''Hangsaman'' is a 1951

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

novel by American author

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...

. The second of Jackson's published novels, ''Hangsaman'' is a

bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is import ...

centering on lonely college freshman Natalie Waite, who descends into madness after enrolling in a

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

college. The novel takes its title from an old folk

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. The official publisher's description of ''Hangsaman'' says the novel is “loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

sophomore in 1946," referencing the case of Paula Jean Welden. At the time, Jackson was living in Bennington, Vermont, as her husband,

Stanley Edgar Hyman Stanley Edgar Hyman (June 11, 1919 – July 29, 1970) was an American literary critic who wrote primarily about critical methods: the distinct strategies critics use in approaching literary texts. He was the husband of writer Shirley Jackson. L ...

, was employed at

, where Welden had been a student. However,

Ruth Franklin Ruth Franklin is an American literary critic. She is a former editor at ''The New Republic'' and an Adjunct professor at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her first biography, ''Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life,'' ...

's research for her 2016 biography of Jackson found no evidence the novel was inspired by Welden's disappearance. Jackson's text mixes

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

with psychological elements as her protagonist spends half her time in an imaginary world.

Plot summary

On the verge of leaving for college, Natalie Waite feels oppressed by the expectations of her pompous, overbearing father, who imposes his personality on her, and by her miserable, defeated mother, whom Natalie sees as an example of the unhappy future that awaits her if she does not escape from home. Natalie withdraws into elaborate fantasies where she is a proud, unbreakable criminal being grilled by a detective for her crimes. On the eve of Natalie's departure for college, she is invited to her first adult party, where she witnesses her parents and their drunken colleagues at their most contemptible. Natalie experiments with different identities among the party-goers and seems to successfully intrigue an older man, only to be led by him into the woods behind the family's home where he sexually assaults her. The following morning, Natalie convinces herself that the assault did not happen. Natalie leaves for her all-female college, where she is determined to reinvent herself. Most of her fellow students are too superficial and self-absorbed to even notice Natalie, who finds an uncomfortable place at the fringe of a group of popular girls. Natalie is briefly attracted to her self-important English professor, who is the object of Natalie's friends' romantic schemes. Soon Natalie sees that the man has the same flaws as her own father, and that the professor's resentful wife resembles Natalie's own classmates. She resumes her fantasy life, imagining herself as an implacable giant that destroys the college and devours its residents. Natalie hears rumors of an impish student named Tony who is both scorned and secretly admired for her lack of conventionality. Natalie is determined to find and befriend Tony, but Tony seeks her out first. Natalie becomes preoccupied with Tony. Together they embark on a series of eccentric adventures wherein they exercise their shared creativity, focusing on their own difference from—and superiority to—the people around them. Natalie's reputation suffers due to her strange new behavior, but for the first time in her life, she no longer cares how others perceive her, even as Tony lures her into increasingly dangerous situations. On a stormy afternoon, Tony persuades Natalie to take a bus to an unfamiliar location miles away from the college. Tony guides her to a lake with a closed amusement park, and Natalie follows her into a small forest. In the fallen darkness, Natalie loses Tony and sits on a log to wait for her, in a scene which mirrors the setting where Natalie was violated the first time. When Tony reappears, Natalie says that she wants to go home. Now uncomfortable with their intimacy, Natalie sets off on her own. An older couple drive up and insist on giving her a ride. They tell her they have a daughter who is same age as Natalie; they discuss what might happen to a girl who is out alone, and those things that parents don't know about their children's lives. The couple drop her off at a bridge near her school. During Natalie's last conversation with her father, he had stated that a radical shift in perspective, such as having a suicidal frame of mind, was necessary for one to clearly see one's own worth. Natalie climbs the rail of the bridge and hesitates. Finally, she turns back towards the college feeling powerful, unafraid, and grown up.

References in other media

The 2020 film ''Shirley'' is a fictionalized account of the time in which Jackson was writing ''Hangsaman'', depicting the novel's creation as being inspired both by the Welden disappearance and the life of a newly married couple boarding in the home of Jackson and her husband Stanley Hyman.

References

{{Shirley Jackson 1951 American novels American bildungsromans American satirical novels Novels by Shirley Jackson Books by Shirley Jackson