Hallucinations and pathological visual perceptions in Maupassant's fantastical short stories--a neurological approach.
Journal of the history of the neurosciences June 1, 2005 Luis-Carlos Alvaro
Maupassant, a 19th-century realist writer, incorporated vivid visual hallucinations and perceptual disturbances into his fantastical short stories. Analysis of four stories reveals neurological phenomena: nightmares, sleep paralysis, hemianopic vision loss and recovery, palinopsia, illusory object movement, autoscopy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. Although Maupassant suffered from severe migraine and neurosyphilis that caused visual loss and hallucinations before his death, similar hallucinatory symptoms appear in stories written at age 25, when he was allegedly healthy. This suggests his hypersensitive disposition, not pathology alone, enabled these experiences. Drug abuse and attendance at Charcot's lectures also contributed to his detailed visual depictions.