Later on, the ghosts make themselves even more obvious to us. Stephen sees them both in the garden, and sees them for what they really are, and he is “Inexpressibly frightened.” In comparison to Rhoda’s vision, this is different, as she is only visited once, whilst Lost Hearts leads us to believe that the ghosts visit at least three times.
Abney’s motive for killing the children is one he learned from an ancient text that he has in his library. This text tells him that should a man kill three people who are all under the age of twenty one, and “absorb,” their hearts, he will attain superhuman abilities: “to be able to fly in the air, to become invisible or to assume any form he wanted.” These views in themselves are supernatural, as there is no logical explanation as to why these abilities could be acquired from the hearts of three children.
The third text, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is very different to the previous two texts. It is very difficult to ascertain the supernatural element in this story, if there is one at all. Perkins Gilman was a female American writer, who, in her lifetime, wrote hundreds of poems, 200 short stories and nine novels. After giving birth, she sank into deep post natal depression, and her cure was to rest, which nearly drove her mad. It is thought that she wrote The Yellow Wallpaper to show destructive such attitudes to female depression.
The Yellow Wallpaper sees an ill woman tormented, and finally driven mad, by the yellow wallpaper that covers the room she is staying in. she turns the wallpaper into an object of supernaturalism. Her mind twists it, until she is seeing things in it that are most definitely abnormal: “A woman stooping down and creeping around behind the pattern.” However, in her mind there is nothing abnormal in seeing these shapes in the wallpaper; they may scare her: “I don’t like it, I wish John would take me away from here!” but there is never any question in her writing that it may not be normal to see them. This poses a question of whether there is any supernatural element in the story; is her mind just creating these images, and if so, is it her mind, or the woman behind the wallpaper that is irrational and abnormal?
I don’t think the fact that she is not well in the head, quite from the beginning of the book can be argued with, but there is a question as to whether the paper itself really did corrupt her, and whether her actions a the close of the story, creeping around the room, as the woman behind the wallpaper, are too extreme for anybody to have performed without supernatural intervention. The woman behind the wall could indeed have possessed her, causing her to perform these bizarre acts.
However, I believe that the wallpaper may have had an element of the supernatural, that it hypnotized her to such an abnormal extent, but that the woman and the mischievous, never ending patterns are just figments of her bored, already unsteady mind.
This makes The Yellow Wallpaper very different to either of the other stories. In neither Lost Hearts nor The Withered Arm was there such a question about the supernatural. In Lost Hearts the whole storyline is so fantastic, that there is no question of it occurring in real life, but in terms of the story, James puts us in no doubt that the ghosts really did exist. Similarly, in The Withered Arm Rhoda is in no doubt that the vision really did visit her, and there is physical proof at the hands of both apparitions.
Throughout the story of the Withered Arm, there is a question of the supernatural: the villagers accusing Rhoda of being a witch, Mrs Lodge’s potions, Conjurer Trendle and of course Rhoda’s vision. Hardy writes the supernatural seamlessly into the story, and the setting of a sleepy “Wessex” village seems to be in perfect conjunction with the idea of spiritual happenings. The event of Rhoda’s visitation is very cleverly written, as whilst Rhoda undoubtedly sees, and feels, the figure there is no question of it being a normal event. As a reader, you feel sympathy towards Rhoda and Mrs Lodge, and almost anger against the vision, as it has no positive affect on any character in the story.
In Lost Hearts, however, the reader harbours very different feelings towards the ghosts. James describes the ghosts as real, desperate victims. They were once alive, and in contrast to Rhoda’s vision which was certainly never human, and that, coupled with the fact that they are children, throws them into a completely different light. At their first proper meeting with Stephen, James describes the boy as “A figure inexpressibly thin and pathetic.” They are described as a “dreadful pair,” but their “appearance of menace and of unappeasable hunger and longing,” fills you with wary sympathy for their dreadful situation.
The way they pursue Stephen, shredding his night clothes and scraping their nails down his door is disturbing, but the fact that they were innocent victims originally at the hands of humans makes them pathetic, rather than frightening in the manner that the vision was in The Withered Arm. Their seeming quest to return their hearts to their rightful places and their warnings to Stephen, even if they are a little misguided, gives the reader relatively warm feelings towards them.
The story treats them with a sort of strange respect; that James recognises that their revenge is something that they have to undertake in. Indeed, this story, unlike many others, puts man (Abney,) as the evil, and the spirits themselves as the victims.
The supernatural in The Yellow Wallpaper is even more subtly entwined than in The Withered Arm. As it is written in the first person, unlike the other two stories we, the reader, get a much clearer view into the mind of the main character. We can tell that she is unhinged from the start of the story as her writing style is very staccato, using very short sentences and paragraphs. She also repeats herself: “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.” She also uses excessive exclamation marks, giving the impression of a distracted mind: “I am glad my case is not serious!” “It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way!” “Such a dear baby!” “He laughs at me so about this wallpaper!”
Perkins Gilman also appeals to our sight frequently throughout the story, describing the exact colour of the wallpaper- “The colour is repellent, almost revolting: a smouldering unclean yellow.” This means that we have an almost perfect mental picture of the wallpaper and the room, drawing us into the story even more, whether we want it to or not.
She also writes very conversationally, so the reader feels more connected with her, as a character, than with any of the other characters. This relationship with the narrator starts to make the reader more and more uneasy the further the story progresses. She becomes with a mundane object: the wallpaper, a situation that everyone can relate to, although perhaps not in such an extreme case as hers. Her obsession has been blown out of all proportion, and the relationship Perkins Gilman has created between us starts to make us feel more uneasy the more erratic her behaviour becomes.
The wallpaper is an invasion of the unnatural in an otherwise rational world, and this worries the reader that this could possibly happen to us. The wallpaper is so ordinary, commonplace, and yet also completely uniquely disturbing.
As I mentioned before, the obsession with the wallpaper, and therefore the question of the supernatural is very cleverly woven into the story. At first, she despises the wallpaper: “that horrid paper!” but there is already the question of some power it may wield over her: “This paper looks at me as if it knew what vicious influence it had!” Her interest, that then turns to obsession is gradual in its transition, “I lie on this great immovable bed and follow that pattern by the hour.”
The transition is so gradual, that you hardly notice it is happening, until the final “scene,” where behaviour becomes so erratic that the existence of madness and the supernatural is indisputable. She calls the pattern “torturing,“ and claims “that is why I watch it always.” She becomes obsessed by sub pattern, and is “quite sure it is a woman,” who she then treats as a person and believes to creep around the room.
She does make one very clear headed suggestion- “It strikes me occasionally, just as a scientific hypothesis that perhaps it is the paper!” – showing that she does still have some sanity. At first she was desperate to be taken out of the house, but then later on says she does not want to mention she is feeling better to her husband as “he might even take me away.”
She talks about the woman behind the wallpaper as if she knows her: “It must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight! I always lock the door when I creep by daylight.” This really does show how she has become obsessed, mirroring the actions of the woman. She believes that she has human contact with the woman, helping her escape from the wallpaper.
She also becomes very protective over the paper: “No person touches this paper but Me.” The capital M is very telling – she feels she is above other people. At the end of the story she is seemingly possessed by the woman, and this is something that never happened in the other stories – the ghosts were always much more real, and separate to the humans in the stories. The question of her psychosis and possible insanity is one that is intriguing, but also very disturbing.
In the Withered Arm, the ghost appears to be mischievous: “The blue eyes peered cruelly into her face; and then the figure thrust forward its left had mockingly, so as to make the wedding ring it wore glitter in Rhoda’s eyes.” The vision’s taunting leads to her seeming to tempt Rhoda to attack it. The vision could be seen to play the role that the snake did in Eden: concealing the devil and tempting Rhoda to “sin” in a religious sense.
The vision may not appear to be the evil in the story, but it certainly was the cause of the evil (the withering of Mrs Lodge’s arm,) and in that respect it can be quite rationally argued to be the evil. The mutation of Mrs Lodge does not in any way help Mrs Lodge or Rhoda; although it causes the deterioration of the Lodge’s marriage, Mr Lodge does not return to Rhoda. Consequently, you feel that the apparition of the spirit really was an act of pure malice, with no positive consequences. The supernatural causing upset in human lives is certainly not unusual in a piece of fiction.
In Lost Hearts the effect the spirits have on the lives of the human character sis very severe – they end one man’s life, and revolutionize the other character’s lives. Although it is not usual for the murder of a man at the hands of the supernatural to be thought of as good fortune, it undoubtedly is in this story. Abney really was evil; his murder saved Stephen’s innocent life and gave the ghosts of the innocent children much needed revenge.
Although the spirits did change the lives of Stephen and Mrs Bunch, and did disturb them to start off with, they most definitely improved their lives, and saved Stephen from a terrible fate. This is the complete contrast to the Withered Arm, when the spirit did appear malevolent, whilst these ghosts do have hearts, if not literally!
The reader is not specifically told the overall outcome of the supernatural intervention in the Yellow Wallpaper. However, we do no that it corrupts the narrator, and turns her insane, although she was certainly unhinged to begin with. She was so distressed by the end of the series that it is rational to assume that she needed special medical attention, perhaps even moving to an institution.
The possession of the main character will certainly have a negative effect on her husband, her brother and the friends that are occasionally mentioned. This destruction of people’s lives is very similar to that in the Withered Arm, but is almost the opposite of the positive change to the characters’ lives in Lost Hearts.
Hardy also explores the superstition and belief behind the supernatural. The villagers are very superstitious, and Rhoda “had been slyly called a witch since her fall (from favour.)” In contrast, Mr and Mrs Lodge are at first dismissive of the idea of the supernatural, indeed at first they laughed about the idea of “some witch, or the devil itself having blasted the flesh.” This is surely a distinction between the education gap between the lower and middle classes.
As the story progresses, however, Mrs Lodge becomes more and more superstitious and her “whole time was given to every quack remedy she came across.” This is in stark contrast to her previous sceptical manner. This shows how an experience with the supernatural can change a person’s view and beliefs. Mr Lodge, however, remains as rational in thought as before, saying “Damned if you won’t poison yourself with these apothecary messes and witch remedies some time or another” Here Hardy is possibly highlighting the difference between the two sexes.
Hardy also explores the superstition and belief behind the supernatural. The villagers are very superstitious, and Rhoda “had been slyly called a witch since her fall (from favour.)” In contrast, Mr and Mrs Lodge are at first dismissive of the idea of the supernatural, indeed at first they laughed about the idea of “some witch, or the devil itself having blasted the flesh.” This is surely a distinction between the education gap between the lower and middle classes.
As the story progresses, however, Mrs Lodge becomes more and more superstitious and her “whole time was given to every quack remedy she came across.” This is in stark contrast to her previous sceptical manner. This shows how an experience with the supernatural can change a person’s view and beliefs. Mr Lodge, however, remains as rational in thought as before, saying “Damned if you won’t poison yourself with these apothecary messes and witch remedies some time or another” Here Hardy is possibly highlighting the difference between the two sexes.
The reactions of the characters in Lost Hearts towards the supernatural are slightly less complicated. The very comfortable, but not particularly bright housekeeper, Mrs Bunch is worried by the suggestion of spirits, but very practical: she is “much impressed,” by Stephen’s recounting his dream, but immediately goes to Mr Abney. However, her practically cannot necessarily be interpreted as bravery, as it is unlikely that she completely understood what was going on, and claimed that Mr Abney is “as kind a soul as ever I see!”
Stephen is understandably terrified by the ghosts’ visits, and when he sees them both together is “inexpressibly frightened.” However, James mentions in their first meeting that he acted “with a courage which I do not think can be common among the boys of his age,” suggesting that he was in fact surprisingly brave.
Mr Abney has, as was aforementioned, an unnatural obsession with the supernatural, as is shown by his response to Stephen’s dream of the ghost: “Mr Abney was greatly interested and made notes of the matter in what he called “his book.”” This obsession is further explained in the final stages of the story, where his reason for murdering the children becomes clear. He does not appear scared or even worried by probing into the world of the supernatural. Indeed, he only sees it in terms of achieving his own means. Perhaps this is the utterly selfish view of the completely ruthless.
In the Yellow Wallpaper the possibility of the supernatural even existing is not mentioned once. The narrator’s brother and husband are both doctors, and this profession revolving around logic and book learning leaves no room for even the idea of the supernatural.
She says her husband is “practical in the extreme;” there even seems to be a taboo surrounding the idea of a spirit, or anything not wholly scientific having affected the woman. The narrator herself never mentions the supernatural either; this, in the context of the previous two stories, only leads to the reader feeling more uncomfortable and increasing the feeling of taboo. However, to the irrational, unhinged mind, everything has certain logic to it, and logic is surely the opposite of the supernatural.
Although, in my opinion, fate is not the major theme in these stories, it is still one that is important, and closely related to the supernatural.
In the Withered Arm, fate plays a very large part in the ending scene, where Rhoda, Mr Lodge, Mrs Lodge and Rhoda and Mr Lodge’s son all meet, six years since they all did so together. The very gruesome, and uncomfortable, situation in which they meet is such that it leads to the assumption that fate is involved. Of all the hung men Mrs Lodge could have chosen to touch her arm to, it is a very large coincidence that it was her unknowing step son.
It seems as if Hardy had loose ends to tie up, and this was the most effective way of doing so. Although the meeting is not a pleasant one, essentially it leads to Mrs Lodge’s death; it gives the reader a feeling of closure, as if fate truly has had the “last laugh” in the story.
Although, in my opinion, fate is not the major theme in these stories, it is still one that is important, and closely related to the supernatural.
In Lost Hearts, Hardy investigates another off shoot of the concept of fate: karma, which is also loosely connected to the supernatural.
Karma is the originally spiritual view that however you behave to others, that same behaviour will be given to you, or, to put it more bluntly: what goes around comes around. Mr Abney certainly deserved the end that he received, and there is a feeling that he is getting his comeuppance: he is certainly a victim of karma. He has brutally murdered two innocent children, and he meets his end in the exact gruesome way: his heart ripped from his body.
There is also a feeling that Stephen is fated the moment he arrives at Abney’s house, from the imposing description of the house upon Stephen’s arrival to Abney’s repeated questioning of his age.
Fate does not play a large role in Yellow Wallpaper, but this is perhaps as it falls under the same blanket of taboo that the unspoken quesitonof the supernatural does.
However, simlar to in Lost Hearts, you feel the narrator is fated in her renting out the house right from the point that she commetns on its low price. The fact that her husband is very unwilling to move downstairs gives an omen of her being forced to stay in the wallpapered room, that fate is doing its best to subject it to her.
In this story even more than the other two you feel the fate could almost be personified as toying with her, worrying and frustrating her in her wish to leave the room, until it finally gets bored and leaves her to her fate.
Thus, I can conclude that all three authors treat the questions of fate and the supernatural very differently. In all the stories the supernatural is the underlying theme, and it is personified in the same way in all three: ghosts, or spirits. The Withered Arm and the Yellow Wallpaper both view it, essentially, in the conventional way common in fiction: as the evil of the story, the undoing of the characters. In Lost Hearts, however, the ghosts are viewed as the victims, which is unusual.
In most aspects, Lost Heats and the Withered Arm contain many more similarities than with the Yellow Wallpaper. The contrast between all three stories’ involvement and use of the supernatural is complex, but very intriguing.
