Short Fiction · Chapter
The Earl’s Hall explained
The governess, who regularly retreats to the Earl's Hall for solitude, encounters a terrifying apparition of a small, red-clad man with a dark, menacing face.
What happens
The governess, who regularly retreats to the Earl's Hall for solitude, encounters a terrifying apparition of a small, red-clad man with a dark, menacing face. He beckons her to follow, and when she hesitates, his fury intensifies. She eventually follows him to the doorway but collapses in a fit of terror. Found insensible by her young friends, she later recounts the vision, falls ill with fever and delirium, and dies shortly after, leaving open the possibility that the phantom was a hallucination induced by her approaching illness.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and the Uncanny
The governess's encounter with a demonic-looking little man in the Earl's Hall exemplifies the intrusion of the supernatural into everyday life.
Faith and Skepticism
The narrative leaves room for doubt, suggesting the vision may have been a fever-induced hallucination, balancing belief in the supernatural with rational skepticism.
Characters to notice
- Doctor Hesselius
The framing narrator who presents the governess's story.
Key passages
“She had placed herself, as usual, at her little work table, and had been either working or reading—I forget which—for some time, and felt in her usual health and serene spirits.”
She was sitting at her small work table as she always did, occupied with either sewing or reading, and felt perfectly healthy and calm.
Establishes the normalcy of the scene before the supernatural intrusion.
“Raising her eyes, and looking towards the door, she saw a horrible-looking little man enter. He was dressed in red, was very short, had a singularly dark face, and a most atrocious countenance.”
Looking up toward the door, she saw a terrifying small man come in, wearing red, with a very dark complexion and an extremely evil expression.
Describes the apparition's appearance and its immediate impact.
“Of course it is possible that fever, already approaching, had touched her brain when she was visited by the phantom, and that it had no external existence.”
It is possible that the fever, which was already starting, affected her mind when she saw the phantom, and that the vision was not real.
Offers a rational explanation for the supernatural event.