We laugh now at medieval or early modern notions of medicine, the idea that a healthy body requires the ?four humours? ? yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood ? to remain in balance, or the use of leeches as a cure for any number of ailments.
But think of being the first patient ever to learn about germs. Your doctor informs you that tiny beings, invisible to the naked eye, invade our bodies and are responsible for most diseases and infections. How is that any more believable than being told that what you need is a good bleeding? All most of us have to go on is what the experts of the time say.
So the women of Victorian England can be forgiven for accepting the diagnosis of ?hysteria,? a catch-all term used for the complaints of bored housewives, ranging from depression to nymphomania to just being too opinionated. It?s even more understandable when many of these women go along with the prescribed treatment of Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce): ?vulva massage.?
Hysteria, the doctor explains, is the result of an ?overactive uterus? and so he gets hands-on in the ladies? nether-regions to coax their organs back into place. The patient may sound as if she?s enjoying the experience, but it?s a well-documented fact (according to Dalrymple) that women are incapable of experiencing sexual pleasure without the firm participation of the male member. Weekly sessions will be required indefinitely, in most cases. Which can put a major strain on the doctor?s hands. Unable to keep up with the demends of his practice, Dalrymple hires a young associate, Dr. Granville (Hugh Dancy.)
Hysteria mostly treats its subject matter, based on the true story of the medicinal origin of the invention of the female vibrator, as a bit of cheeky fun. The sexual and medical ignorance of the time is played for many solid laughs, with the cast and screenplay seeming to wink at the audience through the naughtiest bits. In keeping with its Victorian setting, however, it remains relatively chaste in its depiction.
Where the movie falters is in the grafting onto this grand silliness of a standard romantic comedy formula: the handsome doctor (Dancy), the beautiful girl he has his eye on (Felicity Jones), the outspoken woman whom at first he can?t stand but soon finds he can?t get out of his mind (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and his saucy gay best friend (Rupert Everett). About 10 minutes in, every step of this plotline can be accurately forecast. I tired of watching it travel its course.
Much more enjoyable is seeing Granville and his pal Edmund (Everett) transform a rudimentary electric duster into a revolution in self-pleasure.
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