Isolation In 'The Haunting Of Hill House'

When reading ghost stories, a common occurrence or idea often takes place in all these stories. This occurrence is the repeated idea of the female character as either the victim of the supernatural occurrence or is the ghostly victim. The female characters are often the victim either in life, death, or both. This idea often coincides with the theme of isolation, as isolation is often a strong factor in the cause of the female character’s often untimely demise. Isolation in the ghost story genre is common as the mental isolation or physical isolation is from society and impacts emotional connection to others. The isolation mentally, physically and in some case both, causes the female character’s ultimate destruction in the end. Isolation is

the agent in some ghost stories that especially impacts female victimization.
Isolation is a theme and literary element that is often used in the ghost story genre as a way to psychologically separate the female character from others in either society as a whole or emotional connection from others. This separation can be seen through physically isolating the character through either an actual physical barrier or through physical circumstances. This physical separation then directly causes the female character to feel mentally isolated as well. This mental or social isolation creates the perfect environment for the character to experience a ghostly encounter that often leads to the character’s victimization. This idea of isolation is seen in the novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and in the short story, The Shadow in the Corner by M.E. Braddon. These works each discuss the impact the element of isolation has on its female characters, Eleanor and Maria. Each of these character experience social isolation and this experience opens them up to encounter ghostly inhabitants.
In the short story, The Shadow in the Corner by M.E. Braddon centers on the old family house of Michael Bascom and the newly hired Maria to be a maid to help out this existing servants. Maria is placed in a room believed to be haunted by others of the community except for the current members of the house. Maria is isolated from the others by being place in the others by being in the room, as she states “It is very lonely, sir, at the top of the house.” and “I am quite alone on the top floor” (Braddon 56). This room is thought of as haunted, because of a suicide of a family relative, Anthony Bascom, that took place there. Maria’s isolation takes a toll on her mental health and is ultimately shunned in the social setting as none of the servants or master of the house believe the room is haunted, even though Maria tells them of the experience happening in the room. Since no one believes Maria her isolation is further expanded upon and continues to create havoc for her mentally in addition to the paranormal experiences she faces. Ultimately the combination of social isolation taken in part because of the paranormal experiences she encounters, causes her to take her own life just has the previous family occupant had done.
Maria’s isolation is very much the factor that leads to her tragic end. Her isolation is mostly socially as even though she is geographically separated by being placed in the room away from the other residents it is the being socially isolated from others and society that leads to her suicide. The isolation is caused in part by the forces working in the house as well that leads to her death. The supernatural events that only she experiences isolate her from the group and attribute to her isolation, as she states that it felt as if “a sense of trouble” followed her in her sleep in the room (Braddon 57). Then because the paranormal events cause haunting feelings of despair coupled with her separation from the ability to emotionally connect with others it leads to her death. Therefore Maria’s isolation greatly impacts her victimization in the story. This shows the connection that the idea of isolation in the ghost story is often connected to victimization especially the victimization of the woman or girl of the story.
The novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson also shows this connection between isolation and the victimization of female characters.

The main character, Eleanor Vance, can be seen as the victim of the novel. She ultimately commits suicide, like Maria, because of her susceptibility to the supernatural elements and experiences that happen in the haunted Hill House that Eleanor gets invited to stay at with others to investigate this paranormal phenomenon. Eleanor has been isolated from society because she has taken care of her mother for eleven years. This job has led to Eleanor missing out on many experiences and social interactions that has cause her social awkwardness and withdrawal from society. As in the novel, it states Eleanor “ had spent so long alone, with no one to love, that it was difficult for her to talk, even casually” (Jackson 3). This isolation causes her to make what can be considered a reckless decision to take up Dr. Montague’s offer to stay at Hill House. This then leads to Eleanor’s tragic suicide, which closely resembles the circumstances that lead to Maria’s suicide in The Shadow in the Corner as well. The social isolation that Eleanor experiences causes her to come in contact with supernatural forces and become impacted by them on a deeper level than the other characters in the

novel.
Eleanor, like Maria, is impacted by her social isolation and this is a direct factor that leads to her victimization. This seen, because Eleanor is socially isolated for a number of years which causes her to feel a disconnection to society and a feeling of not belonging anywhere. So this in return causes her to feel a deep attachment to the Hill House to which she finally she feels she has found a place to which she belongs, as she states “I am home, I am home” ( Jackson 171). This attachment makes her susceptibility to the house’s influence higher, which then ultimately causes her suicide when she is forced to leave the house. Her social isolation is, therefore, the cause to her victimization in the novel, as it plays a major role in the decision to go to the Hill House which then impacts her mental state to the point where she commits suicide.
Maria and Eleanor are both victims cause by directly by their social isolation from society and emotional connection with others. Their segregation from others in society or the community is the root cause of their victimization. Social isolation causes both characters to endure what can be viewed as extreme mental anguish that is influenced by some paranormal experiences. The paranormal exaggerated or stirred up this mental anguish in both characters to influence them to take their own lives. Eleanor’s deteriorated mental state is caused by her social isolation before she enters Hill House and Maria’s mental decline came when she became socially isolated because of the paranormal occurrences that surround her in the house of residence. Though through these slight differences in the cause of their social isolation, it can be seen that it still causes both character’s victimization in the end.
Social isolation is a direct cause of female victimization in the ghost story genre. The novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and the short story Shadow in the Corner by M.E. Braddon are both examples of this idea. The female characters are isolated mentally from society and the community that hinders them from connecting on a deeper level with others or the ability to have that understanding from other people. Eleanor and Maria are characters in these stories that represent this idea of isolation in a way that truly exemplifies the occurrence of mental instability that can cause extreme anguish to an individual. These female characters are enlightening to the impact of social isolation, which is coupled with the paranormal experience. The impact of social isolation is detrimental to mental health and in the ghost story genre, it shows this impact in an exaggerated manner that brings the issue to light. Social isolation is the ultimately a major agent in some ghost stories that directly causes the female character’s victimization.