Feminism In Shirley Jackson's The Haunting Of Hill House
The Haunting of Feminism
In The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, there are many aspects that make this book amazing. This story is about what happens to three young adults that were invited to spend the summer at a supposedly haunted house by an older professor trying to prove the existence of supernatural beings and study them. There are many meanings and themes that you can get out of this story, one of them that stands out the most to critics is the idea of feminism. Shirley jackson portrays feminism in many different ways throughout her book, The Haunting of Hill House.
One of the ways that Jackson portrays feminism in her story is the relationship between the main character, Eleanor, and Hill House. At first, Eleanor is frightened and unsettled by the house (Jackson 35). This symbolizes how women in the 50s felt about being thought of as housewives. They wanted to be more, to not be stuck in their house. Also, the fact that they …show more content…
Each character symbolizes someone from the time of feminism. Montague signifies the men during that time. making the rules, organising everything, and being the “hero” or the brave one, while the women cower back under the covers. Eleanor is the character that stands for all women in the time before women’s rights, She has dreams and hopes but instead her whole life was taking care of her mother. She finally gets an opportunity to go out and do something, just to arrive at a house, and be driven insane and die. The “spirits” of the house are saying “Help Eleanor come home” (Jackson 145). “Home” is actually meant as the house itself, which symbolizes the modern house that housewives would stay in and do all the chores. By the house saying “come home” it’s saying to help Eleanor, or “the women”, come back to their “rightful” place as a housewife, being in the house and not out and about with their own lives as it used to
In The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, there are many aspects that make this book amazing. This story is about what happens to three young adults that were invited to spend the summer at a supposedly haunted house by an older professor trying to prove the existence of supernatural beings and study them. There are many meanings and themes that you can get out of this story, one of them that stands out the most to critics is the idea of feminism. Shirley jackson portrays feminism in many different ways throughout her book, The Haunting of Hill House.
One of the ways that Jackson portrays feminism in her story is the relationship between the main character, Eleanor, and Hill House. At first, Eleanor is frightened and unsettled by the house (Jackson 35). This symbolizes how women in the 50s felt about being thought of as housewives. They wanted to be more, to not be stuck in their house. Also, the fact that they …show more content…
Each character symbolizes someone from the time of feminism. Montague signifies the men during that time. making the rules, organising everything, and being the “hero” or the brave one, while the women cower back under the covers. Eleanor is the character that stands for all women in the time before women’s rights, She has dreams and hopes but instead her whole life was taking care of her mother. She finally gets an opportunity to go out and do something, just to arrive at a house, and be driven insane and die. The “spirits” of the house are saying “Help Eleanor come home” (Jackson 145). “Home” is actually meant as the house itself, which symbolizes the modern house that housewives would stay in and do all the chores. By the house saying “come home” it’s saying to help Eleanor, or “the women”, come back to their “rightful” place as a housewife, being in the house and not out and about with their own lives as it used to