Exhibit:

3. Gallery for "The Open Door" (Riddell, 1882)

Preview of images

Charlotte Riddell in 1875
Great Britain, Gold Sovereign, 1838
Opened Red Wooden Door

Parent Resource

Shades of Meaning: A Haunted Victorians Anthology

This gallery includes images and information to supplement the 1882 narrative "The Open Door," by Charlotte Riddell, in the collection Shades of Meaning: A Haunted Victorians Anthology.

Images in this Exhibit

Charlotte Riddell
Charlotte Riddell in 1875

Charlotte Riddell was a prominent Victorian author known for her complex and intriguing Gothic storytelling, as well as her ability to weave supernatural elements into critiques of societal anxieties. Her works, including The Open Door, skillfully explored themes of guilt, morality, and the tension between rationality and the unknown, effectively making her a prolific figure in Victorian literature. Her use of ghostly metaphors for both societal and internal struggles, Riddell ultimately enriched the “haunting” literature of the Victorian era.

Elliott & Fry photograph,...
Gold Sovereign, 1838
Great Britain, Gold Sovereign, 1838

The sovereign, the money Phil was offered in The Open Door not only represents financial stability but also the highly sought-after possibility of societal recognition and upward mobility in a society as rigid as the Victorian hierarchy. Specifically for Phil, a struggling clerk, earning the money by solving the "haunting" is a chance to gain respect and prove his worth in a world that often dismisses individuals with his status and reputation. 

Tom Mulvaney, 2005

 
The Open Door
Opened Red Wooden Door

The everlasting open door in Riddell’s The Open Door symbolizes unresolved tensions, both personal and societal, anxieties that refuse to be suppressed nor ignored. It serves as a metaphor for the fragility of Victorian stability, representing hidden struggles, guilt left unacknowledged, and the limits of human comprehension in a seemingly “haunted” world.

Artist Unknown
Image Date: circa. 2023
The Open Door Painting

This painting is inspired by "The Open Door," specifically the chilling encounters Phil recounts of the door being open: "I cast one glance at the door—it stood wide open. Through the windows I had left bare to the night, moonlight was beginning to stream cold and silvery."  I wanted to capture the coldness of the ghostly door opening, which was delivered with the descriptions of the door that feel tense but gloomy. And convey the elements of the story, like not knowing who or what is controlling the door and having a figure there, implying that something...