In the Dream House

 

“Places are never just places in a piece of writing. If they are, the author has failed. Setting is not inert. It is activated by point of view.”

― Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

“In the Dream House” is based on a home where a physical haunting occurs. In this book, the house has many similarities to “Wuthering Heights”. This memoir was written by Carmen Maria Machado during her graduate years in Bloomington, Indiana. While I was unable to find the exact house or an image - the book describes the house in different stages. In the book, “Into the Dream House”, the house itself is in the main focus. The writer finds a beautiful house in a secluded area - spacious and welcoming. It is the writer’s ideal house. In this memoir, she moves into this house with her girlfriend - a rushed relationship, but filled with love. However, the dream house soon turns into a nightmare. Their relationship takes a dive, where the girlfriend (unnamed) begins insulting and turning to violence towards Carmen.

“In the Dream House” has themes and recurring motifs that relate to “Wuthering Heights”. There is the theme of control/power, violence, and turbulent relationships. In addition to that, both houses are secluded from people. The actions that occur in each house generally stay in each house, especially the abuse. 

The dream house soon becomes more like a prison. The rooms change from what she remembered them to be - and the house is more like a maze. Carmen can’t trust her own memory of the house, as she’s constantly being gaslit by her girlfriend. This is also reminiscent of “Wuthering Heights”. Those who reside in that house are almost trapped. Certain rooms are sealed off (Catherine’s room), while other rooms are just not allowed to be entered (Heathcliff’s room). There is no space other than the parlor that seems safe to be in, and even then, it’s not like anyone can escape Heathcliff’s wrath there either. In Carmen’s dream house, the only place she can find solace is the bathroom - one of the only rooms that has a lock inside. She hides in there trying to block out the noises and yelling her girlfriend is making outside of the bathroom.

Carmen Maria Machado is more docile compared to her girlfriend. She takes the harsh words and tries to make excuses for her behavior. She hesitates to tell anyone in her circle, worried about what they might say. This is another similarity to “Wuthering Heights”. Heathcliff’s wrath is often kept in the house, and even those who live outside (Nelly) keep the violence to themselves. Heathcliff takes on the aggressor role - which affects everyone living in the house. In regards to Hareton, he prohibits him from his inheritance and education. He covets Catherine Jr. for his son Linton - but mostly so he can obtain Thrushcross Grange. Catherine Jr. doesn’t tell her father about sneaking out to see Linton because she’s fearful of how he will react. She knows the relationship between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange isn’t good, but she’s been manipulated and forced by Heathcliff (and in some parts) Linton to keep visiting. 

Another theme that both books have is haunting. While in the novel “Wuthering Heights” the idea of haunting is more associated with ghosts, and the lingering relationships between characters - “In the Dream House” plays with a different type of haunting. In the memoir, the haunting is more literal and more physical. Violence is a major aspect of this book - which causes Carmen’s lapse of memory and brain fog. She’s scared to be in the house when her girlfriend is present but doesn't know the house as she once did when she was on her own. In this aspect, the “ghosts” in the dream house are more of a literal person - the girlfriend. However, her ‘haunting’ isn’t over just because she isn’t present in the house. Her violence creates a constant state of tension in the dream house. Similarly, it can be argued that Heathcliff caused that in his house as well. He beckons Catherine to haunt him - and his guilt creates a haunting from his own mind. Additionally, in poisoning his relationships with other people in the house, the resentment and tension create an air of haunting as well.

“In the Dream House” explores similar themes to “Wuthering Heights” - but brings its own twist to the idea of haunting. In “Wuthering Heights”, the idea of haunting is through the idea of apparitions lingering from the regrets of the way their life was lived. However, in Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir, the idea of haunting is more about the physical representation. Carmen’s girlfriend was a ‘ghost’ in that sense. Her violence and manipulation caused Carmen to believe in false memories and ideas because she couldn’t trust herself. The haunting that was her relationship shows a twist on the theme. Instead of a ghostly figure, it was a very real and present person in Carmen’s life causing the haunting.

“In this way, the Dream House was a haunted house. You were the sudden, inadvertent occupant of a place where bad things had happened. And then it occurs to you one day, standing in the living room, that you are this house's ghost: you are the one wandering from room to room with no purpose, gaping at the moving boxes that are never unpacked, never certain what you're supposed to do. After all, you don't need to die to leave a mark of psychic pain. If anyone is living in the Dream House now, he or she might be seeing the echo of you.”

― Carmen Maria Machado, In the Dream House

Sources:

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/65787792-in-the-dream-house

https://www.docdroid.net/Y9Jz3I6/machado-carmen-maria-in-the-dream-housez-liborg-pdf

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/768/768-h/768-h.htm