The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions.
The dimming of the gas lights was not because the husband was intentionally deluding the wife.
***SPOILER*** The dimming was caused by the husband going into the attic to search the belongings of his wife's deceased aunt for lost jewels, and when he turns up the gas light in the attic it dims the lights in the rest of the house. When she mentions the dimming lights when he's unexplainably away, he concocts the rest to convince her that she's going mad.
-PJ
Great info.
It was about one party covering up their pursuit of ill gotten gains.
“The dimming was caused by the husband going into the attic to search the belongings of his wife’s deceased aunt for lost jewels, and when he turns up the gas light in the attic it dims the lights in the rest of the house. When she mentions the dimming lights when he’s unexplainably away, he concocts the rest to convince her that she’s going mad.”
Quite right. I’ve seen the movie several times.