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This article analyses the representation of affective phenomena brought into play in Charles de Villers’ Le magnétiseur amoureux (1787) as it helps to better understand the historical transition from the Galenic conception of the passions of the soul to the cerebral interpretation of emotions. While feelings became the condition of possibility in the occurrence of the therapy, passion is identified as the cause of the young woman’s illness, Caroline, who according to the interpretation proposed in this article, suffers from what was identified in the eighteenth century medical tradition as «love melancholy» or «hysteric affection», which were both pathologies that alluded to vapors in order to explain their symptoms. The analysis of the logic of feeling running across Villers’ novel impels us to interpret the magnetic fluid in terms of the sympathy created between the two main characters. The ambivalence expressed by Villers between the meaning of «love sentiment» and that of «love passion» allows us to finally understand the somnambulist therapy as erotic knowledge that implies a reflection on love codes in late eighteenth century France.

Lo monstruoso en el mito de Frankenstein se muestra como un sólido cultural opaco de definición imprecisa, que habita en nuestro imaginario colectivo. El presente artículo trata de aclarar esta imagen a través de la dialéctica establecida entre Víctor y su criatura, Frankenstein, ya que basan su relación en una constante trasgresión del orden de la naturaleza y de los límites humanos. Asimismo, se ha reinterpretado el símbolo del Fuego en el mito del Moderno Prometeo, explorando su relación no sólo con la vida, sino con la muerte y la destrucción.

This article explores Andr-Marie Ampre's autobiography in order to analyse the dynamics of science in early 19th century French institutions. According to recent works that have emphasised the value of biographies in the history of science, this study examines Ampre's public self-representation to show the cultural transformations of a life dedicated to science in post-revolutionary French society. With this aim, I have interpreted this manuscript as an outstanding example of the scientific rhetoric flourishing in early 19th century French Romanticism, which celebrated the life and works of men of science by means of biographies. Following this approach, Ampre's account has been analysed in relation to certain commonplaces shared with other autobiographies of that time, such as his traumatic experience linked to the French Revolution. Finally, this article discusses Ampre's autobiography as revealing an emerging model of scientific personae, i.e. a new collective way of thinking, feeling and perceiving, which announced the category of the modern scientist.