Patrick Hamilton's Gas Light: The Origins of Gaslighting

By Olivia Chalmers

Trigger warning: emotional abuse, gaslighting

The origins of gaslighting had never occurred to me. The term and its meaning was something that just became common knowledge to me through social media and sadly, personal experience. Victims of gaslighting are instilled with terrifying trust issues after they have had experience with a gaslighter, and it can deeply affect the relationships and friendships that they have after this. To put it simply, gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse where a person manipulates their partner or friend by forcing them to question their thoughts, memories and events occurring around them. Some victims can even begin questioning their own sanity.

Gaslighting originates in a play by Patrick Hamilton, aptly named Gas Light (1939) which is the story of Mr and Mrs Jack and Bella Manningham. They are a seemingly wealthy couple, living in a four storey Victorian house in London and in what may be seen as the "honeymoon phase" of their relationship. Their house was owned by a woman named Alice Barlow who was murdered there after a thief came looking for some rubies that she inherited, the killer escaping capture. The play explores Jack as a domineering character as he orders Bella around and tells her what she can and cannot do, as well as blackmailing her out of luxuries. It is not until Bella comes into contact with Rough, a police detective who is investigating a murder that took place in their house, that she is able to break free from his web of manipulations.

Patrick Hamilton's Gas Light (1939) consists of many common things that victims of gaslighting today will recognise:

• Manipulation and blaming the victim for the gaslighter's actions

Also see: Hiding objects from you, and then deny knowing anything about it

Jack's manipulation of Bella consists of removing items from their house and convincing Bella that she had moved them herself; he does this with a picture frame, an important bill, a necklace, and many of his own items claiming Bella doesn't know what she does and that she is "stark gibbering mad". When Bella fights back against Jack turns the blame onto her instead of himself:

MRS MANNINGHAM (searching frantically) I laid it out here myself! Where is it? (Opening and shutting drawers) Where is it? Now you're going to say I've hidden this!

MR MANNINGHAM (walking away left) My God! What new trick is this you're playing upon me?

He entrusts Bella with these things, makes her go and look for them when he demands them, and when she can't find them, miraculously finds them lying hidden at the bottom of her work-box. In other words: Jack placed them there when he "searched" for them, to make Bella look insane.

The main act of manipulation Jack partakes in is the rising and falling of the gaslight in the living room. When Jack leaves the house, Bella is convinced there are ghosts and she can hear people moving around in the room upstairs - a room she is forbidden to go into:

MRS MANNINGHAM Every night, after he goes out, [...] I look round the room and see that the light is slowly going down [...] I would go all over the house to see if anyone had put on an extra light, but they never had. It's always at the same time - about ten minutes after he goes out. That's what made me think that somehow he had come back and that it was he who was walking about up there [...] I always know when he's coming again. Suddenly the light goes up again and ten minutes afterwards I hear his key in the lock downstairs, and he's back again.

Jack's cover of being "out of the house" when Bella can hear these noises leads her to believe she is going insane because she is "alone" in the house and shouldn't be hearing these noises. The gaslight rising and falling almost like clockwork after Jack has left and arrives home only solidifies this.

• Involving others close to the victim in tarnishing their reputation

Also see: Telling you that people are talking behind your back

The act of blaming their victim for their own actions is incredibly common with gaslighting, and gaslighters often involve other people in this blame game too. Jack utilizes their servants Nancy and Elizabeth, by indirectly convincing them that Bella has misplaced these items too, furthering Bella's belief that she is losing her mind. He interrogates both Nancy and Elizabeth about whether they have removed a picture from the wall and makes them swear on the Bible that they didn't - all in front of Bella.

• Doubting the input of others who blame the gaslighter, even when they're right

Also see: Trivializing how you feel

It is not until Rough enters the narrative does Bella find confidence in her belief that Jack is the one upstairs and being the reason behind the flickering gaslight. However, it takes a lot of convincing from Rough to believe in herself, and at first, she believes he is laughing at her:

MRS MANNIGHAM Do you believe I am imagining everything too?

Rough challenging Bella's beliefs in the things Jack has convinced her of is a clear-cut example of "sometimes you never really know how toxic your environment is until you breathe fresher air". Bella needed to meet Rough to realise that Jack is abusing her. He urges Bella to look in Jack's locked study where she finds the missing items, and he confirms Bella's theory, as Jack killed Alice Barlow, buying her house to continue to look for the inherited rubies.

As Jack's cover implodes, his true nature is revealed: he was emotionally abusing Bella. The gaslight being the central figure of the manipulation coined the official term for this type of emotional abuse. For a term that is so modernised, its origin is often unheard of.

If you feel you are a victim of gaslighting please consult a psychiatrist or therapist.