Ghost Stories, Family and Trauma

            Why ghost stories repeatedly shows us that the family is a site of trauma and conflict. Discussing how and why the ghost story genre focuses on dysfunctional families. The Victorian ghost story usually focuses and reflects on the role of family life in Britain, highlighting the key issues in which shows that families were dysfunctional in this era. The ghosts in the short stories usually have a wicked way to haunt the family home, or the ghost will be a deceased family member from the past. The writer uses gothic style throughout to show the consequences of doing wrong, well what was deemed as wrong in these tough times and brings these matters to the reader's attention. The authors also highlight the male roles in families of the patriarchy society which could have contributed to the dysfunctional families.
             The story of Clifford house shows how the typical patriarchal family was in Victorian Britain with the husband with the lead role and how the family declines. The husband is perceived as being the powerful leading figure that he is the family, he is also the first member of the family to see the ghost. The father does not tell anyone of what he seen to keep the order of the house as it is, also he could be scared of people saying that he is no longer sane. 'I never told you Helen'. The fact that we don't know who the author is suggests that a woman wrote the story and that the narratives perception is that of a woman's.