The Female Hypnotist: Stories from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras
This anthology opens with a story by Louisa M. Alcott, first published in 1863. Strictly speaking, this is not historical fiction so much as fiction which has become historical. As the introduction says, ‘literary works about hypnotism were immensely popular in the latter half of the 19th century and on into the early portion of the 20th,’ pointing to the interest of George du Maurier, Bram Stoker, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle in the phenomenon. Two of Conan Doyle’s works feature here, in the company of intriguingly unfamiliar names, such as Montefiore Bienenstok, the writing team Erckmann-Chatrian and Emeric Hulme-Beaman.
In contrast to the relatively few women who actually practised as hypnotists in the period, all these twelve stories and two novelettes feature a female protagonist who is usually not beautiful but attractive (in the true sense of the word) yet is the possessor of remarkable and often sinister eyes. She is predatory, if not actually vampirical (shades of My Cousin Rachel), with the exception of one self-possessed young woman who outwits a career criminal. Their powers are exercised on men, compelling them to actions they would never have taken had they not been psychologically overpowered. One story, indeed, explicitly links the hypnotist’s power to witchcraft. Only once is that power used with positive intent, yet the results are disastrous.
It is the editorial choice made that gives this volume its novelty, along with an invaluable bibliography worthy of an academic thesis. The Female Hypnotist deserves to become a standard source for those interested in mesmerism of the period as well as an ideal read for those writing fiction set in that epoch who are searching for the right ‘voice.’
