Romantic Triangles

Shirley Jackson creates an intriguing trio of would-be lovers in her novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Given the social proprieties of the era in which the novel is set, much of this lovers' triangle is revealed through subtle inference and innuendo. By the time Eleanor arrives at Hill House, the reader has been made to understand that Eleanor is romantically past her prime. She has given up her youth to care for an ungrateful, ailing mother and finds herself, at thirty-two, bitter and desperate for a little happiness. Despite her years, Eleanor lacks romantic experience and has the romantic aspirations of a young teenager. Eleanor never consciously mentions or thinks about looking for love, but it is her fondest wish and most desperate hope, as indicated by her oft-repeated refrain, "journeys end in lovers meeting." When she first lays eyes on Luke that refrain echoes through...