The two eras of gaslighting are similar. The paragraphs below explain it.
The historical story of Gas Light was written by a playwright named Patrick Hamilton around 1940. The protagonist and antagonist are a married couple called Bella and Jack Manningham. Bella hears noises when Jack secretly walks around the attic. Jack lies to Bella and makes her believe in lies, eroding her confidence and making her scared. Slowly, Bella doubts her sanity and depends on Jack more and more. He manipulates to cheat Bella.
Present day gaslighting plots are similar. The plots work on the psychological attacks on the victim, until the person becomes vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. One of the common tricks they use is to say “I’m going to torture you and you can do anything about it.” Then the mastermind steps in for the kill. If gaslighting can be prosecuted as an offence, then the subsequent cheating should be tried as a type of scamming / cheating.
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