The Haunting Of Hill House

Dr. Montague has a degree in anthropology. However, his true passion is “the analysis of supernatural manifestations” (1). It is suggested that he is self-conscious about this interest, worrying that others will not take him seriously as a doctor. He also reveals that “[e]veryone laughs” at his mention of haunted houses and that he told his university colleagues he was “going camping this summer” (51). At great personal expense, he rents Hill House for three months to study “the causes and effects of psychic disturbances in a house commonly known as ‘haunted’” (1). Once at Hill House, Dr. Montague informs the others that he will take careful notes and that he hopes his book “will rock [his] colleagues back on their heels” (42). Dr. Montague is portrayed as extremely careful and diligent. He is selective in who he invites to Hill House, vetting many candidates before sending invitations. Even his driving directions are detailed and precise.

Once at Hill House, he takes on a paternal role. At one point, he sits with his work as the others frolic in the fields before him. When they continue, “like a pack of children,” to ask him what they are going to do that day, he playfully chastises that they should “amuse” themselves with their “toys” (104). Dr. Montague lectures them on the house’s strange construction and history. He also shares information with them about various kinds of supernatural activity and philosophies on the nature of fear. However, the seriousness with which he takes his studies at Hill House does not preclude his enjoyment of them. Dr. Montague demonstrates childlike excitement when they notice the cold spot outside the nursery door and stands “patting his hands together with delight” (87). Similarly, when Theodora is confused why she can’t see the tower from her bedroom, Dr. Montague “smiled happily,” having been “hoping for some such question” (76). The doctor speaks as if he is holding class. He demonstrates his “lecture style” (99) by checking his points off on his fingers, linking them one by one.

Dr. Montague is interested not only in the supernatural but also in fear’s effects on people’s psyches. According to Dr. Montague, “[n]o physical danger exists” (102) because “no ghost in all the long histories of ghosts has ever hurt anyone physically. The only damage done is by the victim to himself” (102). He is also careful to ensure no one is harmed, telling them to leave if they “begin to feel the house catching” (91) at them. When Eleanor suggests the others are figments of her imagination, Dr. Montague tells her “gravely” that “[i]f I thought you could really believe that […] I would turn you out of Hill House this morning” (103). At the end of the novel, after Eleanor climbs the turret and runs through the house banging on the doors, Dr. Montague forces her to leave, talking to her “gently” and with eyes that are “considerate and friendly” (175). He states, “I was so wrong to bring you here” (179).

Despite Dr. Montague’s diligence, he ultimately is ineffective—as a doctor, a scholar, and a father. Although Dr. Montague has studied many cases, he is unable to solve a case himself. His obsessive note-taking proves irrelevant as he never isolates the cause of the hauntings at Hill House. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his article on Hill House suffers “cool, almost contemptuous reception” (182). He fails to comfort Eleanor after her name appears in the hallway and in Theodora’s room—after the second incident, he is more concerned with how he will “make an exact sketch of this” (115). After Eleanor climbs the turret, rather than sympathize with her, he agrees with Luke that she is “an imbecile” (175). The doctor’s compulsion to gather notes and data makes his ineffectiveness all the more disappointing. Although he is similarly ineffective with his wife—he is frustrated by her trust in planchette, embarrassed by her rudeness, and horrified by her insistence that they dig up the cellar—he fails to quell her invasiveness and in fact defends her, telling the others “[s]he is a good wife” who “does things splendidly” (146), such as sewing buttons on his shirts.  

Theodora, invited to Hill House by Dr. Montague because she possesses psychic powers, is perhaps best encapsulated by her lack of last name: an artist who believes “[d]uty and conscience were […] attributes which belonged properly to Girl Scouts” (5), she lives an unfettered life in a world of “delight and soft colors” (5). Theodora is described as being “not at all like Eleanor” (5)—while Eleanor has spent years taking care of her family, Theodora’s life revolves around her whims and fancies. Whereas Eleanor questions herself, Theodora is confident and bold. Although she does yearn for human connection—she had intended to decline Dr. Montague’s invitation until becoming estranged from her roommate—she does not yearn for a traditional life. She laughs at Eleanor’s inquiry as to whether she is married, and she rejects Eleanor’s suggestion that they live together after Hill House.

Eleanor and Theodora form a fast bond; frequently described as children, they bicker like sisters, oscillating between love and irritation. Upon arriving, Theodora notices immediately that Eleanor is afraid and attempts to comfort her. Eleanor finds her “lovely,” telling her, “You bring more light into this room than the window” (34). As they go to sleep the first night, Theodora assures Eleanor that she can go to her room if she’s scared. When, as Theodora paints her toenails, Eleanor is embarrassed that her feet are dirty, Theodora assures her, “My feet are dirty, too, baby, honest” (86).

During Dr. Montague’s lectures, Theodora often interrupts with humor and sarcasm. She also shows herself to be temperamental and irritable when uncomfortable. As they sit in the parlor the first night, she complains to Eleanor, “I had no idea it would be so dull” (62). She quickly turns apologetic, placing her hand over Eleanor’s and asking, “I’m terrible, aren’t I?” (62). When Theodora tells Eleanor, “I want my own bed” (92), Eleanor thinks, “She is sulking again; when she is hungry or tired or bored she turns into a baby” (92).

Theodora can be bitter and jealous, and Eleanor grows angry when Theodora teases or mocks her. After Eleanor’s name appears in the hallway, Theodora accuses her of writing it herself, then suggests she only did it to break Eleanor out of her fear; Eleanor does not believe her, thinking she is trying to make her the “outsider” so she can be “in the center of the stage” (109). She again accuses Eleanor of writing her own name when it appears in blood on the wall of her bedroom. As the two grow closer, many of the supernatural events at Hill House seem to occur in response to Eleanor’s frustration with Theodora. The caring but contentious relationship between them is thus one of the driving forces of the novel.

Theodora’s roommate is never named or described; readers wonder if the roommate is a man or a woman and what the relationship is between them. Her sexuality and affections are unclear, and there are subtle suggestions throughout the novel that Theodora is attracted to Eleanor. She is jealous when Eleanor diverts her attention to Luke, blatantly telling her as much—yet readers are unsure whether she is jealous of Eleanor or Luke. Later in the novel, she herself flirts with Luke, asking Eleanor, “What on earth do you want this time?” (159) when Eleanor interrupts them.

Theodora is warm and loving with Eleanor when Eleanor is forced to leave Hill House; she begs, “Oh, Nellie, my Nell—be happy; please be happy” (180), and insists she write her letters. However, just the previous evening, upon Eleanor’s frightening climb up the turret, Theodora had chastised her, saying, “I suppose you had to do it, Nell?” (175). Theodora, who switches with ease from loving to biting, proves caring but self-centered, capable of love but willing to betray this love when annoyed or threatened. She is happy to be part of this makeshift family—she even tells Eleanor they are “cousins” (39)—but ultimately is incapable of providing any true, sincere companionship.

Luke Sanderson, distantly related to the older Crain sister’s companion, will inherit Hill House one day, and he joins Dr. Montague as a representative of the family that owns the house. He seems in disbelief that the house will be his, and he frequently comments on its stifling “motherly” (154) atmosphere. Luke’s aunt, the current owner of the house, finds him to be a “liar” and a “thief” (5), though in truth, he only steals “petty cash from his aunt’s pocketbook” (6) and sometimes cheats at cards. At Hill House, Luke, like Theodora, falls back on humor when confronted with the bleakness of the house, and like Theodora, he frequently interrupts Dr. Montague’s lectures to insert a sharp comment. Upon meeting Eleanor and Theodora, he says, “Ladies, if you are the ghostly inhabitants of Hill House, I am here forever” (40); Eleanor finds him “really kind of silly” (40). Once inside and settled, he instigates a game in which the guests invent details about themselves. He himself, he jokes, is a bullfighter.

Although Luke occupies less of a role in the novel than Eleanor and Theodora, one revealing conversation offers a teasing glimpse of Luke’s flaws and vulnerabilities. Sitting with Eleanor outside the summerhouse one day, Luke tells her he “never had a mother” (122) and that he feels as if “everyone else has had something that I missed” (123). He acknowledges that he is “selfish” and says he wishes “someone will tell me how to behave, someone will make herself responsible for me and make me be grown-up” (123). Eleanor finds this comment trite, thinking that “he is simply not very interesting” (123). She wonders how many women he has said this to. Luke demonstrates uncharacteristic tenderness in this scene, telling Eleanor she is “warmhearted, and honest” (122); he begins a question about what will happen after she goes home, but trails off, never finishing his sentence. Later, he and Theodora begin spending more time together, and the two frequently go off together, sharing intimate conversations away from the others.

Luke, though evidently well meaning, is something of an anti-hero. Early in the novel, he jokes with the women that he lives “in mortal terror of rabbits” (41). He argues with the group over being made to ask Mrs. Dudley for coffee. Arthur, Mrs. Montague’s driver, calls him a coward for refusing to park Mrs. Montague’s car at night, and while the group’s policy of remaining inside after dark is understandable, readers cannot help but acknowledge the contrast between the two men. Of all the guests, Luke is the only one who is not there to indulge any interest in the paranormal; at the end of the novel, he goes to Paris, for reasons that are left unclear. During a fit of jealousy, Theodora tells Eleanor that Luke is “a rake” (128). Although his confession to Eleanor suggests he may not want to be, he exits the novel as he entered it, looking very much like one.

Mrs. Dudley, along with her cantankerous husband, is the caretaker at Hill House. Upon escorting Eleanor to her room, she offers a passionless list of instructions that she later will repeat verbatim to Theodora; she is careful to reiterate that she never stays after dark and that there will be no one to hear Eleanor at night. Despite the gloom of the rest of the house, Mrs. Dudley sets up a relatively cheerful and delicious dinner. Her firm insistence that she must clear the dishes at the same time every day provides a source of amusement for the guests. Although at first, her discomfort and rigidity may appear ominous, eventually, she provides a modicum of comic relief in an otherwise dark and gruesome tale.