GASLIGHT

A Portrayal of Abuse

This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 23, 2003.

As a young girl, Paula lived with her aunt Alice Alquist, a famous entertainer. At some point, Paula discovered her aunt's murdered body and the police failed to find the killer. Paula inherited her aunt's estate, including the home, and went away to school. The story begins ten years later.

Paula meets Gregory Anton, a charming smooth manipulator. They marry and go to live in Paula's home in London. Anton controls the money and the household and increasingly isolates her.

He blames her for taking or losing items in a plot contrived by him. He presents himself to others as the caring, loving husband of a chronically ill and hysterical wife while he deviously drives her to the edge of insanity.

Paula's plight comes to the attention of a sympathetic Scotland Yard inspector who recalled Paula and admired her aunt. The rest of the story unfolds in a classic case of spousal abuse and self-gratification.

See the motion picture, Gaslight, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1944)

 Based Upon The Play by Patrick Hamilton.

Edward S. Nunes