La Salpêtrière Hospital is the Paris setting for two encounters between Bella Baxter and Professor Jean-Martin Charcot: an earlier attempt to hypnotize her, and a later visit when she needs money and a way forward. The hospital links Bella’s playful performance of a patient’s role with Charcot’s recognition of her composure and his offer of paid work.

Setting and Association

Bella recalls visiting Charcot at La Salpêtrière Hospital during an earlier stay in Paris with Godwin Baxter. The visit followed outings to the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. Charcot tried to hypnotize her before a large audience of students, but Bella pretended that he had succeeded so that he would not be embarrassed. She believes he saw through the performance; afterward, he called her the sanest English woman he had professionally examined.

Bella’s Return

After leaving the Hôtel de Notre-Dame, Bella used the remaining francs from the money that had brought her and Duncan Wedderburn to Paris to pay for a cab to the hospital. She gave the balance to an attendant with a note asking Charcot to see Bella Baxter, identified as the niece of Godwin Baxter of Glasgow. While Charcot was occupied, she was shown into his office and offered coffee by his secretary. The room’s smell recalled Godwin’s study at 18 Park Circus, bringing a detail of home into this moment of uncertainty.

Charcot’s Offer

When Charcot arrived, he greeted Bella as the English woman he had previously judged completely sane and asked what had brought her back. Bella recounted her circumstances at length in response to his questions. Recognizing that she needed money to return to Scotland, Charcot offered enough for a comfortable journey, provided she spent the night as his guest. He framed the payment as compensation rather than a gift: Bella would help him by recounting parts of her experience under hypnosis during a lecture.

The proposed lecture was intended for a small, fashionable audience that included the Duc de Germantes and politicians Charcot described as sensation seekers. He expected the event to help secure appreciation for his research among people with influence over public funding. Bella was to speak about her earlier pleasure in life, her response to seeing poor children, and her present view of human existence. The hospital visit therefore becomes a point of exchange: Charcot offers practical assistance, while seeking Bella’s testimony for a performance of science before influential listeners.