“What is this world?”: Confronting Conspicuously Literary Realms in Shirley Jackson’s Later Novels

Abstract

This thesis addresses the presence of noticeable literariness within the later novels of Shirley Jackson, including the carefully crafted and repetitive inclusion of intertextual and metafiction techniques. Within what I refer to as Jackson’s “literary realms,” which are comprised of particular literary and historical allusions, moments of attention given to the acts of writing and reading, and pivotal scenes that incorporate libraries, I contend that Jackson demonstrates an ongoing struggle with the potential for such literary realms to serve as desirable, accepting, or safe spaces for the writer and her reader. Reading The Haunting of Hill House (published in 1959) as a kind of literary fulcrum for Jackson’s work, this project explores the particular construction of literary matters within The Sundial (1958), which immediately precedes Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), which follows it. While The Sundial delights in shrewdly provoking engagement with a readerly reader, Hill House indicates a shift in Jackson’s presentation of literary realms as both appealing and threatening. The turn away from the use of more obviously literary language in We Have Always Lived in the Castle suggests an increasing distrust in the potential for literary realms to serve as safe spaces. Close consideration of the intricate treatment of literary matters within Jackson’s work reshapes her legacy, and repositions Jackson as a substantial American literary figure beyond traditionally assigned genre conventions.