Life and Times of Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson was born on December 14th, 1919 in California to Leslie Jackson, an English Immigrant employed by the Traung Label and Lithographing Company and Geraldine Jackson, formerly Geraldine Bugbee, who came from a long line of professional men, including a renowned architect who designed many of the mansions on Nob Hill, and Maxwell G. Bugbee, a well-known architect as well, which leads insight to Jackson's incredibly detailed descriptions of unique houses in her writing. Jackson was born into an upwardly mobile family, (Friedman, 17)
According to her diary, at age 14 Jackson was already concerned with being "thin"; she developed a fear of being unattractive and fat at a very young age that would follow her for the rest of her life. (Friedman, 18) The concern was somewhat warranted as the following year at her new school in Rochester, NY she was not accepted into the sorority. (Friedman, 19) After high school Jackson attended the University of Rochester as a liberal arts major, however depression and slight paranoia had began to take hold of her and she withdrew from the university within two years. Eventually her spirits would lift and she enroll in Syracuse University where she would publish multiple pieces, as well as becoming fiction editor, for campus magazines. It is in this capacity that she would meet her future husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman, who was also managing editor of the magazine she was working with. (Friedman, 20) After graduating Syracuse University the two were married, despite objections by both sides of the families, and moved to New York City. (Friedman, 26) In 1942, they would have their first child and despite being a new mother and housewife Jackson would continue writing intently, while her husband worked for The New Yorker. Jackson would come to have numerous stories published for The New Yorker. 1945 brought many more changes for the family, including the addition of a daughter, Joanne, and a move to North Bennington so that Mr. Hyman could take a job as a professor at Bennington College, much of this was retold by Jackson in her work Life Among The Savages (Friedman, 27) Jackson did take on an additional role as a substitute teacher for the college, however she avoided becoming a faculty member. In 1948 another daughter was born, as well as her most famous short story "The Lottery" (Friedman, 27) In 1951 their fourth and final child, a boy named Barry was born. (Friedman, 31) At this point Jackson was juggling a house full of four young children, house-wifely duties, including driving her husband, and a vigorous writing career. Jackson received little to no help from her husband around the home, and although she thoroughly enjoyed her children and was a great cook, she was not superb at taking house upkeep. (Frank) Jackson would continue to develop signs of depression and agoraphobia through the years, including turning down speaking engagements and remaining at home when possible, because she felt safest there. (Friedman, 35) The early 1960's were not a conducive to Jackson's well being; she had become overweight, developed arthritis and asthma, and was suffering from anxiety and nervous breakdowns. In fact she had completely denounced social interactions and was spending much of her time in seclusion, signs of agoraphobia. (Friedman, 36) however it was during these years that Jackson penned both The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in The Castle, which lends itself to my thesis, that her works, in particular these two novels, were reflections of her own turmoil. Eventually, Jackson would begin to reenter the world socially, however by that time she was already beginning to deteriorate in body and on August 8th, 1965 Shirley Jackson passed away in her sleep from a heart attack. Bewitching Writing |
Jackson's life was not necessarily an easy one. Her mother was not the most nurturing of parents, going so far as to tell Jackson that she tried to abort her. (Frank) Additionally, letters exchanged between the two offered criticism of Jackson's weight and lifestyle, with very little praise. Including criticism of the photo run by the times of her, stating that "Your children love you for your achievements but they also want you to be worth looking at." (Hattenhauer, 22) This was fuel for the familial relationship strains in her works, particularly the mothers. Additionally, Jackson's husband was not an ideal husband. Despite Jackson's full commitment and support of him, he returned the favor only in her work. Stanley would often drink with students at the office and at home. (Schenkar) Hyman would come to have many affairs with students, including one that triggered a mental breakdown for Jackson, shortly after finishing "Castle". (Miller) Jackson's bouts with depression and physiological distress, produced two very different versions of herself; one strong and out-going, the other distressed, reclusive and anxious. These two selves match the two pairs of unstable women in "Hill House" and "Castle" : Theodora and Merricat are her strong selves, while Eleanor and Constance represent the other halves.
Her Own Paranormal ExperiencesThroughout her life Jackson was associated with the occult, both through her writing and her personal life. She stated that she believed in both white and black magic and never denied practicing witchcraft, in fact she once stated that she was the only practicing witch in New England, which was intended as a joke, despite the fact that she had an extensive collection of books on demonology. (Friedman, 33) Furthermore, she named some of her many cats after demons. (Schenkar) Jackson links to the paranormal world included reading tarot cards , using Ouija boards, and having extreme confident in the effects of good and evil omens. (Friedman, 33) Somewhat ironically Jackson did own multiple black cats in her life time, despite their reputation as an omen of bad luck
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During Shirley Jackson's life she turned out six novels, two memoirs, four children's books and over one hundred short stories, most of which appear in one of her four short story collections. Her most widely recognized short story being "The Lottery" which is often regarded as one of the most famous short stories in the English Language, included in the collection Prize Stories of 1949. A complete list of Jackson's works can be found here, Shirley won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for "The Possibility of Evil", which can be read here, and was nominated for it for “Louisa, Please Come Home”. Other awards that Jackson's won include: Arents Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Achievement, Syracuse University and multiple selections for Best Short Stories. The Shirley Jackson Awards are currently being awarded every year for innovative writing in the categories of Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.
The Places Called HomeShirley Jackson was born in sunny bright California, however as a young teenager she was relocated to Rochester, in dreary cold northern New York, where she attend the University of Rochester, later she would attend Syracuse University, In 1940, her and her husband would mover to New York City and then five years later they would relocated again to North Bennington, Vermont, where they would reside for the rest of Jackson's life, while she would act as a house-wife, a mother and a writer of horror. This is where she would pen her first novel.
North Bennigton would provide the basis for multiple of Jackson's settings. Jackson's most famous short story, "The Lottery" was based on this town, and the village square Lincoln Square was the setting of the majority of the story. Furthermore, Jennings Hall on Bennington College's Campus is believed to be the inspiration for Hill House, complete with similar decor and thick woods surrounding it. |
Links to More Information on Jackson
Obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1214.html
Bio:
http://shirleyjackson.org/index.html
http://www.literalmedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=75
Interesting Interview of Her Son:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/this-week-in-fiction-shirley-jackson-2#slide_ss_0=1
Interview With Joyce Carol Oates about Jackson:
https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/LOA_Oates_on_Jackson.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1214.html
Bio:
http://shirleyjackson.org/index.html
http://www.literalmedia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=75
Interesting Interview of Her Son:
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/this-week-in-fiction-shirley-jackson-2#slide_ss_0=1
Interview With Joyce Carol Oates about Jackson:
https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/LOA_Oates_on_Jackson.pdf