Reviews

Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton

Only show reviews with written explanations

abilaws's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The best play I’ve ever read

modestyblaise's review against another edition

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4.0

1935 play that led to the term gaslighting. Probably a 3 star play but it gets an extra star for cultural influence.

graylodge_library's review against another edition

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2.0

gaslighting
noun [U]
the action of tricking or controlling someone by making them believe things that are not true, especially by suggesting that they may be mentally ill

Narcissists don't care about you. They only care about themselves and what they can get from you. When confronted, they twist it back to you and try to blame you, make you feel guilty, or point out your shortcomings. Or, even worse, they will try to make you doubt your insanity.

Gas Light, a psychological thriller that is perhaps best known as the 1944 movie with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, is another Hamilton play whose adaptation is better. Although I prefer Rope (more interesting psychologically and more suspenseful), they're both pretty underwhelming on paper. I'm not sure if actually seeing the plays on stage would help, but in any case I recommend watching the movies instead (there's also a British 1940 version of Gas Light).