''Rosemary's Baby'' is a 1967

horror novel Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. ...

by American writer

Ira Levin Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), ''The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perfe ...

; it was his second published book. It was the best-selling horror novel of the 1960s, selling over 4 million copies. The high popularity of the novel was a catalyst for a "horror boom", and horror fiction would achieve enormous commercial success.

Plot

The book centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young woman who has just moved into the Bramford, a historic Gothic Revival-style

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

apartment building, with her husband, Guy, a struggling actor. Guy has so far appeared only in small roles in the stage plays ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

'', ''

Nobody Loves an Albatross ''Nobody Loves an Albatross'' is a 1963 comedy play written by Ronald Alexander, which was performed at the Lyceum Theatre of Broadway, New York between 19 December 1963 and June 20, 1964. It was produced by Elliot Martin and Philip Rose, di ...

'', and various TV commercials. The pair is warned that the Bramford has a disturbing history involving

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

and murder, but they discount this. Rosemary wants to start a family, but Guy prefers waiting until his career is more established. Neighbors Minnie and Roman Castevet, an eccentric, elderly couple, welcome Rosemary and Guy to the Bramford. Rosemary finds them meddlesome and annoying, but Guy begins frequently visiting them. After the lead actor in a new stage play suddenly goes blind, Guy is cast in the role. Immediately afterward, Guy unexpectedly agrees with Rosemary that they should have their first child. That night, Rosemary dreams of a rough sexual encounter with a huge, inhuman creature with yellow eyes. The next morning Rosemary finds claw marks on her breasts and groin, which Guy dismisses as resulting from his hangnail, which he has cut. Rosemary subsequently learns that she is pregnant. Rosemary falls severely ill; but her intense pain and weight loss are ignored by others and attributed to

hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

. Her doctor and Minnie feed her strange and foul concoctions. Rosemary also develops a peculiar craving for

raw meat Raw meat generally refers to any type of uncooked muscle tissue of an animal used for food. In the meat production industry, the term ‘meat’ refers specifically to mammalian flesh, while the words ‘poultry’ and ‘seafood’ are used to ...

. Guy's performance in the play garners favorable notices, and other increasingly significant roles follow. Guy soon begins talking about a career in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. Rosemary's friend, Edward "Hutch" Hutchins, also becomes mysteriously ill. He had sent Rosemary a warning, leading to her discovery that Roman Castevet is the leader of a Satanic

coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promot ...

. She suspects her unborn baby is wanted as a sacrifice to the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

. Despite her growing conviction, she is unable to convince anyone, particularly Guy. Ultimately, Rosemary discovers the coven's real intent for wanting her baby, whom she wanted to name Andrew ("Andy") but whom the coven insists will be renamed Adrian. He is the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...

, and

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

sired him, not Guy.

Critical reception

Cherry Wilder wrote that "''Rosemary's Baby'' is one of the most perfectly crafted thrillers ever written". Horror scholar Gary Crawford described ''Rosemary's Baby'' as "a genuine masterpiece".

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

described ''Rosemary's Baby'' as "this sly, seductive impeccably-written horror novel ... is an expertly constructed story, a playwright's book, in which every physical detail and line of dialogue counts."

Adaptations

In 1968, the novel was adapted as a movie of the same name, starring

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

, with

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

as Guy. Ruth Gordon, who played Minnie Castevet, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

, who wrote and directed the film, was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The exterior shots of the fictional Bramford apartment were filmed at

the Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...

on Central Park West in New York. A

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

sequel to the Polanski film, ''

Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby ''Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby'' (also known as ''Rosemary's Baby Part II'') is a 1976 American made-for-television horror film and a sequel to Roman Polanski's 1968 film '' Rosemary's Baby'' starring Stephen McHattie, Patty Duke, Geor ...

'', was produced in 1976. In 2014, the novel was adapted as an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television miniseries, with Zoe Saldaña as Rosemary. The two-part miniseries aired on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...

of that year. Neither the remake nor the TV miniseries garnered critical acclaim.

Sequel

Thirty years later Levin published a sequel to the novel, titled '' Son of Rosemary'' (1997).Christopher Bonanos, "No Rest For The Wicked", ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'', p. 135 (8 September 1997). Levin dedicated it to

Censorship

''Rosemary's Baby'' was published in Spanish translation during the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...

. The Francoist censors cut passages from this translation, claiming the cut passages "glorified Satan". As of April 2019, all the Spanish-language editions of the book still retain these cuts.

References

External links

Photos of the first edition of ''Rosemary's Baby''
{{Rosemary's Baby American horror novels American novels adapted into films Books with cover art by Paul Bacon Novels about the Antichrist American novels adapted into television shows Novels by Ira Levin Novels set in New York City Random House books Satanism in popular culture Fiction about the Devil 1967 American novels Witchcraft in written fiction Censored books Novels about human pregnancy Censorship in Spain Religious controversies in literature