This first edition of A Haunted House and Other Stories by Virginia Woolf was published in 1943, two years after Virginia Woolf’s death. In this work, Leonard Woolf attempts to carry out his wife’s intention of publishing a volume of collected short stories. In the now yellowing hardback with a simple greying print appear 17 stories, three of which we have read in class: “A Haunted House“, “The Mark on the Wall”, and “the Lady in the Looking Glass”. Some of the stories, including “the Lady in the Looking Glass”, were personally picked by Leonard Woolf; the order and what stories were included was thus up to his interpretation.
The cover, the sole image within the work, displays a vase of roses stagnant in front of a mosaic window that emits sunlight. This imagery of Nature is present within the stories that were discussed in class: in the “drawing room” that “reflected roses” in “A Haunted House“, “on the mantelpiece” that held “the three chrysanthemums in the round glass bowl” in “The Mark on the Wall”, and the “sunflowers” and “garden” that are visible from the “sofa” in “The Lady in the Looking Glass“. The sunlight that is also present on the cover highlights a theme that unites the stories. The metaphorical “light in the heart’ is the treasure in “A Haunted House“, while the looking glass “pour[s] over [Isabella Tyson] a light that seem[s] to fix her” and “leave only the truth”. “The Mark on the Wall“ talks of light only metaphorically, speaking of illumination about one’s true image. Thus, through its various elements, the cover alludes to all three stories and encompasses the small details present within them, aiding one’s understanding of the pieces of literature. The cover boldly emphasizes the symbolism and complex themes depicted throughout the texts, hinting at a possible interpretation of the works’ nuanced layers.
The first story, “A Haunted House“, encompasses some main ideas that are then expanded upon in the later stories. This work relates the present to the past, the living with the dead, reality, and fiction. A ghostly couple is roaming the house, searching for a buried treasure. In the collection, the word “Treasure” is often capitalized, which is not done in the copy that was read in class, which puts a further emphasis on the importance of it. During their search, the narrator seeks to uncover both the location and the nature of this treasure. Little is also known about the ghost couple, their dialogue containing many dashes and their sentences often not finished: “Upstairs– “, “Long years– “. This uncertainty within the narrator and the surrounding world is explored in the two later stories. The story also grapples with stagnation and change. The haunted house and the nature surrounding it remain the same throughout time, while the people living within it change. In the last line of the work, the narrator in disbelief reveals that the treasure was the light in the heart. It becomes clear that this light in the heart is an element that was once experienced by both the living and the ghostly couple, which unites them through time, making their treasure more valuable. Thus, it is evident that “A Haunted House” is the titular story as it introduces ideas and themes within the two other stories that we read in class.
“The Mark on the Wall“ ponders the divide between reality and fiction, and how writers can deviate from reality through their reflections. The uncertainty of the narrator and the surrounding world presented in “A Haunted House” is further emphasized in this second story: the narrator questions all through the exclamations: “The Mystery of life! The inaccuracy of thought! The ignorance of humanity!”. The narrator then ponders how going into depth about one’s reflection makes a writer deviate from reality. This is done through discussing the idea of revealing the “shell of a person” – one’s true identity. Throughout this story, the narrator’s stream of consciousness becomes philosophical and grapples with the boundary of what is the truth.
The third story, “The Lady in the Looking Glass”, is an extension of the first two stories, a reflection. The narrator ponders the various realities of Isabella Tyson, as little is known about her. This is highlighted by the statement: “One must prize her open with [..] the imagination”. This directly parallels the ideas of the other stories, where the uncertainty leads to one going into depth about one’s reflection, deviating from reality. The story also employs the recurring motif of light, which pours over Isabella to rid her of the “unessential and superficial” and “leave only the truth”. This revealed truth is a concrete example of the philosophical pondering “The Mark on the Wall“ as the story disproves the narrator’s imaginings of how complex Isabella’s life is by revealing her simple nature.
In conclusion, A Haunted House and Other Stories collection delves into the themes of reality, time, and nature. The three stories discussed during class share many thematic similarities, and their order allows the reader to follow Woolf’s stream of consciousness pondering the nuances of one’s true identity, values, and reflections.
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