Sympathizing with Wendy: A Study Of The Overlooked Heroine of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’
Our first glimpse into the world of the Torrance home is Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining offers a revealing snapshot of the family infrastructure. Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and Danny (Danny Lloyd) are sat together at the table undertaking routine activities of reading and eating. The absence of Jack (Jack Nicholson) is notable and symbolic of the absence of the father figure and husband in their day-to-day lives. In fact, the amount of time we see the family together onscreen is incredibly telling of their crumbling dynamic.
Mother and son have a gentle and honest interaction and Wendy even responds supportively to the inclusion of Danny’s imaginary friend Tony, enquiring what he thinks about their impending excursion. After they have arrived at the hotel and the staff have left, the only time the family are an ensemble again is when Danny appears in the Colorado Lounge with a torn sweatshirt, a pivotal scene that exemplifies their malfunctioning unit.
Wendy has always been The Caretaker
Despite Jack’s obsession with what he perceives as his all-important duty, Wendy is the Caretaker of the Overlook Motel, as seen when she tries the phone lines and follows this up with a diligent call to the local services, or when she is busy in the basement tending to the operational running of the hotel. Jack’s outburst of “Have you ever thought for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers?” has no credit when tested for concrete evidence. Significantly, we never witness him undertaking any maintenance work and so the truth (whether he is aware of it or not) is that Jack has already breached his contract, failing to fulfill his responsibilities.
Not only does Wendy act as Caretaker in an official capacity, but also from a familial perspective as evidenced by Danny when his playtime is interrupted by the mysterious appearance of a ball close to Room 237. This incident evokes deep fear in the youngster who instinctively and repeatedly calls out for his mother; a person with whom he associates comfort and security. In her article “The Misunderstood Perfection of Shelley Duvall in Kubrick’s The Shining“, Amanda Gowin remarks, “hidden behind scenes of hotel history and a private battle is the tiny, private story of the woman who smiles because someone fucking has to”. Indeed, this couldn’t be closer to the truth with Wendy always managing to remain upbeat despite also having to act as chief consoler to Jack and navigate her way through his portfolio of ever-changing moods.
Sunny Side Up: Wendy the eternal optimist
Throughout The Shining, we witness Jack gnaw away at Wendy’s optimism and her chirpy ‘look on the bright side’ attitude is no doubt a coping mechanism rather than a personality trait. Demonstrating great resilience, she always strives to turn positives into negatives to create the most stable and loving environment she can for her son.
When Jack is dozing in bed one morning, Wendy enters wheeling in a breakfast service. Keen to get the day off to a good start, she has prepared him a meal which he doesn’t even need to leave his bed to consume. Smiling lovingly as she pours his coffee, she remarks on what a fine day it is before gently suggesting they go for a walk. Jack, however, does not take warmly to this suggestion and while his hostility remains low level, his tone and body language communicate a clear message.
We are told it’s just after 11:30 AM so presumably, Wendy has been awake for hours tending to Danny, undertaking various tasks in the hotel and is now longing for some adult conversation and fresh air. In return, Jack knocks her down with the intention of confirming that not only are her needs less important than his, but that he has no concern for them at all. Despite his attitude, she doesn’t allow this to shatter her pluckiness (at least externally). Instead, with typical selflessness she offers words of encouragement concerning his writing project.
Although trying to remain (like the eggs she lovingly prepares) sunny side up, Wendy is repeatedly rejected and mistreated. Perhaps the most uncomfortable and upsetting of these occasions is when she happens upon Jack typing in the Colorado Lounge. She begins by pacifying him, approaching as though he were an animal she first must coax and placate, opening with the gesture of a kiss and asking how his day has been. Notably, he does not return this physical affection, instead there is an agonizing tension emanating from him as Wendy delicately responds, calculating every word and gesture to prevent upset.
There is an audible mixture of disappointment and fear in her voice as she remains patient and giving, only to receive verbal abuse in return. Starting out out on a genuine note of optimism, by the time Jack is through with her she is left crushed with nothing else to do but exit as quickly and as quietly as possible.
If Wendy held out any hope for the future, then this is brutally snatched away in the manuscript discovery scene. She enters the vast emptiness of the Colorado lounge; a place she has expressly been forbidden from occupying. We also know that bad feeling already exists here, adding to the sense of forthcoming danger. As she notices the neatly stacked manuscript, she discretely casts her eyes over the first page. Confused, she starts to leaf through the pile and there is a heart sinking tragedy to the sight of her pulling back each sheet as she clutches onto the ever-fading hope of seeing something other than: ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’
Kubrick’s decision to have the audience acquire the knowledge of the contents of Jacks manuscript with Wendy rather than ahead of her or without her present supports a reading that the overall objective here is to evoke empathy. By making this discovery at the same time as Wendy, Kubrick is aligning us with her; we experience this pivotal moment second by second just as she does.
Furthermore, the discovery has connections to the Biblical with Wendy taking the place of Eve in the Garden of Eden and the manuscript acting as the forbidden fruit. By choosing knowledge, Wendy has chosen truth, but with truth comes ugliness and sin. Like Eve, Wendy will be driven out of the place she inhabits but unlike her Biblical counterpart, the final decision to leave is Wendy’s own, ensuring her’s (and Danny’s) survival.
Getting the better of Jack: Wendy’s Toolbox
Wendy remains physically active throughout much of The Shining as we always see her occupied, maintaining a healthy balance between spending time in the hotel and outdoors. Unlike Jack, who sleeps in until almost noon, there is a feeling of structure and purpose to Wendy’s days. It is mother and son who run about freely outside enjoying the fresh air while Jack remains cooped up indoors. Wendy’s active nature equips her to deal with the events that unfold, but by sealing himself away in the confines of the hotel, Jack is left stifled by the walls around him.
When incidents of trouble and danger arise, Wendy displays intelligence by arming herself, showing that a) she is smart enough to know that she needs for protection and b) that she is willing to use these weapons if necessary. In the Gold Room, when she tells Jack that Danny has reported sightings of ‘a crazy woman’ in Room 237, she has a bat clenched tightly in her hands. Later, when she is alone in their quarters, she has astutely locked the door which Jack has to knock on to enter. This enables her to control access and most importantly gage the temperature of Jack’s moods before allowing him entry.
Later, she is also mindful to equip herself with the bat during the staircase scene, again demonstrating bravery. Cautioning him to stay away she is desperately confused and running out of options. After buying time, she assesses the situation and assumes power by heroically making the first move. Swinging the bat, she hits Jack with enough force to send him tumbling and in doing so is the first of the two to administer a physical blow. Transcending her status as victim, Wendy doesn’t flee to hide in wait for her predator to discover her. Instead, she makes her smartest move yet by dragging her husband’s limp body to the freezer, storing him in a place of safety and thus giving her all the advantages in their ongoing power struggle.
Physical stamina is integral for survival, but it’s also key to know when to rest and retreat and the decision to put her husband in the freezer provides Wendy with the necessary opportunity to sleep. There is then a truth in Grady’s statement to Jack: “Your wife seems to be stronger than you, somewhat more resourceful, she seems to have got the better of you.”
Whereas Jack is often sleeping or seen in a trance like state completely detached from what is taking place around him, another advantage that Wendy has is that she remains continually present. Her attentiveness is demonstrated through her early questioning of Ulman about the hotels’ history and more importantly when she becomes alert to Halloran referring to Danny as: ‘Doc’ despite never having heard this pet name before. Taken individually, these may seem like trivialities but in the broader landscape of the film these attributes add to Wendy’s toolbox of resources that when assembled collectively, become a force to be reckoned with.
As the events of The Shining draw to a climax with Jack axing his way into their living quarters, Wendy displays a firm capacity to think on her feet. Her first thought is for Danny whom she grabs and bundles into the bathroom, weaponing up once more, this time with a knife. With Jack just meters away, Wendy makes every second count as she identifies an escape for Danny through the window. When she cannot make it herself, she dutifully tells him to run; his survival is her main priority. Now she must face her husband alone and as she waits on the other side of the door she screams, pleading for her life.
Before he can reach her however, she seizes an opportunity to slash his hand thus injuring him whilst protecting herself. Close to tears, when she cannot open the door she summons an inner strength to hit it with the knife before venturing out into the corridors of the Overlook, demonstrating that she can persistently battle through danger and fear. Unlike Jack, Wendy is ultimately triumphant as she makes the final getaway with her son in the Snow Cat.
In Vivian Kubrick’s 1980 documentary, The Making of The Shining, we see the director (famed as much for his obsession for precision as for his brilliance) instruct all those on set to “not sympathize with Shelley.” The desired affect here was reportedly to make the actress Shelley Duvall feel as isolated and alone as her character. A reassessment of Wendy Torrance clearly evidences a person who is heroic in the face of the most unspeakable circumstances. Through it all, Wendy endures, using all her inner (and external) resources to walk the tightrope that forms her narrative journey.
Wendy is a final girl who unlike Laurie Strode (who is saved from the hands of Michael Myers by the shots of Dr Loomis’ gun) or Sally Hardesty (who avoids the peril of Leatherface’s chainsaw thanks to the arrival of a truck driver), doesn’t rely upon a man to save the day and come to her rescue. Is it possible perhaps, that as a “confirmed ghost story and horror addict” (revealed in Jack’s interview with Ullman), Wendy has studied the trials of women under threat and given the volatile nature of her relationship, paid particular attention to the steps they take to overcome the onscreen monsters before putting theory into practice? Who knows, but in the end one thing is indisputable—Wendy proves herself to be a true survivor making her not only the overlooked heroine of The Shining but of the horror genre.
Categorized:Editorials
