The Breakdown

“Gaslighting” was named Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s Word of the Year in 2022, a year in which Internet searches for the word increased by 1,740%. This surge has been attributed to the prevalence and increased social awareness of misinformation. Things like “fake news,” social media trolls, and anxieties about artificial intelligence have brought new modes of deception and manipulation to the forefront of social consciousness. Influenced by these factors, common usage of the word gaslighting has broadened from its original definition. According to Merriam-Webster, gaslighting no longer refers solely to “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage” (“Word of the Year 2022.” Merriam-Webster). The meaning now encompasses disinformation in various personal, economic, and political contexts. In fact, the term’s popularity has diluted its original meaning to the point that it’s now often used to describe any type of perceived deception.

The Breakdown, which was published in 2017, several years before the term’s surge in popularity, portrays gaslighting in its conventional sense:

[P]sychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator (“Word of the Year 2022”)

The word gaslighting originated in the mid-20th century. It was inspired by a 1938 play (and later movies based on the play) titled Gas Light, in which a man tries to convince his wife that’s she losing her mind. She notices the gas lights in their home dimming, a result of her husband’s illicit activities in the upstairs apartment, but he insists that she’s imagining things.

Fields like psychology and counseling still use the traditional definition, recognizing gaslighting as a form of emotional abuse. According to Psychology Today, “Victims of gaslighting are deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true” (“Gaslighting.” Psychology Today). Unlike other forms of manipulation, gaslighting isn’t just about influencing someone; it’s about controlling them. Perpetrators target their victim’s sense of identity and self-worth, which enables the perpetrator to bring the target person further under their control. A power imbalance in the relationship is often present, making one partner susceptible to gaslighting. Perpetrators preserve their own power while their targets, whose sense of self they’ve worked to undermine, adopt the perpetrator’s version of reality (“When It’s Gaslighting, and When It Really Isn’t.” Psychology Today).

The Breakdown complicates this vision of gaslighting by pairing Matthew and Rachel as coconspirators. Their basic goal is the same: getting Cass certified as mentally unstable so that they can access her inheritance. However, their underlying motives and characterizations differ. While the text portrays them as equals in the scheme, Rachel’s characterization suggests that she’s actually manipulating Matthew. Her history of seducing married men and her efforts to turn Cass’s friend John against her align with the typical antisocial behaviors of a perpetrator. Cass’s perceived and hidden relationships with Matthew and Rachel are central to The Breakdown’s plot and themes, but the relationship between the two gaslighting antagonists is compelling in its own right.