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A Haunted House
the literary historian Jack Sullivan, from the mid-19th century
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION to the start of World War I in 1914. Woolf was at the center of
the evolution of literary modernism, contributing to it both with
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF VIRGINIA WOOLF her own writing and with her support of other well-known
Virginia Stephen was born in 1882 to the author, historian and modernist authors, including E. M. Forster and T. S. Eliot. Like
critic Leslie Stephen and his second wife, Julia Duckworth, a the majority of her fiction, “A Haunted House” bears many
model for the Pre-Raphaelite movement. She had three hallmarks of modernism, among them an unusual form (micro-
siblings, including the painter Vanessa Bell, but lost most of her fiction), a bending of traditional tropes (the frightening ghost
family early on in her life, including her mother, her stepsister, story), and use of the “stream-of-consciousness” style, which
her father, and her brother Thoby. She married Leonard Woolf modernist authors like Woolf helped to pioneer. Though the
in 1912, and her first novel, The Voyage Out, was published in “Golden Age” of supernatural fiction had ended before the
1915. With her husband, she founded Hogarth Press, a small publication of “A Haunted House,” Woolf's story shares
press intended to publish unconventional and experimental concerns with both ghost stories of the Golden Age and other
literature (including Woolf's novels). Between 1922 and 1941, ghost stories published in the 1920s, like those of Edith
she had a long-term relationship with writer Vita Sackville- Wharton. Tropes of Gothic fiction were popular in ghost fiction
West, during which she published three more novels and a of the Golden Age; Woolf also plays with the Gothic tradition,
number of essays. However, her mental health worsened and setting the story in an ancient and drafty house and signaling
she died by suicide in 1941, drowning herself in a river near her the ghosts' presence by the opening and closing of doors.
home. Her last novel, Between the Acts, was published
posthumously. KEY FACTS

HISTORICAL CONTEXT • Full Title: “A Haunted House”

• When Written: circa 1921
It's often argued that the reason grief and loss pervade Woolf's
fiction is because of the many losses in her own life. The impact • Where Written: London, England
of those losses on "A Haunted House" is apparent. Though she • When Published: 1921
had not lost a spouse, the deaths of her mother, stepsister (to • Literary Period: Interwar, modernism
whom she was close), father, and older brother in rapid • Genre: Micro-fiction, modernism, "ghost story"
succession (1895, 1897, 1905, and 1906, respectively) led to a
• Setting: A large, old house in the South Downs
focus on the nature of death and grief in her own writing. "A
Haunted House" is one of her more positive depictions of • Climax: The narrator seeing the ghosts for the first time and
death, as a continuing state of being where love and joy can still realizing the nature of their treasure
exist. In her novel Mrs Dalloway
Dalloway, in contrast, she represents • Antagonist: Death, loss, absence
ghosts as deeply horrific, and death as something at best • Point of View: First person
ambiguous and at worst to be feared. Another event in Woolf's
own life reflected in "A Haunted House" is her purchase of a EXTRA CREDIT
house in the South Downs (very similar to the house described
Woolf's Writing Hut. While at Monk's House, Woolf wrote in a
in the story, with two stories and a garden almost an acre in
wooden toolshed in the garden that she had turned into a
size) with her husband Leonard in 1919. Woolf treasured the
"writing hut." It was reportedly noisy, often in disarray, and so
house, called Monk's House, until the end of her life, and spent
cold that her fingers became numb in winter. However, she
some of the happiest periods of her life there among friends
completed several of her novels there, including Mrs Dalloway
Dalloway,
and family and the Downs, which she described as "too much
perhaps her most well-known work.
for one pair of eyes." It's easy to imagine why, when writing "A
Haunted House," she chose Monk's House as the setting that
represented both couples' profound love.
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
RELATED LITERARY WORKS A "ghostly couple" is moving through the halls of a house,
The primary literary traditions that influence this story are the opening and closing doors and sifting through the house’s
development of modernism in the early 20th century and the contents, clearly looking for something. They tell each other,
so-called “Golden Age of the ghost story,” lasting, according to “Here we left it,” “Oh, but here too!” and decide that thing

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they’re looking for must be upstairs—or maybe in the garden. attempting to find out what they themselves are searching for.
They whisper to one another quietly as they search, careful not The narrator also clearly has a deep love for his or her spouse,
to “wake them.” and it is this love that seems to allow the narrator to realize that
The narrator says that “one might” overhear the ghosts but "the light in the heart" of a loving couple is what the dead
continue to read quietly as the ghosts carry on their search. couple are searching for.
When one becomes convinced that the ghosts have finally The Husband – The husband, also unnamed, is one of the two
“found it,” he or she might set the book down and get up to look ghosts who figure in the story, searching the house for the dead
for the ghosts. However, that person would find the house couples "treasure." He lived "hundreds of years ago" in the
completely empty, doors all flung open, with the only sounds house with his wife, but after her death, he fell into mourning
coming from the birds chirping outside. and left the house to travel the world. Eventually, however, he
The narrator asks himself or herself, "What did I come in here returned to the house, "dropped beneath the Downs,"
for?" and notes that his or her hands are empty. Going upstairs and—presumably after his own death—was reunited with his
to look for “it,” the narrator just finds apples in the loft and wife's ghost. Though the story provides little space for either of
heads back to the garden, which is “still as ever.” Meanwhile, the the ghosts to be given a unique personality, Woolf establishes
ghosts have "found it" in the drawing room, but they are the husband as a romantic and poetic person who cares deeply
invisible to the narrator. When the narrator enters the drawing for his wife. When the dead wife comments only, "Here we
room, trying to catch a glimpse of the ghosts, all the narrator slept," the husband responds, "Kisses without number." The
sees is that an apple has shifted. Meanwhile, “the pulse of the husband is also the one to notice the "love upon [the] lips" of
house beat[s] softly,” saying, “Safe, safe, safe.” Someone or the living sleeping couple. He and his wife are never separated
something says “The treasure buried; the room…” but trails off, during the story, emphasizing how profound their love for one
and the pulse of the house stops abruptly. The narrator another is.
wonders if “that [is] the buried treasure.” The Wife – The wife, the other ghost who appears in the story,
Looking out the window, the narrator remembers the history of spends it searching the house with her husband for their
the dead couple: the woman had been the first of the pair to "treasure" and reminiscing about their lives together. During
die, "hundreds of years ago," and her husband left the house to their lives, she died first, "hundreds of years ago," and Woolf
travel the world soon after that. Eventually, he returned to implies ("left it, left her") that she became a ghost immediately
their old home, which had "dropped beneath the Downs." and was left alone for some time while her husband traveled.
His desertion does not seem to have affected her love for him,
A storm rages in the dark outside, but the inside of the house is
however—as ghosts they are always together, going through
bright and still. The ghosts continue to move through the
the house "hand in hand." Based on the dialogue she shares
house, “seek[ing] their joy.” The ghosts reminisce about their
with her ghost-husband, she seems to be the more confident
own life in the house as they approach the bedroom of the
and authoritative of the two: she declares, "Here we left it,"
narrator and the narrator’s partner, who are sleeping. The
before her husband adds, "Oh, but here too!" She is also the
ghosts stand over the bed, peering down at the sleeping couple
first to speak in the next paragraph of dialogue, recalling, "Here
for a long while, and conclude that "Here we left our
we slept," and, eventually, the one to realize, "Here we left our
treasure—" The narrator, wakes up due to the light from the
treasure."
ghosts’ lamp and exclaims, "Oh, is this your buried treasure? The
light in the heart."
THEMES
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
The Narr
Narrator
ator – The narrator, who is given no name or gender, occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
is one half of the living couple who now live in the "haunted a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
house." The narrator seems to be the only living person able to black and white.
perceive the ghostly couple, at first hearing them and, finally, at
the end of the story, catching a glimpse of the ghosts in the
light of a lamp. In the story, the narrator leads a leisurely life, LOVE
reading in the garden, and "rolling apples in the loft." The Love is the central strand of Virginia Woolf’s “A
narrator seems likely to be well-off, based on the size of his or Haunted House,” bringing comfort and happiness
her house, while the narrator’s tone and vocabulary suggest a to everything from the undead to the titular
significant degree of education. The narrator is deeply curious haunted house itself. Far from being a typical ghost story, “A
about the ghosts, searching through the house for them and Haunted House” details a much gentler kind of haunting. In the

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story, two ghostly lovers glide through the house where they to act like a unit.
once lived, searching for a “treasure” that they had buried there Most radically of all, the story suggests that love endures even
before death. In the end, it seems that the so-called treasure is after death. Although the ghostly couple is searching for the
simply the love they shared in life, which is alive and well in the love they shared as living people, it’s clear that they are
living couple to whom the house now belongs. In “A Haunted devoted to each other beyond the grave. The story introduces
House,” Woolf ultimately suggests that love knows no them going “hand in hand” through the house, and they
bounds—it survives the test of time, it overcomes boundaries complete each other’s sentences and speak as a unit, as in,
between people, and it even endures beyond the grave. “‘Quietly,’ they said, ‘or we shall wake them.’” Once again, the
As the story unfolds, it’s clear that the ghostly couple’s love still pronouns “they” and “we” emphasize that the two lovers are
lives on in the house and in the garden even though the ghosts truly a pair and speak with one voice. They may have been dead
haven’t lived there in several centuries, suggesting that love can for hundreds of years, but they are the model of a loving couple.
survive the passage of time. The ghostly couple’s exchange at Later, the narrator describes how “death [came] to the woman
the beginning of the story—"Here we left it.” “Oh, but here too!” first, hundreds of years ago, leaving the house […] He left it, left
“It’s upstairs.” “And in the garden”—grounds their treasure in her […] sought the house, found it dropped beneath the
the house. Though the living couple has “inherited” the Downs.” When death divided the couple, the man left his house
treasure, it is the house, which has safeguarded it for many behind, the symbolic home of his love. However, the story then
years, that makes that possible. The representation of the transitions into the refrain of “‘Safe, safe, safe,’ the pulse of the
house as a living creature also indicates that the house itself house beat gladly. ‘The Treasure yours,’” suggesting that even in
embodies the couple’s love and lives on. Throughout the story, light of his wife’s death and his own absence, the love he shared
Woolf repeats the refrain, “‘Safe, safe, safe,’ the pulse of the with his wife is still pulsing through the home.
house beat.” The house protects the “treasure” in it, suggesting At the end of the story, the ghostly couple’s love supersedes
that the love will be passed on to the next couple to live in the death in a new way: by inhabiting the young couple who live in
house. The use of “pulse” and, at another point, “heart,” to their home. As the ghostly couple leans over the sleeping
describe the life of the house also connects it with the organ lovers, the woman sighs, “Here, [...] sleeping; in the garden
traditionally associated with love, and suggests that even as reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our
time goes by, the couple's love will continue to “beat” in the treasure—” The living lovers mimic these activities, sleeping in
house. Similarly, the garden functions as a symbolic connection the bedroom and reading in the garden. When the narrator
between the living couple and the dead couple. The first wakes, they say, “Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in
location the dead couple gives for the treasure is “in the the heart”; Woolf’s italics suggest both that the narrator has
garden,” and the narrator (half of the living couple) makes realized what the treasure is—love itself—and, furthermore,
mention of reading in the garden, which is “still as that the treasure was previously the ghostly couple’s,
ever”—suggesting that for many years the garden has remained positioning the living couple as inheritors of the dead couple’s
as it is now, as when the woman of the dead couple remembers life and love. In “A Haunted House,” love is able to overpower
being “in the garden reading.” Also, though the narrator is not any barrier it faces, from separation to death to the ravages of
able to see the ghosts, they see “reflected apples, reflected time. Even the individual self is not impervious to the force of
roses; all the leaves […] green in the glass” where the ghosts love, which seems at times to combine two people into one.
should be, so that the ghosts are in a sense reflected back to
her in the form of the garden, the repository of the love that
connects the two couples.
HAPPINESS AND THE HOME
The title of the story, “A Haunted House,”
Not only does love transcend the boundaries of time and death,
demonstrates the importance of the house to the
it also transcends the boundaries between individuals. This is
story’s narrative. The story takes place almost
clear through the way that the ghostly couple is described as a
completely within the house’s walls, as a ghostly couple drifts
unit, like two strands woven into a single cord. The ghostly
quietly through the house they once lived in hundreds of years
couple is unified throughout the story, acting and speaking in
ago. As the ghosts recall their fond memories of things that
concert. They drift through the house “hand in hand” like two
happened at the house and admire the living lovers who now
puzzle pieces snapped into one. They complete each other’s
inhabit it, Woolf suggests that the concept of home is central to
sentences and are referred to with the pronoun “they,” as
one’s happiness, and that one will always be pulled toward
though talking in exact unison. Later in the story, they interrupt
home.
one another rhythmically, almost like a song in harmony:
“Waking in the morning—” “Silver between the trees—” As the ghosts search for their “treasure,” they swap fond
“Upstairs—” “In the garden—.” Love makes it possible for them memories of living in the house, highlighting how their joy in life
to have an intrinsic understanding of one another’s minds and was intimately connected to the home. Approaching the living
couple, the ghosts exchange brief recollections of moments in

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the house: “‘Here we slept,’ she says. And he adds, ‘Kisses half of the ghostly couple, the man, while he was alive. The
without number.’ ‘Waking in the morning—’ ‘Silver between the story notes that death “[came] to the woman first, hundreds of
trees—’ ‘Upstairs—’ ‘In the garden—’ ‘When summer came—’ ‘In years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the window; the rooms
winter snowtime—.’” Their memories, and their love for one were darkened,” before noting that the man “left it, left her,
another, are so intrinsically connected to the house that they went North, went East, saw the stars turned in the Southern
do not even need to specify what took place upstairs or in the sky.” As his travels draw to a close, the man “[seeks] the house,
garden; the place itself brings to mind their love and their joy. [and] [finds] it dropped beneath the Downs.” While the story
At the end of the story, as the ghosts watch the living couple doesn’t make it explicit why the man leaves (perhaps because
sleep, the dead woman recalls, “Here, sleeping; in the garden the house reminded him of his late wife) or why he returns, it is
reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our clear that the house has a strong pull on him. Furthermore, it
treasure—.” She reminisces about the same activities the living seems that the house welcomes him warmly—as soon the man
couple is depicted doing in the story, all of which take place in returns, “the pulse of the house beat[s] gladly” once again,
and around the titular “haunted house.” Like the dead couple, repeating the word “Safe, safe, safe.” Even though the house
the things that bring the living couple joy seem to be founded was a source of pain for the man in that it was “darkened,”
on their life in the house itself. literally and metaphorically, after his wife’s death, the house’s
The story’s description of the world outside the house’s doors steady “pulse” in light of his return suggests that it once again
also suggests that the home is a place of warmth and safety. becomes a place of love and joy for him. While “A Haunted
While searching for the ghosts in the house, the living narrator House” focuses on this one particular house, it also deals with
describes “the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the concept of home more broadly, suggesting that warm
the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the feelings like joy, safety, and contentment are intimately tied to
threshing machine sounding from the farm.” Even at this point the home.
in the story, when the ghosts have not yet been revealed to be
harmless and benign, the soothing atmosphere of the house DEATH
and yard suggests to the reader that this isn’t a classic ghost Though the concept of a “haunted house” assumes
story—the titular haunted house is a wellspring of peace and a certain degree of tragedy and horror—the death
comfort, not horror. At one point while the ghostly couple is of the people who previously lived there and who
searching for their “treasure,” Woolf explicitly contrasts the have taken to harassing the house’s new residents—Woolf
wild weather outside with the comfort and safety of the house: presents an entirely different depiction of death and haunting
“The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this way “A Haunted House.” Through the ghostly lovers that gently float
and that. Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain.” The through the house’s halls, reminiscing about their past life,
outside world is cold, wet, chaotic, and at the mercy of nature Woolf suggests that death is not the tragic or terrifying end
and the weather. Inside the house, however, “the beam of the that most people assume it to be but simply the beginning of a
lamp falls straight from the window. The candle burns stiff and new stage of existence.
still.” The lamp and candle carry associations of light and
While the very existence of the ghostly couple in the story
warmth, making the house a safe haven from the storm. In
speaks to Woolf’s suggestion that death is not as final as it
addition, the detail that the beam of light from the lamp “falls
seems, the things that carry over from the ghostly couple’s old
straight” and the candle’s flame “burns stiff and still” suggests
life to their new “life” further suggest that death is simply the
that the inside of the house is calm, silent, and peaceful. In
beginning of a new stage of existence rather than a true end. In
contrast to the blustering wind and rain that’s whipping the
the story, the ghostly couple appears quite human. Even though
landscape up into a frenzy, the house is a refuge, warm, safe,
they’ve been dead for hundreds of years and are now ghosts,
and unmoving.
they’ve retained their respective genders, as the story refers to
Furthermore, the ghosts’ presence in the house hundreds of them as “she” and “he”: “‘Here we left it,’ she said.” And he added,
years after their respective deaths also suggests that it was an ‘Oh, but here too!’” In addition, they still appear to be very
important a part of their lives and emphasizes how strong the much in love, as they finish one another’s sentences, haunt the
pull toward home can be. Throughout the story, the repetition house while holding hands, and speak with one voice just like
of the word “here” affirms the intensity of the ghosts’ they were a living couple. That these characteristics have
connection to the house. At the beginning, the dead couple carried over into death strips death of its finality—the ghostly
exclaims, “Here we left it,” “Oh, but here too!” The appearance man and ghostly woman, a couple even in death, are, in a sense,
of “here” in their dialogue throughout—“Here we slept,” “Here, still living. With tenderness, they recall sharing “kisses without
sleeping”—continues to underline the powerful importance of number” and “laughing, rolling apples in the loft.” The very fact
the house in their minds and lives, both before death and after. that they are able to reminisce also renders death less of an
The story also reveals that the house had a strong pull on one end than a continuation, albeit in a new form, of their old

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existence. They seem to retain all memories of their life before understanding as being like light "behind [...] glass." Finally, at
death, and thus seem to be essentially the same people they the end of the story, when the narrator is for the first time able
were before they died. With this, Woolf crafts a nontraditional to see the ghosts, the narrator sees the ghosts holding a lantern
picture of death—one that doesn’t look too different from life. and also understands that the ghost’s “treasure” is “The light in
Of course, this new “life” isn’t exactly the same as the old one, as the heart." In other words, the ghost couple's "treasure," the
the couple’s nostalgia for their old life suggests that they’ve "light in the heart," is revealed to be the love of the living
moved on to a new kind of existence. Woolf depicts the couple couple—the warmth and joy that "burns" within them.
almost solely in the act of reminiscing about their previous life Throughout the story, light represents both connection and
and searching for an artifact of it, as though, rather than finding love.
joy in new activities after death, their sole pleasure consists of In contrast, darkness symbolizes isolation and the painful loss
nostalgia for their old life. They talk about themselves and their of love and connection in the story. Recalling the death of the
relationship almost wholly in the past tense—“Here we left it,” ghostly man’s wife many centuries ago, the narrator describes
“Here we slept,” “Again you found me.” These memories the woman as “leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the
emphasize that the ghostly lovers are leading a new kind of rooms were darkened.” With the loss of love due to the death of
existence; if their life has simply continued exactly as it was the wife, the “light” left the house, and darkness reigned.
before their death, their nostalgia would be pointless. Though
the couple remains in love as ghosts, the “treasure” they are
searching for, the “light in the heart,” seems to be the specific THE HOUSE
experience of love while one is alive. The reader can reasonably Throughout the story, the titular house of "A
assume based on the ghostly couple’s search that there is Haunted House" represents safety, contentment,
something different and more meaningful about the love and and the recovery of lost things, and in particular the ability of
joy of the living that leads the ghosts to pursue their treasure love to offer all of these things. From the beginning, it is clear
after death. The phrase “buried treasure” at the end of the that whatever the ghosts are searching for is somewhere in or
story emphasizes this distinction—the couple’s “treasure,” their associated with the domestic space of the house—"It's upstairs,"
living love, was buried with them when they died, and although "And in the garden"—indicating the symbolic significance of the
they find it reborn in the living couple, they can never regain it house as a place that protects and safeguards important things
for themselves. Thus, even if death is a kind of continuation of like the "treasure." Also, before the reader learns what the
life—a new existence in a new form—it pales in comparison to ghosts are looking for, Woolf uses the house and its safe and
the richness and joy of living. comforting atmosphere to reassure the reader that this ghost
While Woolf’s depiction of death as a continuation rather than story is not a frightening one: "the house all empty [...] only the
an end in “A Haunted House” is in some ways comforting, wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the
tucked inside the ghostly couple’s quest for their “treasure” is threshing machine sounding from the farm." The house seems
the idea that with death comes a heightened appreciation of to "pulse," "beating softly.” This pulse is not at all malevolent.
life. While the ghostly couple still have one another and their Quite the opposite, it connects the house to the beating of a
memories, nothing measures up to the joy they experienced heart, and, further, to the love that is commonly believed to be
while they were alive. associated with the heart. In fact, it is notable that when, in the
distant past, the husband of the ghost couple loses his love
because of the loss of his wife, he leaves the house, symbol of
SYMBOLS all that love has been to him, to go travel. And he can only be
reunited with his love and achieve contentment again when he
Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and returns to the house and to his love.
Analysis sections of this LitChart.

QUO
QUOTES
TES
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
In "A Haunted House," light symbolizes the joy that Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the Dover
can be found in love and human connection. Publications edition of Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories
Throughout the story, “light” is connected to the ghosts’s published in 1997.
search for their “treasure.” When the ghosts are moving
together through the house, reminiscing about their life
together, "the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window.
The candle burns stiff and still." At the same time, the narrator
seeks to understand the ghosts, and envisions this

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A Haunted House Quotes

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Wife, The
Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From Husband
room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening
there, making sure—a ghostly couple. Related Themes:
"Here we left it," she said. And he added, "Oh, but here too!"
"It's upstairs," she murmured. "And in the garden," he Related Symbols:
whispered. "Quietly," they said, "or we shall wake them."
Page Number: 1
Related Characters: The Husband, The Wife, The Narrator Explanation and Analysis
(speaker) In passage the narrator describes how “one might” search
for the ghosts, who are searching for their "treasure." This
Related Themes:
passage makes it clear that while the narrator is aware of
the ghosts' presence and even of their specific purpose in
Related Symbols:
the house—"They're looking for it," whatever “it” is—the
narrator isn't able to actually perceive the ghosts except in
Page Number: 1
small, fleeting ways, occasionally hearing them or accurately
Explanation and Analysis pinpointing their location. Yet, notably, Woolf still does not
confirm that these are the narrator's actual actions; the
This quote comes from the opening of the story, as a pair of
narrator says only that "one might" rise to "see for oneself,"
ghostly lovers search a house for something that they’ve
for instance, once more blurring the boundaries between
lost. While much of the story is told from the perspective of
the narrator and the reader as the reader is drawn into the
an unnamed first-person narrator—one of the living people
action. Woolf also emphasizes the house and its grounds as
who now inhabits the ghosts’ old house—the phrase
a symbol of comfort and safety in this passage—seen
"Whatever hour you woke" creates uncertainty about who’s
through the wood pigeons "bubbling with content," or the
speaking here, as it’s unclear who “you” refers to. It seems at
"hum," a soft, pleasant noise, of the threshing
first to refer to the narrator, who is indeed sleeping for part
machine—contrasting it with the increasing tension of the
of the story and wakes up at the end. But much of the story
ghosts' presence and mysterious search. However, because
is told by the narrator, so “you” also seems to refer to the
the scene is so peaceful, it seems unlikely at this point that
reader or perhaps the narrator’s partner. This isn’t the only
the ghosts haunting the house are classic sinister specters.
moment of ambiguity in the story surrounding
speakers—Woolf creates a similar haziness with the
repeated use of “oneself” or the lack of specificity in
dialogue tags. With this technique, Woolf makes it difficult So fine, so rare, coolly sunk beneath the surface the beam I
to pin down the specifics of her story right off the sought always burnt behind the glass. Death was the glass;
bat—echoing, it seems, the hazy and mysterious nature of death was between us; coming to the woman first, hundreds of
the ghosts and their search for whatever “it” is. Woolf also years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the rooms
makes known the significance of love right away by were darkened. He left it, left her, went North, went East, saw
describing the ghostly couple "hand in hand" and having the stars turned in the Southern sky; sought the house, found it
them speak in unison, which indicates the strength of their dropped beneath the Downs.
intimacy and connection even after death.
Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband,
The Wife
"They're looking for it; they're drawing the curtain," one
might say, and so read on a page or two. "Now they've Related Themes:
found it," one would be certain [...] And then, tired of reading,
one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the Related Symbols:
doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with
content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from Page Number: 2
the farm.
Explanation and Analysis

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In this passage, the narrator recounts the ghostly couple's emanate from the ghosts also affirms that, far from being in
history: how they lived and died, and why the house is so any way dangerous or even frightening, as one might expect
powerfully important to them even after death. Following of ghosts, they actively contribute to the comforting, loving
the death of his wife, the husband, robbed of his love, quality of the so-called "haunted house.” In addition, Woolf
abandoned the house as well, leaving behind the symbol of begins to indicate the actual nature of the treasure in this
their closeness, their love, and the happy life they had had quotation—rather than simply their "treasure," it is now
together. However, he was not able to stay away for very "their joy," foreshadowing the revelation that the treasure
long before he "sought the house," returning to the itself is the joy and love the ghosts experienced in their
wellspring of his happy memories with his wife and, lifetime.
presumably, reconvening with her spirit after his own death.
Another noteworthy element of this passage is the use of
light as a symbol of connection and intimacy, which is a "Safe, safe, safe," the heart of the house beats proudly.
thread that runs throughout the story. Searching for the "Long years—" he sighs. "Again you found me." "Here," she
ghosts, the narrator identifies them as "the beam I sought," murmurs, "sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling
representing potential connection with the ghosts in terms apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure—" Stooping, their
of light. In contrast, when the husband's connection with his light lifts the lids upon my eyes. "Safe! safe! safe!" the pulse of
wife is temporarily stripped away at her death, the rooms in the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry "Oh, is this your buried
the house "were darkened," suggesting the loss of their treasure? The light in the heart."
intimacy and the pain it caused him.
Related Characters: The Wife, The Husband, The Narrator
(speaker)
The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this
way and that. Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the Related Themes:
rain. But the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window.
The candle burns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, Related Symbols:
opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly
couple seek their joy. Page Number: 2

Explanation and Analysis

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Wife, The
In this passage, which comes from the very end of "A
Husband
Haunted House," the narrator finally interacts with the
Related Themes: ghosts directly, exclaiming, “Oh, is this your buried treasure?
The light in the heart.” With this, the secret of the couple's
Related Symbols: treasure is finally revealed: it seems to be the love and joy
that they experienced in life that they are no longer able to
Page Number: 2 experience after death. Even the ghosts are presented as
still being very much in love beyond the grave, the concept
Explanation and Analysis of “The light in the heart” suggests that there’s something
This passage, which appears near the middle of the story, richer and more satisfying about the love and happiness
illustrates the stark contrast between the warm and that one can experience in life.
comforting world inside the house and the dark and stormy The moment at which the narrator figures out what the
one outside. The house is glowing with light—from both a ghosts are looking for is also the first moment in which the
lamp and a candle—making it appear like a cozy haven from narrator interacts directly with the ghosts, when the light
the storm. Although outside the wind "roars up the avenue" from the ghosts' lamp "lifts the lids upon [the narrator’s]
and the rain hammers down, inside everything seems eyes." Light, once again, becomes a symbol of connection:
peaceful as "the beam of the lamp falls straight" and the the understanding that has come into being between the
candle burns "stiff and still." The fact that both sources of narrator and the ghosts is made physical in the form of the
light in the house (the candle and the lamp) seem to lamplight.

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SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.

A HAUNTED HOUSE
"Whatever hour you woke" there are doors closing in the Woolf introduces the confusion of the speaker's identity in the very
house. Holding hands, "a ghostly couple" works their way first line—who is the "you" waking up? The reader, the narrator, a
through each room in the house, rifling through its contents, generic "you"? Also, Woolf brings in the theme of love immediately
"making sure." with the "ghostly couple" holding hands, indicating to the reader
that whether or not the ghosts are benevolent, they care in some
way for each other.

The ghostly couple debates where they have “left it,” suggesting Woolf demonstrates the ghostly couple's closeness and affection for
possibilities. The woman thinks "It's upstairs," but the man one another by having them speak in unison and even complete one
whispers "And in the garden." They remind one another, another's sentences. The importance of the house also becomes
"Quietly, or we shall wake them." The narrator comments, apparent for the first time: whatever the ghostly couple is looking
however, that "it wasn't that you woke us." for, it is somewhere in the house. The ghosts’ intimate familiarity
with different parts of the house—and the implication that they’ve
been here before, since they “left” something here in the
past—suggests that this house once belonged to them but now has
new, living residents.

The narrator suggests that “one might say” that the ghosts are In this passage, the narrator describes a hypothetical situation,
“looking for it” behind the curtains, and thus one would explaining what "one might" do and leading the reader to consider if
continue reading, letting the ghosts carry on with their search. these are perhaps the narrator's own actions. This passage also
But when one becomes certain that “Now they’ve found it,” one begins to suggest that the ghosts are not malevolent: the scene is
would abandon one’s book and go “see for oneself.” However, quiet and peaceful, the ghosts keep to themselves, and the narrator
one would find the house empty and doors thrust open, "only suggests that “one” has no reason to interfere with the ghost’s
the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the search and can read peacefully while the ghosts rifle through the
threshing machine." house. The narrator’s search for the ghosts parallels the ghosts'
search for whatever they lost, both of which will eventually be
resolved in one simultaneous moment.

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The narrator muses, "What did I come in here for? What did I The narrator is seemingly able to hear the ghosts, but not to see
want to find?" Emptyhanded, the narrator goes to look upstairs them, indicating the odd limbo in which the ghosts exist—not
to find “it” but just finds apples in the loft. Thwarted, the completely dead but not alive, just as they are able to be perceived
narrator goes back downstairs and returns to the garden, with some senses and not others. That the garden is "still as ever"
which is “still as ever.” Since the narrator left, “the book had begins to suggest that the house is much like how the ghostly couple
slipped into the grass.” left it. Later, the ghosts will reminisce about reading in the garden,
an activity that the narrator seems to do too, given the detail about
the book in the grass. Like the ghosts, the house has been preserved
in a semblance of its original form.

Meanwhile, the ghostly couple has "found it in the drawing The ghosts are barely perceptible—the only physical evidence of
room," but the narrator is unable to see them—"if they moved in them is an apple turning or toppling over, which reaffirms that the
the drawing room, the apple turned its yellow side." The ghosts’ so-called “haunting” (given the story’s title) is quiet and
narrator envisions opening the door and seeing "spread about gentle rather than invasive and malevolent. It’s difficult to say
the floor, hung upon the walls, pendant from the ceiling—what? definitively what the narrator imagines is "spread about the floor"
My hands were empty." and hanging from the ceiling—it seems like the narrator senses that
whatever the ghosts are looking for is embedded in the house itself.

The narrator hears the sounds of birds and watches flitting of The first appearance of the house's refrain, "Safe, safe, safe," affirms
the bird’s shadows. Meanwhile, “the pulse of the house beat[s] that the ghosts are not a danger, and that the house is a place of
softly,” "Safe, safe, safe." Someone—or something—says, “The safety and comfort. In a similar vein, that the house has a steady,
treasure buried; the room…” With this, the house’s pulse gentle pulse links the house with a heart, and, by extension, love.
suddenly stops, and the narrator asks, "Was that the buried The detail that the treasure was "buried" suggests that it was
treasure?" However, "a moment later the light had faded"—the perhaps "buried" with the couple when they died and thus was
ghosts have still not found what they are looking for and something they could only access in life—which would explain the
continue the search in the garden. fruitlessness of their search now. Later, the story depicts the ghosts
holding a lamp, so the mention that “the light had faded” suggests
that the ghosts, lamp in hand, are moving down the hall to a
different side of the house.

In the garden, the narrator sees the trees "[spinning] darkness Throughout the story, light represents human connection and love.
for a wandering beam of sun," and reflects that "the beam I Here, light seems to refer to narrator's desire to communicate and
sought always burnt behind the glass. Death was the glass." The form a bond with the ghosts, the "beam" that the narrator seeks,
narrator recalls the story of the ghostly couple, who lived which is prevented by the "glass" of death that separates them.
"hundreds of years ago." The woman died first, "leaving the Moreover, the narrator adds that when the husband left the house
house, sealing all the windows; the rooms were darkened." many centuries ago after his wife’s death, "the rooms were
After her death, her husband left the house, too. The man darkened"—the loss of love also meant the loss of light. The theme of
"went North, [and] went East," but he did not continue traveling home is also relevant in this passage, since although the man leaves
for long. Instead, he "sought the house, found it dropped the house after his wife's death, he is ultimately drawn back to it
beneath the Downs." The "pulse of the house" beats "Safe, safe, and to her memory—home, and the love and happiness it fosters, is
safe," again, and adds, "The treasure yours." too powerful a force to resist.

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Outside, the wind howls, trees thrash around, and This passage forms a sharp contrast between the comfort, safety,
“Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain." In the house, and loving warmth of the home, bathed in lamplight and
though, a beam of light from a lamp "falls straight from the candlelight, and the dark outside world, where the weather is wild
window," and the flame from “The candle burns stiff and still." and dangerous. This passage also gives the reader a better
The ghostly couple continues to drift through the house and understanding of what the ghosts’ treasure is: it has something to do
open windows. The narrator notes that the ghosts talk softly so with “their joy.” That their “joy” is hidden somewhere in the house
they don’t “wake us” while searching for “their joy.” also speaks to the story’s insistence that the home is central to one’s
happiness.

The ghostly woman of the couple recalls, "Here we slept," and Reminiscing about their love and life, the ghosts point out parts of
her husband adds, "Kisses without number." They list their fond the house and yard where they were happy together rather than
memories of life in the house to one another: "Waking in the specific memories. Once again, this suggests that love and
morning—" "Silver between the trees—" "Upstairs—" "In the happiness are intimately tied to the home. The description of the
garden—" As they move through the house, they open and shut doors as sounding "like the pulse of a heart" also depict the house as
doors, which sounds "like the pulse of a heart." a symbol of love and as the repository for the dead couple's love. It
seems that the ghosts’ love is what is still beating through the house.

The ghostly couple comes “Nearer” and stops in a doorway. The story once again forms a contrast between the dark and stormy
Outside, the wind continues to roar, and rain drip down the environment outside the house’s walls and the warm and loving
windows. The narrator notes that "we hear no steps beside us; atmosphere inside the home, lit by the ghost’s lantern. Here, light
we see no lady spread her ghostly cloak." The ghostly man tries again symbolizes connection; although the living couple is still not
to block some of the light from the lantern with his hands and able to perceive the ghosts, the dead couple seems to be face-to-
whispers, "Look. Sound asleep. Love upon their lips." face with them for the first time. The ghosts are also drawn to the
love that the narrator and the narrator’s partner share—suggesting,
perhaps, that the love the ghosts shared in life is living “upon [the]
lips” of the couple who now inhabits the house.

"Holding their silver lamp above us," the dead couple gazes Once again, light symbolizes love and connection, here in the form
down at the narrator and the narrator’s partner as they sleep, of the "silver lamp," the "stooping flame," and the "beams of
lingering for a long time. Meanwhile, "The wind drives moonlight" that light the scene. As the dead couple begin to
straightly; the flame stoops slightly" and "wild beams of recognize their "hidden joy" in the sleeping couple, the house is filled
moonlight" move through the room. The moon shines on the with light and life.
faces of the dead couple, who are "pondering," "search[ing] the
sleepers and seek[ing] their hidden joy."

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The house’s heart “beats proudly,” "Safe, safe, safe." With a sigh, The house's "proud" refrain, "safe, safe, safe," reappears, suggesting
the husband of the dead couple reflects, "Long years—Again that the house has preserved the ghostly couple’s love and joy for
you found me." His wife softly recounts fond memories from centuries, and that it still beats on through the house and through
living in the house, saying, "Here, […] sleeping; in the garden the living couple that now inhabits it. Once again, the dead couple
reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our reminisce about their life together in the context of the house,
treasure—." recalling their favorite activities in it, "sleeping, in the garden
reading." These mimic the activities the narrator does throughout
the story, demonstrating the continuity between the dead and living
couples; although the living couple has taken the dead couple's
place in the house, the dead couple's love and happy life are
embodied in the living.

At that moment, the light of the ghostly man’s lamp "lifts the The use of light as a symbol culminates with the narrator finally
lids" of the narrator's eyes. Suddenly, the house’s pulse begins being able to interact directly with the ghosts, awoken by their
to "beat[] wildly," "Safe! safe! safe!" The narrator, waking up, lamplight. In this moment, the light represents the brief but
cries out to the couple, "Is this your buried treasure? The light in profound connection between the dead couple and the narrator, in
the heart." which the couple realize that their "treasure" is embodied in the
narrator and the narrator’s spouse. At the same time, the narrator
realizes what the couple's "treasure" is: the "light in the heart," the
love and joy that the ghosts experienced in life.

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To cite any of the quotes from A Haunted House covered in the

HOW T
TO
O CITE Quotes section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA Woolf, Virginia. A Haunted House. Dover Publications. 1997.
Pyne-Jaeger, Kit. "A Haunted House." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 19 CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
Sep 2019. Web. 21 Apr 2020.
Woolf, Virginia. A Haunted House. Mineola, New York: Dover
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL Publications. 1997.
Pyne-Jaeger, Kit. "A Haunted House." LitCharts LLC, September 19,
2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/a-
haunted-house.

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