Journal Article

Crossing the Crime Scene: The Case of Gaslight

Calanchi, Alessandra

2025

Overview

In crime fiction courses, students cannot grasp the extent of psychological pressure, the danger of evil, or the importance of rational behavior without necessary involvement. Discussed here is coursework involving the film Gaslight (dir. George Cukor, 1944), where, although no murder occurs, the crime scene is spread all over the story and remains relevant today. I taught Anglo-American literature and culture at an Italian university for more than 20 years, and crime fiction-especially crime fiction involving women-soon became one of my favorite subjects. During my career, my students and I analyzed the main female characters in Sherlock Holmes' adventures, Louisa May Alcott's A Whisper in the Dark (1877), Kate Chopin's The Awakening (1899), Anna Katharine Greens stories starring Violet Strange (1915), Susan Glaspell's Trifles (1916), and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper (1892) and Unpunished (1927, pub. 1997). Many of these female protagonists are victims of manipulation and abuse, and a recurring motif is the charge of insanity by a husband, a relative, or another representative of the patriarchy (Gilbert and Gubar; Melville). A fascinating case study is a particular film that attracted my attention since it perfectly shows what manipulation is and how it works. Gaslight (aka The Murder in Thornton Square) was directed by George Cukor in 1944. It was inspired by a 1938 play by the British author Patrick Hamilton (Gas Light, aka Angel Street) and by a previous film version by Thorold Dickinson (1940). This film gave the term gaslighting the meaning it still has today-that is, the act of manipulating a person to make the individual appear insane and thus to take control of the person's will (Carey; Cowie). The story takes place in the 1880s and features the young protagonist Paula. After the mysterious death of her aunt, a famous opera singer, Paula moves to Italy to become an opera singer herself. There she meets Gregor, and they decide to marry. He insists on returning to London, and they, despite Paula's initial resistance, live in her aunt's house. Little by little, Paula notices strange occurrences-missing pictures, footsteps in the night, and gaslights that dim without being touched. While she fights to retain her sanity, her husband behaves protectively, but his true intention is to drive her to madness. The home ceases to be perceived as a safe place by Paula, who finds it harder and harder not only to pursue her profession but also to meet people and to be a compliant \"angel of the house\" as expected. Even though elements of melodrama and even gothic are involved (Doane, cit. in Gallafent; Fletcher; Waldman), and far as it seems from our contemporary problems, this film still offers the perfect example of an elaborate crime scene constructed meticulously around the victim-an innocent and loving woman whose only fault is to undervalue the signals of predatory male narcissism. From 2017 to 2020, my master's classes-almost totally female-were encouraged to determine the exact moment in the film when Paula should have sensed danger. After watching the movie, they were asked to make a list of the critical moments-from the beginning, when the couple meet in front of a gate; continuing to scenes on a train, when Paula is traveling alone and meets an old lady; and moving on to the train station (when Gregor appears unexpectedly) and the house (when strange things start happening). Many discussions followed, and no one, at first, seemed to realize that the man has an attitude disrespectful of the woman that dates from his first appearance on screen. Psychological violence was understood as gallantry, insistence was perceived as true love, and oppression was interpreted as protection. The difficulty of many students to recognize the early signs of psychological violence shows that even today, 80 years later, this kind of crime fiction does not only have an aesthetical value but also can teach young women to acquire a deeper awareness of their rights and of the importance of words (Gheno; Lipperini and Murgia). Assignments for discussion included the following: 1. Can a \"no\" be interpreted as a \"yes\"? 2. If so, when and why? 3. Has such a case ever occurred to you? 4. Is \"courting\" still an option in our society? 5. On a scale from 0 to 10, how many points would you assign to these terms in a friend/lover relationship? Respect, Insistence, Jealousy, Protection, Sincerity, Caring. We worked on the sources, on the different versions of the story, and even on the legal lexicon-from stalking to rape to marital abuse-and great space was given to proxemics. Multilingualism was a resource rather than an obstacle, since it enhanced our capacity for watching and problematizing images, expressions, and extra-verbal codes. This is an excerpt from student Jasmine Farizi's essay: While watching the film, I tried to focus as much on the dialogues as on the aspects of nonverbal communication. .. . For example, when Paula is on a train conversing with an elderly lady. The interaction between the two turns out to be very important because it would seem to be intended to anticipate what we will see later in the film. In fact, the lady, as soon as she learns that Paula is traveling alone, advises her to be careful and tells her that the book she is reading tells the story of a man who, after killing six wives, begins a cohabitation with another woman. A further warning sign we sense is Gregory's [sic] sudden and unexpected appearance at the train station. We discussed the expressions on the protagonists' faces and the words sudden and unexpected: the students were asked if they would have been happy or upset in that situation. They agreed that the man's appearance might be an act of love, but it also reveals disrespect for the desire for solitude the woman had previously clearly expressed to him. We demonstrated nonverbal communication, performing big smiles and proud frowns. By empathizing with the characters and through role playing, we experienced joy, fear, betrayal, disappointment, and ultimate relief. I made sure to avoid gender biases and to distinguish between the offender and the rescuer-both male. Gaslight helped students understand that even though there is no murder by the end of the story, several serious crimes have been committed that cannot be dismissed as minor wrongdoing. This film made students better understand the ethical, social, and cultural relevance of crime fiction, also increasing their knowledge of gender and film studies. The importance of studying crime fiction-not only of reading books or watching TV series-was perfectly understood and appreciated, especially by those students who wanted to continue their studies or work in social sciences, psychological fields, and teaching. They realized that, through crime fiction, trauma and psychological violence can be studied, and they can learn to recognize and contrast those kinds of \"taboo\" crimes such as marital abuse. Students have learned that behind a seemingly romantic relationship, there may be big trouble, and this can help them defend themselves from cyberbullying, stalking, and any kind of manipulation.

• Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc
• Subject: American literature / Attitudes / Bullying / Case studies / Crime / Crime fiction / Cukor, George Dewey (1899-1983) / Cultural Relevance / Ethics / Facial expressions / Feminist literary criticism / Fiction / Italian language / Literary studies / Marriage / Motion pictures / Murders & murder attempts / Nonverbal communication / Older people / Proxemics / Psychosis / Role playing / Social sciences / Spouses / Students / Violence / Voice professionals / Women / Word meaning