Portrayal of hypnosis and hypnotists in literature, film, and other fiction
Hypnosis has been a recurring theme in literature and popular culture since the nineteenth century, often associated with fascination, fear, and fantasy. A common and enduring way for writers to explain the trope of mind control in their works, early depictions drew on the mysterious aura of mesmerism and spiritualism, while later ones expanded to science fiction, crime thrillers, and horror. The vast majority of these depictions are exaggerated, and focus on negative stereotypes of either control for criminal profit and murder or as a method of seduction. Across decades, such portrayals rarely reflect clinical reality, emphasizing spectacle over scientific accuracy. The hypnotist, whether scientist, sorcerer, or spy, continues to embody society’s anxieties about willpower, manipulation, and the boundaries of consciousness.
Cover of Trilby (1894), one of the most influential early fiction works featuring the theme of hypnosis
The idea of hypnotic influence entered Western fiction in the nineteenth century, initially through the popular fascination with mesmerism and its pseudoscientific claims,[1]:77[2]:239 although similar ideas have been present in myth and literature for millenia (for example, in the Greek mythos of the alluring voice of the sirens).[2]:239[3]:406
Late Victorian fiction turned hypnosis into a cultural metaphor for danger, seduction, domination and loss of will. In particular, George du Maurier’s Trilby (1894) popularized the archetype of the male hypnotist exerting irresistible control over a vulnerable woman—the character of Svengali becoming a byword for manipulative power.[1]:77–78[3]:406[4][2]:240 The motif soon appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Parasite (1895), and ecranizations of (but not the original text) Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), where vampiric gaze and hypnosis merge as forms of supernatural influence.[3]:407–408[2]:240
By the early twentieth century, hypnosis had become a familiar literary device linking crime, science, and the supernatural. It featured prominently in works such as Guy Boothby’s Dr Nikola series (1895–1901) and Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels (launched with The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu in 1913), in which hypnotic powers served criminal ambitions, although it occasionally was a power used by heroes as well (for example, by Doc Savage who debuted in comics in 1933).[2]:239–240[3]:406–407
20th century
In works of fiction, from literature to film and television, hypnotic scenes frequently exaggerated the phenomenon as instantaneous and irresistible, presenting it as an almost magical form of domination. The hypnotist character often appears as a villain who manipulates others for crime, power, or sexual advantage, and this has led to the formation of negative stereotypes about hypnotism.[1]:77–80
While these tropes begun in literature, cinema and television soon amplified them. The silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) showed the titular Dr. Caligari commanding his sleepwalking servant Cesare to kill.[3]:406 Horror films such as Svengali (1931) reinforced the link between hypnosis, sexual tension, and moral corruption.[1]:77[3]:406,408 From the mid-twentieth century onward, television programs such as The X-Files and Doctor Who used hypnosis to depict manipulation and psychic control. This has also been a feature in mainstream comics, such as Batman (1966–68) and Wonder Woman (1975–79); comic book villains with hypnotist powers included ones like Mad Hatter, Pied Piper and Universo from DC Comics and the Enchantress, Mesmero, and the Ringmaster from Marvel Comics.[3]:408
Fantastic literature often attributes hypnotic powers to nonhuman beings. Stories of hypnotic control, continuing from the early Dracula era, recur regularly, extended beyond vampires to aliens and mutants, from James Corbett’ s Devil-Man from Mars (1935) to Ian Watson’s Converts (1984).[4]
More balanced or realistic depictions
While most portrayals emphasize danger or deceit, some works present hypnosis in a therapeutic or neutral light; these are however rather rare. Barrett identifies examples in movies such as Equus (1977), Agnes of God (1985) and Mesmer (1994), which engage seriously with psychological themes rather than sensationalized mind control.[1]:83 Brian M. Stableford in the context of literature noted that John D. MacDonald’s ‘‘Cosmetics’’ (1948) and Theodore Sturgeon’s ‘‘The Other Man’’ (1956) "featuring constructive accounts of hypnotherapy... occuoy an uneasy situation on the genre’s fringe".[2]:240
However, even such portrayals can distort the actual science. Hypnosis in fiction is generally portrayed as much more powerful than in reality,[4] and is a common way for writers to explain the trope of mind control in their works.[3]:408 The popular association of hypnosis with memory recovery or even recovering memories of past lives, understoond by layman as a form of a mysterious key to hidden truths, as wel as pseudoscience and the occult, have in fact caused reputational damage to scientific study and use of hypnosis.[1]:91–92[2]:239–241
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Barrett, D. L. Hypnosis in Popular Media, Chapter 5 in Barrett, D. L. (Ed.) Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy, (2 vol.): Vol. 1: History, theory and general research, Vol. 2: Hypnotherapy research and applications, NY, NY: Praeger/Greenwood, Nov. 2010.
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