Body switching

[williamtheday]

Did this trope begin with H. G. Wells' The Story of The Late Mr. Elvesham, where an old man exchanges his decrepit body for somebody's young healthy one?

[Riv86672]

Did this trope begin with H. G. Wells' The Story of The Late Mr. Elvesham, where an old man exchanges his decrepit body for somebody's young healthy one?

One of the earliest known examples of the body swap is the 19th century novel Vice Versa: A Lesson to Fathers, a comic novel by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, writing under the pseudonym "F. Anstey", first published in 1882.

Set in contemporary Victorian times, the novel concerns businessman Paul Bultitude and his son Dick. Dick is about to leave home to return to a boarding school run by the cane-wielding headmaster, Dr. Grimstone. Bultitude, seeing his son's fear of returning to school, asserts that schooldays are the best years of a boy's life, and how he wishes he were the one going.

At this point, thanks to a magic stone brought by an uncle from India which grants the possessor one wish, the father becomes a boy identical to the son. They are now on even terms. Dick, holding the stone, is ordered by his father to return him to his own body, but Dick refuses, and decides instead to become a man identical to how his father looked before the change. Mr Bultitude has to begin the new term at his son's boarding school, while Dick gets a chance to run his father's business in the City. In the end, both are restored to their own bodies, with a better understanding of each other.

[williamtheday]

Very interesting. Thanks!

[Kirby101]

I'd be surprised if there weren't a Greek of other ancient myth about it.

[seismic-2]

I'd be surprised if there weren't a Greek of other ancient myth about it.

Yeah, the Greek gods were always disguising themselves as various people or things. Some of those instances were just transforming their appearance, and some were mentally possessing the people they wanted to pass themselves off as being, but maybe some were literal body swaps. I don't remember any specifics. And surely there are plenty of fairy tales and other folk stories about this sort of thing, especially witches who restored their youthful appearance by draining the life force from young women, leaving them as withered crones.

[seismic-2]

And for an interesting variant on the theme, consider Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which Dorian performs a sort of body swap with his own portrait.

[Riv86672]

Very interesting. Thanks!

^^^You're welcome!
I didn’t know that till I took a shot at finding an answer for you, so I learned something new today.

[Scott Taylor]

Another is Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain, published in the 1880s. The basic idea behind it is that the two protagonists look enough alike that they swap roles, the poor becomes rich and vice versa. Nobody around them knows what is going on except them, so its a body swap story. Of course the social commentary behind the story is that neither boy is any better off by switching. And its a lesson on the idea that "clothes make the man" - how people tend to respect and react to what they see on the surface rather than digging deeper.

The notion is probably rooted in the idea of possession, either by demon or god, which goes back to ancient times as has been mentioned.

[Riv86672]

Another is Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain, published in the 1880s. The basic idea behind it is that the two protagonists look enough alike that they swap roles, the poor becomes rich and vice versa. Nobody around them knows what is going on except them, so its a body swap story. Of course the social commentary behind the story is that neither boy is any better off by switching. And its a lesson on the idea that "clothes make the man" - how people tend to respect and react to what they see on the surface rather than digging deeper.

The notion is probably rooted in the idea of possession, either by demon or god, which goes back to ancient times as has been mentioned.

^^^I never would have thought of that story in regards to this subject; nice!!!