It was extremely difficult for a woman to obtain a divorce, and if she were able to divorce her husband, her life would become even more difficult than it had been during her marriage. The husband had final say in all household matters, which left some wives almost powerless and with little recourse. Many times, any property or money that the wife brought into the marriage became her husband’s to do with as he wished. Of course, this leads us to the rights of Victorian wives. Had Paula been seen by two doctors, there is little to no doubt that she would be certified as insane and committed to an asylum, leaving her husband fully in charge of her money and property. Gregory seems to take things a step further by treating Paula as if she were insane, and she slowly begins to doubt her own feelings and perceptions. This also figures into the plots of Victorian sensation novels The Woman in White and Lady Audley’s Secret. There was a genuine fear of this there were stories of perfectly sane people, particularly women, who had been committed to asylums as insane so that others could gain control of their money or property. All someone needed was an asylum to take the supposed patient and signatures from two doctors certifying the patient as insane. At the time the play takes place, it took very little to have someone committed to an asylum as a sane person. “Gaslight” touches on two main subjects: the fear of insanity and imprisonment and the reality of how limited Victorian women’s rights really were. It takes the curiosity of Inspector Brian Cameron (Cotton) of Scotland Yard, whom Paula and Gregory met at the Tower of London, to look into the murder of her aunt, connect the dots, and ultimately save Paula’s life and sanity. The maid, Nancy (Lansbury), who is disrespectful of Paula, seems to be assisting Gregory in whatever he is doing. Soon Paula believes that she is beginning to go mad, and as she unravels, Gregory keeps her from seeing her friends and from leaving the house. When she tells her husband about this, he denies noticing it. At night, Paula can hear strange footsteps in the attic and the gaslights dim. A brooch, kept securely in Paula’s purse while she and Gregory are touring the Tower of London, mysteriously disappears. He blames his reaction on the stress of the new marriage and the move, and things seemingly go on as normal. After the discovery of a letter to a Sergius Bauer while packing up her aunt’s furnishings, Gregory grows angry. The two soon fall in love and marry, and they return to London to live in her aunt’s old house. Paula has been studying voice and has been trying to forget that night, until she meets Gregory Anton (Boyer). Young Paula Alquist (Bergman) was sent to Italy after the murder of her aunt, Alice Alquist, who interrupted an intruder who was stealing her jewelry. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotton, and Angela Lansbury and was directed by George Cukor.

Hello, Persephoneers! Let’s ring out 2012 with a nice suspense film that we all know and love: “Gaslight,” made in 1944.

Ingrid bergman 1944 film