64 pages • 2 hours read
Carmen Maria MachadoA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The Dream House is the memoir’s central motif and organizing force. Not only is the memoir named after it, but every chapter title is a unique inflection of the concept ("Dream House as…”). The Dream House’s nature and significance shifts so continually that it is less a unified symbol than a vehicle for exploring Machado’s many and sometimes contradictory experiences of domestic abuse. Sometimes, the Dream House is her Iowa City residence, where she lived when she met her partner. Elsewhere, it is her partner’s house in Bloomington. Other times, the Dream House is a psychological situation or condition: a naïve fantasy, an aspiration, an imprisonment, a sense of guilt.
In most cases, however, the Dream House is a setting, whether psychological or physical. In Chapter 43, “Dream House as World Building,” Machado elaborates on this idea, explaining, “Places are never just places in a piece of writing. If they are, the author has failed. Setting is not inert. It is activated by point of view” (72). The Dream House begins as a symbolic setting for Machado’s experiences, but once her partner’s abusive tendencies are revealed, this setting reflects Machado’s
Books About Art
View Collection
Cuban Literature
View Collection
Hispanic & Latinx American Literature
View Collection
Inspiring Biographies
View Collection
LGBTQ Literature
View Collection
Popular Book Club Picks
View Collection
Pride Month Reads
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection
Valentine's Day Reads: The Theme of Love
View Collection