ABSTRACT
Chapter III examines the mid-nineteenth-century conflict between a humanistic and a pragmatic culture embodied in the protagonist Latimer (the former) and in his father and brother (the latter). It then focuses on the mesmeric arm-wrestling between Latimer and Bertha, Latimer's prospective sister-in-law and, after the death of Latimer's brother, wife. A digressive section reconstructs the mesmeric mania of the first decades of the nineteenth century and places ‘The Lifted Veil’ (LV) within the European and in particular Hawthornian tradition of the ‘mesmeric tale’ and of the ‘literature of the veil’, pointing out the pioneering nature of George Eliot's (GE) story. The final episode of blood transfusion and revivification attempt, in which Mrs Archer, a maid in Latimer's household, is implicated, is read against the background of Edgar Allan Poe's numerous stories hinging on the motif of life-in-death. Also, the relationship between Latimer and Meunier, Latimer's former companion in Geneva, and now a medical celebrity, are investigated, before Meunier performs the revivification experiment.
