Spellbound: Studies on Mesmerism and Literature

Maria Tatar

Published by Princeton University Press 1978

Spellbound

Studies on Mesmerism and Literature

Maria Tatar

Volume 1573 in the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400871377

Overview
Contents

About this book

Franz Anton Mesmer's concept of animal magnetism exercised a profound influence on key European and American thinkers. Mesmer, who saw in his discovery the secret of health, had hoped to recover the harmony between man and nature by harnessing the power of magnetic fluids. In calling attention to the existence of a second self that surfaces in the hypnotic trance, Mesmer made his real contribution and took the first, decisive steps on the road leading to the unconscious. While most critical studies of mesmerism originate in the history of science or medicine, Maria Tatar's book takes a fresh approach by tracing the impact of mesmerism on literature.

The author launches her account with a portrait of Mesmer and places his views in the context of eighteenth-century thought. She then explores the significance of Mesmer's ideas and studies their influence on nineteenth-century German, French, and American writers. In conclusion, she examines the ways in which modern authors absorbed and reshaped the mesmerist legacy bequeathed to them by earlier generations.

Whether discussing the electrical energy vibrating through Kleist's dramas, the electrical heat radiating from Hoffmann's figures, the streams of magnetic fluid coursing through Balzac's novels, or the magnetic chain of humanity linking Hawthorne's characters, Professor Tatar recaptures the meaning of ideas, motifs, and metaphors often overlooked by literary critics. Her study illuminates, in a remarkable way, the subtle connections between science, psychology, and literature.

Originally published in 1978.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Illustrations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	viii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
1. From Mesmer to Freud: Animal Magnetism, Hypnosis, and Suggestion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Salvation by Electricity: Science, Poetry, and “Naturphilosophie” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
3. Thunder, Lightning, and Electricity: Moments of Recognition in Heinrich von Kleist's Dramas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
4. Blindness and Insight: Visionary Experience in the Tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
5. The Metaphysics of the Will: Voyeurs and Visionaries in Balzac’s “Comédie humaine” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
6. Masters and Slaves: The Creative Process in Hawthorne’s Fiction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
7. From Science Fiction to Psychoanalysis: Henry James’s “Bostonians,” D. H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love,” and Thomas Mann’s “Mario and the Magician” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	230
Appendix. Mesmer’s Propositions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Backmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303