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We Have Always Lived In The Castle Vanity Quotes

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In contemporary culture, vanity undoubtedly carries a negative connotation, often associated with an obsession with one’s self-worth and social status. Shirley Jackson’s gothic fiction novel, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” provides captivating imagery of vanity through the character Charles. Charles’s manipulative and greedy actions portray him as self-absorbed. Specifically, Charles repeatedly reveals his vanity as he interacts with the Blackwood girls. Similarly, Carly Simon’s iconic song “You’re So Vain” comments on male vanity. While Simon’s song appears to focus on one individual, Simon criticizes three arrogant men she had past relationships with. A common theme among Simons’ ex-boyfriends was their vanity: “You walked into the party like you …show more content…

Desperate for quick cash, he greedily attempts to exploit the Blackwoods for monetary support. While living with the Blackwoods, Charles was cognizant of the material value that items on the Blackwood property held. Agitated by the sight of a gold watch chain hanging on a tree, Charles said, “I could have worn it; what a hell of a way to treat a valuable thing. We could have sold it” (Jackson 77). Charles was disinterested in any sentimental value objects around the Blackwood residence. Instead, he selfishly declares that he should have ownership of some of the valuable Blackwood keepsakes. At the same time, Charles tries to downplay his desperation for money. In reality, Merricat was never hypnotized by Charles and even called him out on some of his erratic behavior. Merricat emphasized Charles’s focus on finding money: “Charles and money found each other no matter how far apart they were, or perhaps Charles was engaged in systematically digging up every inch of our land” (Jackson 88). The distance Charles traveled to reach the Blackwoods is an ambiguous

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