Hysteria
Hysteria is a 2011 British period romantic comedy film directed by Tanya Wexler. It stars Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, with Felicity Jones, Jonathan Pryce, and Rupert Everett appearing in key supporting roles. The film, set in the Victorian era, shows how the medical management of hysteria led to the invention of the vibrator.
Plot
Set at the end of 1880, the film depicts the invention of the vibrator. Dr. Mortimer Granville is a young physician who has difficulty with his occupation due to constant arguments over modern medicine. He gets a job assisting Dr. Dalrymple, whose practice specializes in the treatment of "hysteria", a popular diagnosis for women of that time. Medical practitioners like Dr. Dalrymple tried to manage hysteria by massaging the genital area, decently covered under a curtain, to elicit "paroxysmal convulsions", without recognizing that they were inducing orgasms. Granville meets Dr. Dalrymple's daughters, Emily, and her older sister Charlottea premodern feminist who runs a settlement house in a poor section of East London.
More details
author | Howard Gensler Jonah Lisa Dyer Stephen Dyer |
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contentLocation | London |
director | Tanya Wexler |
editor | Jon Gregory |
events | hysteria |
genre | comedy |
keywords | arrest dr. mortimer granville end engage engagement party feather duster force hysterectomy id joseph mortimer granville medical practitioner mental illness older sister one night orgasm paroxysm police officer premodern feminist settlement house settlement movement suffragette vibrator |
musicBy | Gast Waltzing |
producer | Judy Cairo Sarah Curtis Tracey Becker |
productionCompany | arte France Cinéma Beachfront Films by alternative pictures Chimera Films LLC Delux Productions Forthcoming Productions Informant Media Lankn Media WDR/Arte |
publisher | Sony Pictures Classics |
theme | biographical romantic comedy |