Marital Conflict and Jealousy Theme Analysis

“The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” is a story about a haunting—and from the beginning of the story, it is clear that the gloomy, supernatural presence that haunts and hangs over the Brymptons’ house is connected to their ill-fated marriage. When Hartley, the lady’s maid who narrates the story, arrives at the house where she has been taken on as a servant, she immediately notices how different the Brymptons are: Mr. Brympton is crude, brusque, and hot-tempered, while Mrs. Brympton is “quiet, retiring, and perhaps a trifle cold.” The other servants confirm Hartley’s impression by letting it be known that the marriage “had been an unhappy match from the beginning.” If the servants’ reports and Mr. Brympton’s frequent unexplained absences weren’t evidence enough, Hartley herself overhears a petulant argument that makes it clear that the Brymptons’ marriage is full of hostility, resentment, and suspicions of infidelity. When Hartley is confronted with the fact that the Brympton house is not just gloomy and oppressive but actually haunted by the ghost of Mrs. Brympton’s former lady’s maid, her frightened attempts to learn what the ghost wants ultimately lead her back to the Brymptons’ troubled marriage. While Hartley fails to comprehend, or at least to articulate, what the ghost’s purpose is, a closer look at the circumstances of Mrs. Brympton’s death leaves no doubt that the ghost intends to use Hartley to prevent Mr. Brympton from finding out about Mrs. Brympton’s infidelity. Thus, the ghost’s appearance can be traced back to the Brymptons’ toxic marriage and the jealousy and infidelity it spawns. Like many ghost stories, “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” suggests that hauntings can be traced to unhappiness among the living. In this case, the Brymptons’ marriage is so unhappy that its pain reaches beyond the grave and summons the ghost of Emma Saxon back into the service of Mrs. Brympton.