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11. Dream House as Lesbian Cult Classic
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in In the Dream House, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Queer Visibility
Christianity and Shame
Abuse, Trauma, and Healing
Storytelling, Responsibility, and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
The woman from the Dream House tells Machado, “We can fuck, but we can’t fall in love.” This quote has a footnote referencing the section of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature titled “Omens in love affairs.”
That this chapter is titled “Famous Last Words” suggests that the woman’s resolution not to fall in love won’t last long. This is the first of many footnotes throughout the memoir that reference the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, (a long catalogue of various elements and motifs common in folklore), and it marks the beginning of Machado’s analysis of her relationship through the lens of folk tales.
Themes
