Val/Carmen Maria Machado’s Wife Character Analysis

Val is the girlfriend of the woman from the Dream House when Machado first meets her. Though the woman tells Machado she’s in an open relationship and suggests they create a polyamorous relationship between the three of them, Machado later finds out that Val didn’t consider that relationship to be an open one, and only agreed to polyamory because she thought she had no choice. Val’s experience as the woman’s girlfriend, though not explored in great detail, emphasizes the tendency of the woman from the Dream House to manipulate the people with whom she’s closest, taking advantage of them in order to create situations in which she has the most power. After Machado and the woman break up, Machado and Val become romantically involved and eventually marry.