Sara Clayburn (All Souls')

Sara Clayburn is the protagonist of “All Souls’” and also the widow of Jim Clayburn. She has no children and lives with only her servants in a colonial house called Whitegates, which is located in a suburban area, yet remote at the top of a hill, near a (fictional) town called Norrington, in New England. Sara “inherited” her servants from her mother-in-law. The narrator of “All Souls’,” who tells the story of Sara Clayburn to the reader, is also Sara’s cousin. In contrast to the narrator of the story, who appears literate, Sara Clayburn is prosaic and a grounded. When Sara cannot sleep she “[…] thought of reciting something to put her to sleep; but she seldom read poetry […].”[1] The narrator describes Sara as “[…] muscular, resolute figure of a woman […]”[2] who likes living at Whitegates and also feels a connection to the place, which she considers as the roots of the family.[3] This becomes obvious when the reader learns that Sara’s family expected her to “[…] give up Whitegates and move either to New York or Boston […]”[4] after her husband Jim had died, but Sara decided to stay at Whitegates because she “[…] seldom did what other people expected, and in this case she did exactly the contrary: she stayed at Whitegates.”[5] Furthermore, she appreciates the local New England culture, for example the Connecticut mutton, and feels a strong affinity with the local area. Sara, and with her the whole family Clayburn, are regarded as a “good-influence”[6] by the local community.[7]

Sara Clayburn has an authoritative character and, at the beginning of the story, is clearly firmly in control of Whitegates and her servants. This is clear through the imposing way in which she talks to her servants, and the fact that she appears well-informed about all matters concerning Whitegates. Sara is also self-confident at the beginning of the story, absolutely aware of her goals and also somewhat dismissive towards others. So she wanted to keep “[…] that stupid fat Presley boy […],”[8] who is the legal inheritor of Whitegates, out of there as long as she could and had attended his funeral a few years later “[…] in correct mourning, with a faint smile under her veil.”[9] Furthermore, she does not hesitate upon meeting the strange woman, to question her about what she is doing in front of her house.[10] Moreover, Sara “[…] had always been regarded as a plucky woman; and had so regarded herself.”[11] At the beginning of the story she appears all in all to be strong, brave and patently able to independently manage Whitegates.

In the plot Sara Clayburn slipped on a patch of ice and fractures her ankle on All Souls’ Eve after returning from a long walk in which talked to a strange foreign woman, who claimed that she only wanted to visit one of Sara’s servants. The facts that Sara is an “energetic walker”[12] and also a “[…] bad patient, like most healthy and active people”[13] suggest that she is physically fit. After her accident the servants called Dr. Selgrove, the local doctor, who prohibited walking and promised to be back two days later in order to X-ray her ankle. The next morning, Sara’s servants do not come to her room. Concerned about what is going on, she explores the house and finds out that she is entirely alone. On Monday morning, when Dr. Selgrove claimed he would be back, Sara awakens to find everything back normal. The servants act as if nothing had happened. When she confronts her personal maid Agnes with the incident, Agnes denies that Sara was alone for thirty-six hours. Although the mystery remained unsolved, Sara returned to her daily routine after a while and decided not to question the other servants because everything was as it had been before. On All Souls’ Eve the following year Sara encounters the strange woman again. The strange woman claims again that she only wants to visit one of Sara’s servants. Sara orders the strange woman to leave her ground, but she only laughs and disappears. Sara becomes terrified and scared to death. Consequently she flees from Whitegates to stay at her cousin’s flat in New York. Sara Clayburn never returns to Whitegates again.

What is most noticeable about the characterization of Sara Clayburn is her “transformation from a muscular resolute figure of a woman, to the trembling, passive figure she becomes by the time she reaches her cousin’s flat in New York.”[14] This makes Sara a more rounded character. In contrast to her behavior at the beginning of the story, Sara does not appear confident, strong, brave and self-possessed by the stories denouement. When she arrives at her cousin’s flat, Sara looks pale, sick and is obviously deeply frightened. The clear change in demeanor is evident in the following description:

“I had never seen her as unquestioning and submissive, and that alarmed me even more than her pallor. She was not the woman to let herself be undressed and put to bed like a baby; but she submitted without a word, as though aware that she had reached the end of her tether.”[15]

Furthermore, Sara’s transformation is foregrounded by the fact that she is afraid to be alone in her cousin’s guest room when her cousin offers to make some tea. At this point a clear distinction can be noticed between the Sara at the beginning of “All Souls’,” and that at the end. At the beginning of the story, Sara was not bothered by the loneliness of Whitegates and the narrator further notes that “More than once she had explored the ground floor alone in the small hours, in search of unwonted midnight noises […].”[16] In direct contrast, she cannot stand to be alone for a minute by the end.

Although Sara Clayburn appears strong, brave and obviously able to solely manage the affairs at Whitegates, she is nevertheless dependent on her servants. This becomes evident when Sara is attempting to find out what is going on and notices that all the work usually done by her servants remained incomplete. For instance, in the drawing room “The shutters had not been closed, nor the curtains drawn.”[17] The choice of the narrator’s vocabulary in his/her explanation that Sara had “inherited”[18] her servants from her mother-in-law implies that Sara sees them as family property. Sara instinctively decides not to use the back stairs, which are used by the servants, but, despite the pain and discomfort in doing so, takes a longer route to the front ones.[19] This suggests that Sara is placing class concerns over pragmatic ones. However, during the mysterious-thirty-six hours Sara learns just how much she is dependent on her servants, that she could never handle all the work on her own and that she has no complete control over them.

In brief, Sara Clayburn is a practical, sober, down-to-earth widow, who is physically in good shape and emotionally connected to her home, Whitegates, and also to the culture of New England. As Whitegate’s mistress she manages the property alone and governs her servants authoritatively at the beginning of the story. After Sara’s mysterious experience and the second encounter with the strange woman, her character changes to that of a weak, scared and obedient person. She also learns how dependent she is upon on her servants, and how little control she has over them.

[1] Edith Wharton, “All Souls’,” in: The Demanding Dead – More Stories of Terror and the Supernatural, ed. Peter Haining (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2007), 189.

[2] Ibid., 184.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., 185.

[7] Ibid., 184 – 185.

[8] Ibid., 185.

[9] Ibid., 184 – 185.

[10] Ibid., 186.

[11] Ibid., 191.

[12] Ibid., 186.

[13] Ibid., 188.

[14] Karen Jacobsen, “Economic hauntings: wealth and class in Edith Wharton’s ghost stories,” College Literature Publisher, no. 35 (2008): 1. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/College-Literature/173290582.html. (accessed March 4, 2015).

[15] Wharton, “All Souls’,” 203.

[16] Ibid., 195.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid., 185.

[19] Ibid., 194.