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70. Dream House as a Lesson in the Subjunctive
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
In the present, Machado asserts that fantasy is “the defining cliché of female queerness”—but it’s a dream of paradise that is hardly ever realistic. Even the rainbow, the central symbol of queerness, is a promise that God won’t repeat an act of terrible violence. Machado suggests that once queerness becomes a normal and accepted thing, finding love won’t feel like reaching for paradise; perhaps it’ll feel more natural, imperfect, and comfortable.
Sublime happiness as a queer person is impossible to guarantee—but that’s only a bad thing, in Machado’s opinion, because it’s such a cliché that it almost becomes an expectation. In this way, Machado highlights the dangers of clichés: they can obscure opportunities for imperfect, realistic happiness. (To clarify Machado’s point about rainbows in God, rainbows in the Bible serve as a reminder of God’s covenant with humankind—that is, God’s promise to never flood the earth again).
Themes
