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The Haunting of Hill House
Dec. 5th, 2019 08:08 amI reread Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House last week, and argued violently with the introduction in the edition I read. The author argues that sex is “a topic Jackson avoided,” when in fact Jackson’s books are peppered with references to sex and sexual assault, to the extent that it forms part of the oppressive atmosphere in many of her books.
Most of the references to sex are oblique - but they’re omnipresent! They’re peppered all over The Road through the Wall (two of the characters are implied to have sex behind the titular wall, for God’s sake) and The Sundial (Fanny Halloran knocking on Essex’s door at night, whispering, “I’m only forty-three!”), and implied sexual assaults are structurally important in Hangsaman and The Bird’s Nest.
The theme is less persistent in The Haunting of Hill House itself, admittedly. Eleanor's emotional needs are so great that any sexual frustration takes a distant back seat. But you can’t say an author avoids a topic when it’s a major component in two-thirds of her novels.
The introduction writer is also baffled by Eleanor’s confession that “I am always afraid of being alone” - “an astonishing remark, considering how many of her fantasies involve solitude and seclusion.” Well, of course: Eleanor holds only the most fragile hope of ever getting what she really wants (human love and warmth and connection), so of course she fantasizes about something that feels more possible: a solitude that she actually enjoys. Perhaps with the right trappings, the right setting, the house with the rose bushes and the white cat and the white curtains - perhaps then she could enjoy solitude, instead of feeling trapped and alone even (especially!) when she is surrounded by people.
Eleanor wants people, but they make her feel inadequate. She really can’t seem to cope with more than one person at a time: she wants to be the center of attention and hates this quality in herself so much that she can barely recognize it (her bitterest accusation against others is that they want to be the center of attention), and in a group of three or more there are inevitably moments where the other people are paying more attention to each other than they are to Eleanor.
Of course she fantasizes about basking in happy solitude. That’s so much simpler, so much easier to envision, than a life where she can actually enjoy being with people.
Most of the references to sex are oblique - but they’re omnipresent! They’re peppered all over The Road through the Wall (two of the characters are implied to have sex behind the titular wall, for God’s sake) and The Sundial (Fanny Halloran knocking on Essex’s door at night, whispering, “I’m only forty-three!”), and implied sexual assaults are structurally important in Hangsaman and The Bird’s Nest.
The theme is less persistent in The Haunting of Hill House itself, admittedly. Eleanor's emotional needs are so great that any sexual frustration takes a distant back seat. But you can’t say an author avoids a topic when it’s a major component in two-thirds of her novels.
The introduction writer is also baffled by Eleanor’s confession that “I am always afraid of being alone” - “an astonishing remark, considering how many of her fantasies involve solitude and seclusion.” Well, of course: Eleanor holds only the most fragile hope of ever getting what she really wants (human love and warmth and connection), so of course she fantasizes about something that feels more possible: a solitude that she actually enjoys. Perhaps with the right trappings, the right setting, the house with the rose bushes and the white cat and the white curtains - perhaps then she could enjoy solitude, instead of feeling trapped and alone even (especially!) when she is surrounded by people.
Eleanor wants people, but they make her feel inadequate. She really can’t seem to cope with more than one person at a time: she wants to be the center of attention and hates this quality in herself so much that she can barely recognize it (her bitterest accusation against others is that they want to be the center of attention), and in a group of three or more there are inevitably moments where the other people are paying more attention to each other than they are to Eleanor.
Of course she fantasizes about basking in happy solitude. That’s so much simpler, so much easier to envision, than a life where she can actually enjoy being with people.
