The Haunting of the Hill House Shirley Jackson
“The journey itself was her positive action, her destination vague, unimagined, perhaps nonexistent (Jackson 1.49)”
The car journey to the haunted house means a lot more than just a road trip. She defies her sister’s rule about taking the family car and going to Hill House and gets out to be on her own after a long time. Eleanor lives a repressed life even after the death of her mother curtailed by her family who smother her and refuse to let her grow up. This act of defiance and the car ride gives Eleanor a sense of freedom. It also gives the readers an insight into the character of Eleanor. She has a vivid imagination and has fantasies about the things she sees on her way. Having been cosseted for a long time the trip to the Hill House means freedom for Eleanor. Later on when Eleanor reacts to the house worse than the others the reader momentarily is not sure if it is a result of her imagination the house itself or her underlying deep psychological problems.
“They were all silent, looking into the fire, lazy after their several journeys, and Eleanor thought, I am the fourth person in this room; I am one of them; I belong (Jackson 3.24).”
When the four guests of the Hill House finally meet Eleanor feels like she belong already. Even though she does not know them too well a this stage, she feels like she belongs. This reveals how disconnected she was with her family. To feel belonged among strangers in a strange house, she must have been wanting in acceptance or love. Perhaps this need to be accepted is what makes Eleanor more susceptible to the machinations of the house than the others. Even though everything is new, she willingly embraces it and lets the house embrace her.
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
SHERIFF: Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves.COUNTY ATTORNEY: I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about. ( Glaspell 30-31)
Trifles is a play that brings out the huge divide between men and women. men in underestimating women and ridiculing them about womanly things fail to realize their importance or intellect and this works to their disadvantage. In this scene, the women are worried about preserves while the men think they are being dumb. The men do not realize that these small things matter a lot and that they go a long way in the running of a household. The men also come to realize the futility of making fun of the women as it is Mrs. Hale who eventually finds out the murderer through a trifle thing and manages to save the other woman. She says we women worry about the trifles soon after this comment from the men, the men however see law as their domain and miss out on the little details that would actually help them in solving the murder. Although this play was written decades ago, it still is a fact that men see certain aspects of life as their domain.
HALE: Well, my first thought was to get that rope off. It looked (stops, his face twitches) but Harry, he went up to him, and he said, "No, he's dead all right, and we'd better not touch anything." ( Glaspell 21).
Violence is one of the themes in the play. Mr. Wright had died of strangulation and the men shudder to look at this corpse. But in the beginning when the murder is known and the sheriff walks in they see Mrs Wright on her rocking chair rocking to and fro and matter of fact stating that her husband died of strangulation. The violent death seemingly does not affect Mrs.Wright and the men find it confusing. However Mrs Wright had been a domestic abuse victim for long and has suffered silently. When she finally kills her husband she no longer cares about his death or the violence. With his death, violence no longer seems to affect her. From the reactions of men and the women in the play, the reader can see that violence affects them in different ways. The men just cannot admit that such a death can not perturb the woman. Having been accustomed to violence, it no longer holds the fear factor for the woman. Throughout the play, there can be seen a disconnect between the men and the women and it is evident in the way violence affects them both.
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell
“Love! – what does that amount to! Will it clothe you? Will it feed you? Will it pay the bills?” When Young Woman questions her mother, she replies, “I suppose I did – I don’t know – I’ve forgotten – what difference does it make – now?” (Treadwell, Ep.2).
The young woman in the story is tired of conventional society. Her boss proposes marriage and she does not want to accept it although the others want her to get married for the sake of security. But she cannot imagine a married life without love. This conversation about love with her mother shows the reader the conventional belief of the women of that age. They are more worried about the practical aspects of life such as being supported and being safe. These would be provided for them by a man and that is enough for them. However the protagonist cannot cannot accept a life like that. She needs to love the man. In the end though she marries him but is not happy in the marriage. These lines not only let the reader into the mind of an old woman around that time but also shows the dissatisfaction with life in general of the young woman.
Young Woman confesses to the murder of her husband, and when asked why she did it, she replies ‘To be free.’ The judge follows, ‘If you just wanted to be free – why didn’t you divorce him?’ to which she states ‘Oh I couldn’t do that!! I couldn’t hurt him like that!’( Treadwell Ep.8).
This is a very confusing statement that the young woman makes. she is not known to be violent. Throughout the play she is seen as a pliant young woman who gives in to the demands of her boss , her mother and the society. But she experiences freedom when she starts an affair with the man. She finally feels happy and free and that is what leads to her killing the husband. Although the woman does not love her husband, she does not want to hurt him either. Divorcing him or leaving him would have hurt him and she did not want to do it. She may have thought that being dead he did not have to know how she felt towards him or about her affair. His death would mean that she no longer would feel constrained by him.
Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of the Hill House. London: Penguin Classics. 2006.
Treadwell, Sophie. Machinal. London: Nick Hern Books. 1993.
Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. London: Players Press. 2007.
