<i>Ossesione e abiezione negli</i> stage thrillers <i>di Patrick Hamilton</i>

Abstract

Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) was a major British author in the between-wars literary scene. He was considered a talented novelist and a brilliant playwright, and his works (a dozen of novels and half a dozen of plays) were highly appreciated not only by fellow writers but also by a large public of readers and theatre-goers. In spite of this, he was quickly forgotten after - and even before - his untimely and lonely death, due to alcohol abuse. Hamilton gained most of his fame and money from his stage thrillers Rope and Gaslight. Rope is a black comedy staging a "perfect crime" organized by two young students who premeditately murder a fellow friend for the sake of killing. It premiered in London in 1929 and provoked quite a scandal for the immorality here implied, even if the murderous friends were caught in the end. Alfred Hitchcock saw the show, and some years later adapted the play for the screen. Gaslight, staged almost ten years later, was set in Victorian London. Thanks to its clever visual devices, the play was a big success too, and was later filmed twice, both in England and in Hollywood (starring Ingrid Bergman). This essay analyses the suspense structure that both plays use and the peculiar dialogue strategies Hamilton creates to involve the spectator in his murder stories. It also focuses on the detailed characterization the author suggests through stage directions, and tries to offer a historical interpretation of sadistic villain figures that are typical of Patrick Hamilton's production, both literary and theatrical.