Charles Dickens' Hypnotic Obsession: Mesmerism & Mind Control

0:00 Welcome back to the Strange History Podcast, where we explore the weird, the wonderful, and the downright bizarre corners of history. I'm Amy, your guide through the strange and unexpected. Today we're diving into the fascinating, lesser known obsession of one of literature's greatest figures, Charles Dickens, and his deep fascination with mesmerism. That's right, the same man who gave us a Christmas Carol and great expectations also had a peculiar belief in the power of hypnosis. But how deep did this interest go and did he really believe he could cure people with just the power of his mind?

0:41 Stick around to find out. Now, let's set the scene. It's the mid nineteenth century. The world is rapidly changing, The Industrial Revolution is in full swing, and science is making leaps and bounds. But at the same time, people are also drawn to the mystical and the unexplained enter Mesmerism also known as animal magnetism. This was a pseudoscientific idea developed by Franz Anton Mesmer in the late eighteenth century, which suggested that a natural, invisible force could be harnessed to heal people Essentially, it was an early form of hypnosis, and guess who was absolutely hooked none other than Charles Dickens.

1:22 Dickens wasn't just a casual observer of mesmerism, No, he was a full on practitioner. He truly believed in its power to heal the sick, ease pain, and even influence the mind. He was so dedicated to it that he regularly practiced mesmerism on his friends and family, whether they believed in it or not. One of his most famous patients was his wife, Catherine. Dickens. Reportedly he would put her into a trance like state to ease her ailments. But that's not all. He also attempted to cure his friend and fellow writer John Leech, who was suffering from severe headaches and depression.

2:00 And here's where things get really interesting. There are accounts that suggest Dickens was actually successful in helping people enter these trances. Whether it was the power of suggestion or something more mysterious, we may never know. But let's talk about one of the strangest and most controversial cases of Dickens mesmerism, his relationship with Augusta Delarue. Augusta was a woman suffering from what was described as hysteria and other nervous conditions. Dickens was convinced he could cure her through mesmerism and spent hours trying to do so.

2:35 According to his letters, he believed he had a profound effect on her, calming her nervous attacks and even altering her state of mind. Some historians believe that this relationship was more than just a medical fascination, their speculation that Dickens may have had a deeper, more emotional connection with Augusta, though this remains a mystery. So was Dickens on to something or was this just another case of Victorian era pseudoscience. While modern hypnosis does have some scientific credibility, mesmerism, as Dickens understood it has been largely debunked, but that doesn't change the fact that he was utterly convinced of its power and dedicated a significant part of his life to practicing it.

3:23 And let's not forget the idea of hypnosis and the influence of the mind plays a role in many of Dickens's works. Consider how characters in a Christmas carol experience visions that alter their entire outlook on life, or how the mystery of Edwin Drude contains eerie psychological manipulation. Could it be that his fascination with mesmerism seeped into his fiction? It certainly seems possible. So there you have it, the strange but true story of Charles Dickens and mesmerism. A brilliant writer, a hypnotist, and a man utterly fascinated by the power of the human mind.

4:05 What do you think. Could Dickens have really had a gift for mesmerism or was he just swept up in the mystical trends of his time. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe to the Strange History podcast for more weird and wonderful tales from the past. And if you have a historical mystery you'd like me to dive into, let me know. Until next time, stay curious and keep exploring the strange corners of history.