Atmosphere
The isolated location that serves as the eerie setting for most of the novel
What is the Blackwood Mansion?
This narrator blurs reality with imagination
Who is Merricat?
This event defines the Blackwood family's dark reputation in the village
The villagers view the sisters as this, showing fear of difference
Who are outsiders?
The villagers' hatred and family's seclusion help create this dark emotional tone
What is a sense of isolation?
This character is rational but haunted by guilt and isolation
Who is Constance Blackwood?
The townspeople still gossip about this family tragedy
What is the murder of most of the Blackwoods?
This event shows the villagers' cruelty and mob mentality
What is the attack on the Blackwood House?
This season reflects the lifeless atmosphere surrounding the Blackwood estate
What is autumn?
This character disrupts Merricat's world and brings conflict
Who is Charles Blackwood?
This character was accused but found innocent of the poisonings
Who is Constance Blackwood?
The author uses villagers to symbolize this Gothic fear of what is unknown or strange
What is fear of the "other"?
The author uses these objects (often hidden by Merricat) to symbolize control and protection
What are Merricat's buried charms or objects?
Merricat buries small objects around the house to do this
What is protect her family and keep out evil?
Merricat's constant rituals and routines are attempts to bury this
What is her guilt or the family's past?
The villagers dislike the sisters because they are seen as this.
What are outsiders?
or
What is evil?
The collapse of this location marks the crumble of order and the rise of gothic ruin
What is the Blackwood house?
Merricat's strange habits and thoughts show this about her mind
What is that she's mentally unstable or living in her own world?
The story shows that the past still affects the present - this is called what kind of theme?
What is haunting or being haunted by the past?
After the fire, the sisters live alone and are avoided - this shows what theme?
What is isolation or rejection by society?