in the long-vacant London townhouse of her deceased aunt Alice. To help calm her anxieties, Gregory suggests that they store all of Alice’s furnishings in the attic. Before they do, Paula discovers, in an old book, a letter addressed to her aunt by a man named Sergis Bauer. Gregory’s reaction is violent. However, he dismisses his outburst as one of frustration at the bad memories his bride is experiencing.

After Alice’s belongings are locked away in the attic, events take a turn for the bizarre. At the Tower of London, Paula loses an heirloom brooch that Gregory had given her, despite its having been stored safely in her handbag. A picture disappears from the walls of the house; and Gregory says that Paula took it, one of many instances of her removing and hiding things. But Paula has no recollection of having done so. Paula also hears footsteps coming from the sealed attic, and sees the gaslights dim and brighten for no apparent reason. Gregory suggests that these things exist only in her imagination. Gregory isolates his wife from the outside world, implying that he is doing so for her own good, because her nerves have been acting up, causing her to become a kleptomaniac. He is also jealous and accusatory whenever others express an interest in her. When Gregory does take her out to a friend’s house, he shows Paula his watch-chain, from which his watch has mysteriously disappeared. When Gregory conveniently finds it in her handbag, Paula becomes hysterical in front of all the guests, and Gregory takes her home. Paula begins to believe she should not go out in public. A young maid, Nancy (Angela Lansbury), worsens the situation, as Paula becomes convinced that Nancy loathes her. Gregory secretly flirts with the maid and tells Paula that she is paranoid and is imagining the maid’s disdain.

Paula does not know that her husband is really Sergis Bauer, her aunt’s murderer. He sought out Paula in Italy with the aim of getting back into the house for Alice’s jewels. He has been secretly rummaging through Alice’s belongings in the attic to find the jewels which he is certain are still there. The footsteps Paula heard in the attic were actually his. The flickering gaslights which he claims she has imagined were caused by his turning on the attic lights, thus reducing the gas to the downstairs lights. The kleptomania exhibited by Paula is all sleight-of-hand by Gregory.

Gregory does everything in his power to convince his wife that she is going mad, hoping to have her institutionalized, giving him power of attorney over her, and allowing him to search unabated for the jewels. The plan almost works. Paula is saved by her trip to the Tower of London, as it also leads to a chance encounter with Inspector Brian Cameron of Scotland Yard (Joseph Cotten), an admirer of Alice Alquist since childhood. Seeing Paula rekindles Cameron’s interest in the cold case murder of Alice and her royal jewels that were never found. With the aid of the police, Cameron figures out that Gregory slips into a vacant house next door and enters his own attic via a skylight. Cameron eventually gets inside the house to see Paula and confirms that the gaslights are indeed flickering, and she discovers the letter from Bauer that Gregory had told her was a figment of her imagination.

That same evening, Gregory at last discovers the jewels hidden in plain sight, disguised as costume jewelry. He returns to the house to discover that Paula has apparently been visited by another man. Though he knows that he has been discovered, he convinces the still-confused Paula that everything is in her imagination. However, Cameron appears in the doorway behind and arrests him with the help of police. Paula, finally convinced of her own sanity, indulges herself in a bit of revenge. She taunts Gregory, who is now bound to a chair but still trying to manipulate her, suggesting that she might cut him free so that he can escape justice. She muses that the knife in her hand might not be real, before calling in Cameron to take him away.

Gaslighting is a common ocurance, but for those who are aware, it is very hard to pull the wool over their eyes. These are the people that need to unite and say, “Hey, wait a minute, I saw the damn light flicker, you bastard!”

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