Cosi fan tutte

Reflections of Mesmerism in Literature

“…"Thrice round the grave CIRCAE prints her tread And chaunts the numbers which disturb the dead" 5 , the footnote: … in this very year, there were many in France, and some in England who underwent an enchantment without any diving rod at all, and believing themselves to be affected by an invisible agent, which the Enchanter called Animal Magnetism! 5 In a typical 18th century love story, Mozart's Così fan tutte (1790), men pretending to be poisoned are restored to health by a doctor using a magnet 6 .…”