A Haunted House

by

Virginia Woolf

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The Husband Character Analysis

The husband, also unnamed, is one of the two ghosts who figure in the story, searching the house for the dead couples "treasure." He lived "hundreds of years ago" in the house with his wife, but after her death, he fell into mourning and left the house to travel the world. Eventually, however, he returned to the house, "dropped beneath the Downs," and—presumably after his own death—was reunited with his wife's ghost. Though the story provides little space for either of the ghosts to be given a unique personality, Woolf establishes the husband as a romantic and poetic person who cares deeply for his wife. When the dead wife comments only, "Here we slept," the husband responds, "Kisses without number." The husband is also the one to notice the "love upon [the] lips" of the living sleeping couple. He and his wife are never separated during the story, emphasizing how profound their love for one another is.

The Husband Quotes in A Haunted House

The A Haunted House quotes below are all either spoken by The Husband or refer to The Husband. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love Theme Icon
).
A Haunted House Quotes

Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure—a ghostly couple.

"Here we left it," she said. And he added, "Oh, but here too!" "It's upstairs," she murmured. "And in the garden," he whispered. "Quietly," they said, "or we shall wake them."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband (speaker), The Wife (speaker)
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

"They're looking for it; they're drawing the curtain," one might say, and so read on a page or two. "Now they've found it," one would be certain [...] And then, tired of reading, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the farm.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

So fine, so rare, coolly sunk beneath the surface the beam I sought always burnt behind the glass. Death was the glass; death was between us; coming to the woman first, hundreds of years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the rooms were darkened. He left it, left her, went North, went East, saw the stars turned in the Southern sky; sought the house, found it dropped beneath the Downs.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this way and that. Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain. But the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window. The candle burns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

"Safe, safe, safe," the heart of the house beats proudly. "Long years—" he sighs. "Again you found me." "Here," she murmurs, "sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure—" Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. "Safe! safe! safe!" the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry "Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband (speaker), The Wife (speaker)
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:
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A Haunted House PDF

The Husband Quotes in A Haunted House

The A Haunted House quotes below are all either spoken by The Husband or refer to The Husband. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Love Theme Icon
).
A Haunted House Quotes

Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, opening there, making sure—a ghostly couple.

"Here we left it," she said. And he added, "Oh, but here too!" "It's upstairs," she murmured. "And in the garden," he whispered. "Quietly," they said, "or we shall wake them."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband (speaker), The Wife (speaker)
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

"They're looking for it; they're drawing the curtain," one might say, and so read on a page or two. "Now they've found it," one would be certain [...] And then, tired of reading, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the farm.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

So fine, so rare, coolly sunk beneath the surface the beam I sought always burnt behind the glass. Death was the glass; death was between us; coming to the woman first, hundreds of years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the rooms were darkened. He left it, left her, went North, went East, saw the stars turned in the Southern sky; sought the house, found it dropped beneath the Downs.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this way and that. Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain. But the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window. The candle burns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband, The Wife
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis:

"Safe, safe, safe," the heart of the house beats proudly. "Long years—" he sighs. "Again you found me." "Here," she murmurs, "sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure—" Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. "Safe! safe! safe!" the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry "Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart."

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), The Husband (speaker), The Wife (speaker)
Related Symbols: Light and Darkness, The House
Page Number: 2
Explanation and Analysis: