Suffering under the Supernatural and Fragility of Men: The Woman’s Role in the Gothic is based on her Trauma
The Gothic has assembled a collection of tropes to assert its position in literature, ranging from domestic spaces plagued by the supernatural to romanticised presentations of the morbid. One figure who the genre cannot seem to exist without is the woman, with the term “Gothic heroine” directing scholars to diagnose her as “a young, attractive woman (virginity required) running in terror… from either a psychotic man or a supernatural demon” [Farrugia, 2019]. This is prominently identified in Wilkie Collins’ ‘The Woman in White’ and Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, exemplifying neglect due to mental illnesses, unequal power in relationships and psychological exploitation by the supernatural. Both of these texts call to how the Gothic conveys signature tropes to make their female presences barely survive throughout their ongoing emotional agony, so much so that the suffering woman in itself has become a Gothic trope.
Collins’ take on this trope proves to be most salient as it directly introduces itself at the beginning of the narrative. As readers, we are informed that what we are about to pursue is “the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what Man’s resolution can achieve” [First Epoch, Chapter 1]. This line serves as the text’s opening one to set thematic values, with a significant correspondence to gender, thus, we are introduced to the narrative with the organisation gender roles. The arrangement’s syntax is how the trope of women suffering is signalled to, in a manner most upfront and almost unapologetic. Before we have even come into contact with the women in this piece of fiction, we are informed that they will have their patience challenged for sake of the narrative, conveyed in the idea that they have to “endure” throughout it. This results in their anticipated suffering as being appointed above their personalities. By correlating the women with their self-restraint as their purpose in the text, and the narrative as a somewhat trial of this quality, Collins is displaying endorsements for the claim that the Gothic mostly involves women to place them in positions of distress.
Collins’ tone in his forecasting suggests a personal severing from the idea of women suffering in terms of patience. This is due to an absence of critique towards the fact that women’s patience will be tested in the narrative, a tone that has appeared to be replaced with one that borders glorification of this suffering. Collins as an author structures this display of emotional female pain as something that should be expected, as he fails to offer any opinion of this being an unethical offence but rather something that should captivate the reader’s attention to observe this challenge of endurance. As a result, he runs the risk of implying that women are solely responsible for whatever discomfort they come to face in the text, and when this is fastened with the idea that their male counterparts will do nothing but prosper, it highlights misogynistic attitudes. To elaborate, Collins is representing critiques that scholars have proposed when analysing the woman in the Gothic, specifically the idea that “in any society where there is an unequal distribution of…power, blaming victims for their own suffering serves the interests of the dominant group” [WInter, 1992]. Here, one can detect how women in the text will be perceived as the scapegoat to their own suffering, endorsed by the power men will exert in the situations they encounter.
Jackson’s approach to the suffering woman in the Gothic is also an immediate constituent to her text. Her protagonist Eleanor Vance is shrouded in tragedy and misery, demonstrated in the commencement of her character where we learn about the tedious life she led taking care of her sick mother. Jackson introduces Eleanor by informing readers on how “Her years with her mother had been built up devotedly around small guilts and small reproaches, constant weariness, and unending despair” [Chapter 1, Part 2]. This account of Eleanor’s lifestyle prior to the novel is constructed of a syntax that metaphorically seeps with the utmost of suffering, evident in the elements of its description displaying the most negative of language. The fact that Jackson can only describe it as ceaseless conduct of anguish as a direct result of her mother’s comfort being forced as her only precedence calls to the severity of Eleanor’s suffering because it eliminates virtually any other perspective on her life. This in turn generates emotional responses of pity towards the character and thus, conveys how the tone provided by Jackson differs from Collins in that it furnishes some degree of condolence to Eleanor’s position, shown through the language. As a result, this alludes to her presence in the text being grounded in suffering, further endorsing the idea that women are placed within Gothic narratives mostly to experience agony.
This is only raised when connecting it with the aftermath of such a way of living that Eleanor now has to handle as a result of the trauma she represses. Eleanor’s characterisation has progressed alongside this component of despair in “Without ever wanting to become reserved and shy, she had spent so long alone, with no one to love” [Chapter 1, Part 2]. Here, Jackson is providing further insight into her character by outlining the state she resides in, one that is evidently desolate, as Eleanor’s difficult experience caring for her mother has left her unable to connect with anyone outside of this traumatising relationship. This aspect of the novel has generated a mass amount of academic interest, mostly from theorists working under a psychoanalytic perspective as “the psychological dissolution of Eleanor Vance…as the inevitable consequence of Eleanor’s relationship with her overbearing and controlling mother” [Roberts, 2017]. Thus, one could propose Jackson is direct in introducing her character’s suffering to readers to guarantee a psychoanalysis penetration of characterisation, in turn spawning consistent discourse on her work.
As one will come to realise when progressing into Collins’ narrative, he fulfills his claim of structuring the story around female suffering when introducing the titled ‘Woman in White’ to readers, as the character is a demonstration of the mentally unstable and a testimony to women suffering in the text. The event is conveyed through the narrative voice, Hartwright, as he walks down a road late at night and comes into contact with “the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments” [First Epoch, Part 4]. Their interaction is laced with awkwardness and something rather unorthodox, as Hartwright himself describes it as having “perplexingly strange circumstances”[First Epoch, Part 4], due to the woman’s emotionally distanced manner as presented in Collins’ choice of unorthodox characterisation. This is exemplified in bizarre statements “she repeated to herself” such as “’not a man of rank and title… thank God! I may trust him’” after Hartwright explains his social position as a man. This alludes to the woman holding some level of scepticism towards socially privileged men, something that causes her to verbally assure herself when she feels able to trust a man she comes into contact with in front of them, a trait that can allude to a damaged psyche due to its abnormality. The impression of fear of highly ranked men elaborates on the sense of mystery that surrounds this character, initiating the reader to wonder why she is cautious of men and whether this has something to do with the idea of her patience being tested as a woman. This element of mystery in the character’s introduction constructs the Woman in White as lacking in context prior to her placement in the text, endorsing ideas that “always for women [in the Gothic novel]…life begins with a blank” [Sedwick, 1981].
Collins hastens with confirming these speculations as once “the woman in white was gone” [First Epoch, Part 4], Hartwright is informed of her background in a manner orientated to appear as something most shocking. A policeman delivers the news that someone “has escaped from my Asylum’’’, with the description of this person condensed into “‘don’t forget; a woman in white’” [First Epoch, Part 4], obviously meaning the same woman Harwright was conversing with moments ago and confirming that she suffers from an unstable psyche. One can propose that this reveal borders being distasteful as it lightly echoes a scare in a horror story, due to its execution serving as the closing to the chapter to conclude it with a sense of fear. To connect an asylum patient with a terrifying exposure, done so with the motive to incorporate fear into the narrative, exemplifies the narrow-minded perceptions held towards those who suffered from mental illnesses as they are being used as scare tactics. The addition of this asylum patient being a woman only contributes to the abhorrent tone in this revelation, as it promotes ideas of women who are mentally suffering as something to be fearful of and so must be imprisoned. Therefore, an explanation into why women must suffer in Gothic narratives lies within a need to construct elements of dread as entertainment for readers but at the expense of the suffering women.
Eleanor exhibits aspects of mental instability as a source of suffering for the Gothic woman in Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’, and ties it with the setting of the house itself to elaborate on ideas of women finding refuge from their pain. To elaborate, after Jackson bases Eleanor’s introduction into the narrative around the emotional pain induced by caring for her mother, she elevates the psychological aftermaths of this by characterising Eleanor with a deep-rooted need for acceptance and excitement. This is made evident in how “During the whole underside of her life…Eleanor had been waiting for something like Hill House” because of how “caring for her mother” constructed a “belief that someday something would happen.” [Chapter 1, Part 2]. This statement encapsulates the flaw that will come to bring Eleanor’s downfall, one that is stemmed from her emotional suffering.
Once she comes into the unorthodox environment of Hill House, appearing as the solution to this desperation Eleanor has, the setting appears to bring a positive effect. Jackson demonstrates this by having Eleanor reflect on how she is “unbelievably happy” since being at Hill House and feels that she has “somehow earned this joy” that she has “been waiting… for so long.”[Chapter 5, Part 1]. Here, Jackson implies an end to Eleanor’s suffering, provided by Hill House which “has a reputation for insistent hospitality; it seemingly dislikes letting its guests get away” [Chapter 4]. This shows how Jackson stresses the power Hill House has by personifying it as something beyond a building but instead an organism that has feelings. These feelings are evidently directed towards its guests as a seemingly strong liking, especially Eleanor who will clearly benefit from this refusal to leave since she felt too lost in her trauma before arriving there. This relationship between Eleanor and Hill House has been analysed and discussed to draw such conclusions as “is one of mutual fulfilment, a process of accommodating one another’s needs” [Roberts, 2017]. This represents the argument one can make that Eleanor’s search for home and sense of belonging has been fulfilled as a result of Hill House, alluding to an alleged end to her suffering and perpetuates Hill House as her saviour. Thus, Jackson is offering salvation to her troubled character through the heavily characterised setting of the house, something that can be positioned as “the novel’s central image” as “Eleanor’s pronounced desires for a home of her own brings the novel into conversation with Jackson’s domestic fictions and family chronicles, which frequently stray into the territory of the gothic” [Roberts,2017].
One would not be surprised to find that Collins presents the opposite to Jackson in this regard, as he offers hardly any salvation to the ‘Woman in White’, whose real name is Anne Catherick, by submitting her to a cruel fate at the hands of a man. Initially, Anne demonstrates the emotional suffering she experiences as a result of being placed in an asylum in her reactions to the matter being brought up. When Hartwright attempts to discuss the matter without Catherick’s consent, she prevents him from proceeding, stating ‘Talk of something else…‘I shall lose myself if you talk of that.’” [The First Epoch: Part 1]. This conveys how emotionally damaged the experience has left her because conversation about the asylum can cause her to slip into a state of dissociation as a symptom of trauma, elevating her characterisation as a suffering woman in the Gothic.
Furthermore, Anne’s suffering only escalates with the reveal that she holds information on Sir Glyde that can cost him his position in society and in order to protect himself, he exploits the fact that Anne and Laura, his estranged fiancee, could be “twin-sisters of chance resemblance” (Epoch 1] to switch their identities. This results in Laura being placed in an asylum under the identity of Anne, and Anne being buried under the identity of Laura upon her imminent death. . This exemplifies Collins’ greatest example of making women suffer in the Gothic. Anne as a threat towards a man who is insecure about his power becomes a source of more mistreatment and punishment towards her. Marian Halcombe, Laura’s elder half-sister, encapsulates the power dynamic between men and women in the text with “‘Men! They are the enemies of our innocence and our peace’” [Epoch 1, Part 3], which is a testimony to Anne’s fate as her agony and eventual death being generated by an insecure fragile man encapsulates how women must suffer at the hands of their male counterparts in the Gothic. Wallace and Andrew articulate the dynamic between men and women in the Gothic, by aligning “the depiction of the men in Gothic novels” with the objectives to “either marry those women or try to kill them, or possibly both” [2009], expressing academic support for the woman being depicted as mostly a victim in Gothic texts.
The distress Jackson’s Eleanor endures throughout the narrative comes to a tragic close, likewise to that of Anne, at the hands of the antagonising character of Hill House rather than a tenuous man. Critics have proposed this analysis of Hill House’s character with regards to its relationship with Eleanor by arguing “Gothic Writing foregrounds the house…in terms of its dialectical relationship…as it fluctuates between a protective haven and a hostile space” [Soon, 2015], which Hill House demonstrates as it interacts with a fragile Eleanor. This is endorsed by the interpretation that Hill House is exploitative of Eleanor’s trauma, rather than seeking to endeavour refuge from it, as “since Gothic danger lies in susceptibility as much as in circumstance, tenebrous settings and mysterious places victimize heroines” [da Vinci Nichols, 1983]. Hill House exemplifies this claim through its strategy of merging Eleanor’s spirit with itself, a procedure this is foreshadowed in the text through Dr. Montague’s command “‘Promise me absolutely that you will leave, as fast as you can, if you begin to feel the house catching at you’”, to which Eleanor replies with“‘I promise’” [Chapter 4, Part 5]. As one would expect under the knowledge of the Gothic’s treatment of emotionally vulnerable women, Eleanor’s promise is far from kept. Hill House ensures this by manipulating Eleanor into believing there is a heartfelt connection between the two, as she becomes convinced that when the house performs its supernatural escapes of loud crashes in the night, “none of them heard it… nobody heard it but me” [Chapter 8, Part 8]. This calls back to the proposition that Eleanor seeks a home as a result of the trauma she was submitted to prior to arriving at Hill House, as she believes that Hill House is choosing her to experience its fullest potential, thus accepting her into its morbid realm. This contribution to the dynamic between Eleanor and the house is another area of academic interest, as “the Gothic invariably testifies to an intimate link between the female subject and the house” [Soon, 2015]. This conveys how the house as a supernatural setting is utilising Eleanor’s pain as a method of capturing another victim, a concept most fitting for the genre because “no Gothic novel is complete without a huge…structure of some kind for the heroine to get lost in” [Roberts, 2017].
The house’s sinister use of Eleanor’s suffering is an affirmation of the universal academic conclusion that Jackson’s text is a representation of how trauma lurking in the human psyche is more frightening than supernatural presences. Eleanor’s fractured psyche falling victim to Hill House’s corruptive character proves to be the true horror of the novel after the tragic climax. As Eleanor is being made to leave Hill House by Dr. Montague due to her clear deteriorating state, she becomes frantic in her refusal to part with the place she has been manipulated into feeling a part of, as she convinces herself “they can’t make me leave, not if Hill House means me to stay” [Chapter 9, Part 4]. This hysteria causes Eleanor to recklessly drive off in her car to escape the Doctor and the others, repeating to herself that she can never leave because “Hill House belongs to me”. Jackson finally ends Eleanor’s suffering in the physical realm in a most shocking manner as “In the unending, crashing second… the car hurled into the tree”. Eleanor’s death is left ambiguous in its cause, as Jackson eliminates direct reference to the phantoms of Hill House controlling Eleanor’s car or Eleanor herself choosing to crash and end her life.
However, under the interpretation of Hill House exploiting Eleanor as a suffering woman, one can conclude that a merging of the two outcomes is the cause. Hill House’s darkness has spent its time in the narrative steadily corrupting Eleanor, who is too psychologically decrepit due to trauma to barricade herself. This works almost like an equation to ensure both Hill House and Eleanor achieve their objectives-the house has now gained a lost soul to join it rather than letting it “get away”, and Eleanor has left her life of anguish and exclusion to remain at the one place she felt accepted. This exemplifies another bitter conclusion of the suffering woman in the Gothic, as Eleanor’s pain is shown to be too strong for her to cope with, and is exploited by supernatural forces to provide a tragic solution to this suffering. Overall Jackson presents an antidote to the suffering woman in her Gothic work, one that is structured to appear as an act of liberation for her despite its lamentable circumstance as the climax to her story.
In conclusion, academic observations of classic Gothic tales can provide endorsements for the claim that it consistently places its heroines in situations to challenge them. Taunting phantoms of the past and oppressive men subject vulnerable women to such states as a source of entertainment. As a result, as much as the Gothic relies on women as significant characters in its narratives, it cannot be denied that it bases this significance in suffering and distress by excessive mistreatment in narratives and interactions.
Bibliography
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