Okehurst Obsession And Insanity Alice Oke

When someone hears the word “ghost”, what comes to their mind? Do they think of ghost stories like The Shining, Casper the Friendly Ghost, or Field Mice and Buffalo? How about the gory murder mysteries where a ghost comes back to haunt their murderer? Well has anyone ever thought about something as simple as a ghost story leading to someone being obsessed to the point of insanity? When I say obsessed, I don’t mean obsessed like scared; I mean “obsessed” as in a sense of possession or an obscene liking of. In Oke of Okehurst the author demonstrates how obsession drives William and Alice Oke to insanity.
In the beginning of Oke of Okehurst, the reader meets Alice Oke. From the beginning, Alice is definitely not what someone would expect. She

doesn’t act like the stereotypical 1850’s-1930’s woman. The painter that makes a portrait of Alice in the story and while doing so, he describes her in a few ways. He says that she “was…uncanny, exotic, far-fetched, insane and a wreck” (Lee 107).

The painter’s definition of Alice Oke couldn’t be more spot on. Focus on the word “insane”. That word may lead someone to ask why he calls her insane. I did as well when I first read that part. As the reader makes it farther into Oke of Okehurst, they will see just how “insane” Alice really is. Alice’s insanity was caused by an obsession over her and William’s (Mr. Oke) ancestors. This obsession and insanity tears apart Alice and William’s marriage. Alice’s ancestor, Alice Oke, daughter of Virgil Pomfret, Esq., is told to have had an affair with a man named Christopher Lovelock. The affair was found out by Alice’s husband, Nicholas. When Nicholas found out of the affair, he killed Christopher Lovelock. Since the murder, there is said to be a ghost of in the “yellow room” of the Oke’s home. This story is so interesting to Alice Oke that she becomes obsessed about the story, and not only the story, but obsessed with Alice Oke. The daughter of Virgil Pomfret, Esq. The painter once again describes Alice’s obsession in that “But I pictured to myself Mrs. Oke sitting in that yellow room- that room which no Oke of Okehurst save herself ventured to remain in alone, in the dress of her ancestress,

confronting, as it were, that vague, haunting something that seemed to fill the place- that vague presence, it seemed to me, of the murdered cavalier poet” (Lee 130). This description of Alice, said by the painter, stuck out to me because the words “sitting in the yellow room” and “in the dress of her ancestress”, are very intriguing. How could someone not only sit in a room that someone had been murdered in, but to also be wearing the dress of the person that caused the murder? Another point that stuck out to me was that Alice doesn’t just obsess over old Alice in a liking way. She taunts her husband with it. She focuses more on the old Alice than she does on her husband. Mr. Oke is shocked when they host a gathering at their house and Alice shows up dressed in Christopher Lovelock’s attire. “Mr. Oke’s soul was quite brimful of pain” (Lee 139). This quote shows just how much he was hurt by Alice not only letting her obsession control her, but it was starting to control Mr. Oke. He was starting to lose himself. From the night of the gather on, Mr. Oke changed.
From the beginning of the story, the reader is lead to believe that Alice Oke is obsessed to the point of insanity over her ancestors, Alice and Nicholas Oke.

But in the end, was Alice the only one that was insane? What about William Oke? How could one possibly deal with a wife constantly taunting him and giving more attention to a deceased man than himself? After Alice shows up to the gathering in Christopher Lovelock’s attire, Mr. Oke changes everything about himself. In Oke of Okehurst, the painter says that “From that evening onwards things began to assume a different aspect” (Lee 142). This saying from the painter stuck out to me because he says that “things began…different…” I assume this stuck out because since the night that Mr. Oke saw the “man” in the house, things had gotten very strange. Along with that, Mr. Oke started to change drastically, and not for the better. “But Oke got worse. He was growing perfectly unstrung, like a hysterical woman,” “…when he suddenly burst out in a scarce audible voice…” (Lee 144). Those descriptions given in Oke of Okehurst by the painter stuck out because Mr. Oke is usually a very calm and collected person. He doesn’t let his emotions get to him- until now. He grows “hysterical”. It seems as if Alice’s constant obsession and insanity has lead Mr. Oke to insanity. He no longer can take his wife obsessing over Christopher and Alice. He finally reaches a breaking point to which he lets all of his emotions out onto the painter. It is

beside me as to how William Oke could live with Alice’s constant taunting, obsession, neglect as a wife, and isolation from him for this long without have reached insanity before. The reader may be reading about William Oke and thinking of how he could possibly relate to Alice, when in the very end of the book Oke does the unspeakable. “But he broke loose, pulled open the window, and leapt into the room, and I after him” (Lee 152). This quote is very significant and sticks out because it tells of how far William’s insanity leads. This quote describes that William Oke jumped into the window and shot Alice, his wife. After he shot her, he cried “The damn rascal has given me the slip again!” (Lee 153). For him to just say something like that and walk out the door after shooting his wife goes to show that Mr. Oke could not have possibly been sane when he shot Alice.
The readers are still left to ask many questions in Oke of Okehurst. Such as were Alice, William or the both of them insane? Is Alice’s obsession and insanity of Alice Oke, daughter of Virgil Pomfret, Esq., what lead to William Oke’s insanity? Was it the old Alice’s fault that William shot his wife? No one for sure can answer what truly lead to Alice’s death. But, the main question that remains unanswered is: could Alice or Christopher’s ghosts have led to William and Alice being obsessed to the point of insanity?