Mesmerized

Winter, an American Associate Professor of History, gives an extremely erudite account of the Victorians' fascination with hypnotism, very relevant for today if you want to understand the current popularity of hypnotism as demonstrated by the massive popularity of TV stage hypnotists. By the 1840s most Victorians would have attended a mesmeric seance, either as part of a small group in a parlour, or amongst thousands n a crowded hall. The mesmerist would seat the subject before him - everyone would fall silent and watch. Mesmerist and subject would stare into each other's eyes as he made magnetic passes over her. These passes were long sweeping movements of the hands skimming the surface of the skin without actually touching it, so close that each felt the heat of the other's body. After a period the subject would sink into a state known as the mesmeric trance or coma. The subject appeared to sleep though her eyes might stay open for a short time. A strange communion would develop between the mesmerist and her; she would speak his thoughts, taste the food in his mouth, move her limbs in a physical echo of his. If mesmerism could transform a conscious individual into a living marionette, still more extraordinary were the active powers it gave to the mermeric subject once she slipped deeper into a mesmeric state. A new sense would open to her shut eyes. Subjects might claim to see events occurring in the future, inside the body, in distant lands and even in the heavens. The Victorians who attended these wonders of the age recorded fascinating, disturbing and sometimes even life-changing experiences. Many saw in them the fulfilment of the mind's greatest potential. But was the subject faking? To prove that the ordinary senses had been suspended, the mesmerist and members of the audience fired pistols near the subject's ears, pricked her skin with needles, poured acid on her skin, thrust knives under her fingernails, ran electric shocks through her arms and placed noxious tastes in her mouth. If the tortures produced a response skeptics dismissed the experiment, if there were none, the trance was all the more plausible. The complex psychology and sociology of the dance between the hysteric willing to play act on stage, the showman doctor and the gullible audience, is entertainingly and open-mindedly depicted by Winter's scholarly research, providing some useful insights into the modern day parallels of TV stage hypnotists. There is, however, an emphasis on seeking cultural explanations linked to Victorian preoccupations of why mesmerism so came to the fore in the 18th Century, and a neglect of the long-standing need of the public to be amazed and intrigued by the mind. Although the subject matter may appear obscure, anyone interested in history, particularly that of Victorian Britain, or bizarre behaviour, and especially the politics of the experts' understanding of mind in contrast to the public's, will find this an intriguing book. In particular the detail provided on the Victorian sensibility is exquisite, making this essential reading for anyone fascinated by Victorian times or literature. Review by RAJ PERSAUD Editor's note: Dr Raj Persaud is a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London. (Kirkus UK)