In “A Little Stranger”, by Sarah Waters, Hundreds Hall is presented as dilapidated and
in a state of disrepair in order to symbolise the decline of the Edwardian upper class.
Waters uses a semantic field of disrepair, (“scuffed and split at their seams”,
“cracked steps”, “ancient paper was drooping from the walls”), in order to
emphasise the house’s decline. Furthermore, Waters uses literary allusion to
Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’, with the ‘great white clock’ stopped at ‘twenty to
nine’. Waters links Ms Havisham’s desires to stop in time with the Ayres family, who
are still clinging onto their past life, despite everything having decayed overtime.
Waters’ hints towards gothic literature add to the motif of disrepair in Hundreds Hall.
Waters creates a sense of neglect to emphasise Hundreds Hall’s battle against time.
She successfully creates parallels between the house and the Edwardian upper class;
the 1940s were a time of social and political change in England. In 1945 Clement
Attlee’s labour party became responsible for introducing the National Insurance Act,
the National Assistance Act, and the National Health Service, which benefited the
lower class, often to the cost of the upper class. These reforms made life more
difficult for the upper class to sustain their previous ways of life, and many families,
like the Ayrses, became victim to the slow demise of the pre-WW2 Edwardian upper
class. Moreover, Waters uses the foil of the Baker-Hydes and Standish House, against
the Ayrses and Hundreds Hall, to juxtapose the emerging middle class and the upper-
class . Waters uses a theme of modernization and affluence (“two expensive motor
cars; but no horses or dogs”, “he’s already spent a lot of money on renovations to
the house”) to describe the “London” family, introducing them once the tour of the
dilapidated house is finished. By purposefully highlighting the difference between
‘Standish’ manor and Hundreds Hall, Waters successfully emphasises the decline of
the Edwardian upper class and the prosperity of the post-war middle class.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the news of modernity and ‘motor cars’,
which are a symbol of progression, come from Dr Faraday, who is arguably an
outsider. This is significant as it represents the intrusion of the middle class, into
Hundreds Hall and Edwardian upper class society, which symbolises the tension held
by the old upper class-which was determined by money, social status, and education-
and the modern middle class, who can now sit amongst the gentry with money
alone.
Waters presents Hundreds Hall as a gothic setting in order to make the house seem
unsettling and perversive. Waters uses the Gothic theme of boundaries in order to
make Hundreds Hall seem closed off and isolated, which contrasts to the Edwardian
expectations of a country house – events would be thrown at the house annually,
and funerals and weddings would be a public affair. This perversion successfully
creates an eerie and unsettling atmosphere for the reader. Waters brings attention
to the ‘uneven mellow red brick’ walls, reminding the reader that Dr Faraday has
been invited into Hundreds Hall on ‘the sixpenny tour’, almost as if a vampire gaining
permission to enter, exploring further than the servant’s corridor he was confined to
as a child and as a doctor for Betty. Waters uses the metaphor of ‘the gates’, posing
as a short-cut, symbolising Dr Faraday’s new access to the house. Furthermore,
Waters uses the Gothic trope, and motif, of the past encroaching on the present,
when describing the gardens of Hundreds Hall. The ‘west lawn’, which was ‘lumpy
with molehills and thistles’ references to the displaced landscape left after WW2,
haunting Roderick with reminders of his accident. The ‘out of control’ ‘purple beech’
signifies death, representing the reminder of Mr Ayres’ passing, symbolising Mrs
Ayres grief, ultimately creating a morbid and unsettling tone. The overgrown
shrubbery creates a sense of perversion against the idea of a kept walled garden,
which leaves the reader with an unnerving feeling, foreshadowing the haunting of
the house. The “Gothic touches’ to the house successfully create a spooky and
unsettling atmosphere, and Water’s neo-Gothicism is successful in creating a
threatening tone and sense of caution regarding Hundreds Hall.
Lastly, Waters presents Hundreds Hall as a symbol of aspiration for Dr Faraday,
despite its dilapidation. Waters uses the scene of the ‘billiard room’ to accommodate
Roderick’s EST, which suggests that Dr Faraday is simply playing games to get closer
to the Ayres family, rather than for the scientific trials. Furthermore, the indirect
speech used to describe the ‘plaster acorn’, which as a child Dr Faraday ‘prised’ from
the wall is symbolism for Dr Faraday’s aspiration to move up in class, which
ultimately stems from Hundreds Hall. By taking a piece of Hundreds Hall, Dr Faraday
clings onto his social aspirations to an extent that he is fixated with the building.
Waters successfully emphasises the importance of the acorn -or seed of ambition- by
repeating the story established in chapter one. Arguably, Walters uses the theme of
Dr Faraday becoming overfamiliar to suggest that subconsciously Dr Faraday is too
forcibly asserting himself into Hundreds Hall, due to his own aspiration, which might
frustrate the reader. This is seen when Dr Faraday uses direct speech, in order to
emphasise his unwanted opinion, to criticise Roderick’s “business side of things
dominating everything else”. This suggests that due to access of Hundreds Hall, Dr
Faradays aspirations have blinded his social etiquette and he frequently oversteps
the mark. This is seen more clearly, when he uses the imperative of ‘come on,
Caroline, be serious.”, to criticise Caroline’s jests. Dr Faraday’s overprotectiveness
and idealised vision of the house results in his overstepping and disregard of social
etiquette. Ultimately, Hundreds Hall represents Dr Faraday’s ambition, and Waters
successfully emphasises his eagerness to improve his class, through his ill-thought
out and slightly crude social shortcomings.
