The House of Stairs
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs Barbara Vine
fact, many credit Rendell — along with another successful English crime writer named P.D. James — with changing mystery novels from ‘whodunits’ into ‘whydunits’. In other words, she has helped to shift the focus of mystery novels from trying to determine who committed the crime to trying to find out why the person or persons chose to commit it. Rendell’s detectives don’t just look for external facts. They also delve into the minds of the criminals and search for internal reasons. In short, Rendell has added psychology to the genre of mystery writing.
Summary About the author ‘Barbara Vine’ is the pen name of the world-famous crime writer Ruth Barbara Rendell. Rendell was born in 1930 in London, the only child of an English mother and a Swedish father. She spent many holidays in Scandinavia and can speak Danish and Swedish fluently. Although both her parents were teachers, Rendell chose instead to become a journalist after leaving high school. She found a job at a local newspaper, where she met (and worked under) her future husband, Don Rendell, with whom she now has a son. However, after writing about a social event that she hadn’t attended, and discovering later on that the main speaker had died in the middle of his speech, she resigned from the newspaper before she could be fired. Rendell has been writing fiction ever since her hurried departure from the newspaper. She has been called the ‘Queen of Crime’ and ‘the best mystery writer in the English language anywhere in the world’. She has written more than fifty-five novels, as well as several collections of short stories and a handful of novellas. She published her first book in 1964 — From Doon with Death — a crime novel featuring Inspector Wexford, who would become the central figure in her hugely popular detective series. Rendell has won numerous awards for her books, and many of her novels and short stories have been adapted for television. In addition, two of her books have been made into feature films by French and Spanish directors. Rendell says that she wrote the first Barbara Vine book, A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986), for fun — to see if she could write a different kind of detective story. She chose to use a different name, Barbara Vine, so that she could write a darker, more complex kind of psychological thriller. She says that she doesn’t like to be limited to one genre. In
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
The House of Stairs starts with the narrator of the story, Lizzie, running into Bell Sanger in a street in London. Lizzie begins to recount the terrible events leading to Bell being sent to prison fourteen years earlier. Meanwhile, in the present-day story, Bell and Lizzie start to renew their old friendship — a friendship that is fraught with mystery and intrigue. In the background story, Bell appeared almost from out of nowhere. Using her charm and attractiveness, she managed to win over the affections of Lizzie and her friend and substitute mother, Cosette. However, Lizzie and Cosette knew very little about Bell or her background, and Bell resisted telling them the truth about herself. In fact, Bell wasn’t who she appeared to be. Inspired by the story of a well-known book, she had formed a secret, evil plan through which she hoped to become rich. However, her plan went terribly wrong and ended in a tragedy that affected everyone living in the House of Stairs. More than a decade has passed since the dark days at the House of Stairs, and Bell has been freed from prison for her crimes. However, it remains to be seen if she has truly been rehabilitated — or if she is destined to return to her old ways.
Background and themes Not the usual detective story: The House of Stairs isn’t a conventional detective story — instead, it is a rich and complex psychological thriller. Vine explores the series of events that lead to a murder. The truth about the tragedy is gradually revealed as the story jumps backwards and forwards in time. It is dark and mysterious, making it hard for the reader to stop turning the pages. The book is psychological in that the author is interested in how things happen as a result of her characters’ personalities. She
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes
of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs wants to see what it takes to push someone over the edge and commit a terrible crime. She shows us how seemingly insignificant events can lead certain personalities towards disaster. A complex read: The House of Stairs is a complex book because the reader doesn’t know what facts are important and what facts aren’t — even though he or she has been given all the information needed to understand the basics of what is happening in the story. The reader knows that something is going to happen, but he or she doesn’t know what, when or to whom. The plot has many layers to it, and it makes back and forth between the past and the present, so the reader must always read carefully to keep up with the twisting and turning storyline. The complexity of the story compels the reader to want to keep reading in order to straighten out the story’s plot. In fact, the story is so complex that it even makes the reader want to read the book a second time. By reading the book a second time, the reader can finally put all the pieces of the puzzle into the right places. Unreliable narration: One way in which Vine achieves the psychological tension in The House of Stairs (for which she is well known) is that she uses a first-person narrator. However, Lizzie isn’t very reliable as she often interprets events incorrectly. Although the reader is led to believe Lizzie, the cleverness of the writing makes him or her suspect that occasionally the truth may lie elsewhere. For example, when Lizzie’s father comes and talks about the future (on page 32), Lizzie fails to understand Bell’s look. However, the reader is likely to know exactly what Bell is thinking because of what he or she already knows about her character. This technique, in which the reader often feels that he or she knows more about a character than the narrator, creates an almost unbearable tension throughout the story. Mother-daughter relationships: An important aspect of the psychology embedded in The House of Stairs is Vine’s exploration of the mother and daughter relationship and what happens to people when — through some twist of fate — their mothers are absent from their lives. Lizzie and Bell are both ‘motherless’. Lizzie replaces her own mother, whom she lost to a fatal illness, with Cosette, who becomes the most important person in her life. However, even Cosette ends up disappearing, and Lizzie loses a mother for a second time. Bell’s mother failed to prevent her child from committing an evil crime, starting a pattern
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
of behaviour that is destined to repeat itself throughout Bell’s life. Vine seems to be saying that both characters have lost their way due to the absence of good mothers. It raises the question: how would the characters have turned out if they had grown up with mothers in their lives? Life imitating art: An interesting theme in The House of Stairs is the way in which life imitates art. In a calculated and perhaps cynical way, Bell dresses up as Lucrezia because she sees that Lizzie will be charmed by seeing the portrait come to life. However, Lizzie, who is educated and literate, doesn’t understand how literal an uneducated person like Bell can be. For Bell, the plot of The Wings of the Dove is a clever idea for making some money, which she then proceeds to act out in the real world. Lizzie, on the other hand, recognizes the plot as a good idea for a novel. The final irony is that at the end of the book, it is Lizzie — and not Bell — who finds herself in the position of the life-threatened Milly Theale from The Wings of the Dove.
Discussion activities Chapters 1–3 Before reading 1 Discuss: Ask students to look at the picture on the cover of the book. What can you see? Where are the people in the picture? What are they doing in the picture? How do you think they are feeling? Why do you think this? What do you think the book will be about? Why do you think this? What do you think will happen in the book? Why do you think this? Do you think the book will be exciting or dull? Why do you think this? Does the picture make you want to read the book? Why or why not? 2 Discuss: Ask students if they have ever seen an Inspector Wexford mystery on TV. Did you like the TV programme? Why or why not? Do you remember the main character in the TV programme? Do you remember the story? Get students to describe Inspector Wexford and recount the story as completely as possible, and write notes on the board to record what Inspector Wexford is like and what the story is about.
After reading 3 Pair work: Put students into pairs and get them to decide if the following words describe Cosette and/or Elizabeth: angry, afraid, busy, cruel, kind, independent, intelligent, lonely, understanding, unhappy, young. They should find parts of the book to support their opinions. When they have finished, they should stand at the front of the classroom and share their choices and reasons with their classmates.
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs Chapters 4 –6 Before reading 4 Research: Ask students to bring information about Notting Hill to class. Then put them into pairs and get them to attach the information to a piece of paper folded into three panels in order to make a travel brochure for the area. When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and present their travel brochures to the class.
After reading 5 Pair work: Put students into pairs and get them to look at Chapters 4–6 again in order to determine when things take / took place. They should draw two timelines — one to show the things that are happening in the present-day story (in the order in which they are happening) and one to show the things that happened in the past story (in the order in which they happened). When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and present their timelines to the class.
Chapters 7–9 Before reading 6 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 7–9. 7 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 7 is called The Wings of the Dove. What is a dove? What does a dove look like? What does a dove symbolize? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
After reading 8 Check: Review students’ predictions about what would happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 7–9. Check if their predictions were right or wrong. 9 Artwork: Put students into pairs and get them to draw a picture to describe a scene from Chapter 7, 8 or 9. When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and describe their picture to the rest of the class, and the class should guess which scene the picture illustrates.
Chapters 10 –12 Before reading 10 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 11 is called In Love. What does it mean to be in love with someone? Who do you think falls in love with someone in the chapter? Why do you think this? Who do you think the person falls in love with? Why do you think this? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
After reading 11 Artwork: Get students to draw a picture of one of the characters in Chapter 10, 11 or 12. When they have finished, they should stand at the front of the classroom and describe their picture to the rest of the class, and the class should try to guess which character the picture illustrates.
Chapters 13–15 Before reading 12 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 13 is called Just Friends. What does it mean to be ‘just’ friends? What can people be if they aren’t just friends? Who do you think are just friends in the chapter? Why do you think this? Why do you think the people are just friends instead of being something else? Why do you think this? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
After reading 13 Write: Write the following combinations of letters and blanks on the board — they are outlines of words that can be found in Chapters 13–15. Get students to fill in the missing letters to spell the words. When they have finished, some of the students should stand at the front of the class and read the words to their classmates. a l _ v _ b _ _ r t c k _ _ _ d w _ _ l e _ r _ _ l f c _ _ c _ _ g _ _ n _ y h u _ _ _ p p _
Chapters 16–18 Before reading 14 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 16 –18.
After reading 15 Check: Review students’ predictions about what would happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 16 –18. Check if their predictions were right or wrong. 16 Discuss: Put students into small groups and get them to discuss the following questions: What is Bell’s true background? Why did Bell go to prison? What makes Bell do bad things? What does Bell want more than anything else? Who died and how did it happen?
Vocabulary activities For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to www.penguinreaders.com.
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes of 3
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs Barbara Vine
fact, many credit Rendell — along with another successful English crime writer named P.D. James — with changing mystery novels from ‘whodunits’ into ‘whydunits’. In other words, she has helped to shift the focus of mystery novels from trying to determine who committed the crime to trying to find out why the person or persons chose to commit it. Rendell’s detectives don’t just look for external facts. They also delve into the minds of the criminals and search for internal reasons. In short, Rendell has added psychology to the genre of mystery writing.
Summary About the author ‘Barbara Vine’ is the pen name of the world-famous crime writer Ruth Barbara Rendell. Rendell was born in 1930 in London, the only child of an English mother and a Swedish father. She spent many holidays in Scandinavia and can speak Danish and Swedish fluently. Although both her parents were teachers, Rendell chose instead to become a journalist after leaving high school. She found a job at a local newspaper, where she met (and worked under) her future husband, Don Rendell, with whom she now has a son. However, after writing about a social event that she hadn’t attended, and discovering later on that the main speaker had died in the middle of his speech, she resigned from the newspaper before she could be fired. Rendell has been writing fiction ever since her hurried departure from the newspaper. She has been called the ‘Queen of Crime’ and ‘the best mystery writer in the English language anywhere in the world’. She has written more than fifty-five novels, as well as several collections of short stories and a handful of novellas. She published her first book in 1964 — From Doon with Death — a crime novel featuring Inspector Wexford, who would become the central figure in her hugely popular detective series. Rendell has won numerous awards for her books, and many of her novels and short stories have been adapted for television. In addition, two of her books have been made into feature films by French and Spanish directors. Rendell says that she wrote the first Barbara Vine book, A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986), for fun — to see if she could write a different kind of detective story. She chose to use a different name, Barbara Vine, so that she could write a darker, more complex kind of psychological thriller. She says that she doesn’t like to be limited to one genre. In
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
The House of Stairs starts with the narrator of the story, Lizzie, running into Bell Sanger in a street in London. Lizzie begins to recount the terrible events leading to Bell being sent to prison fourteen years earlier. Meanwhile, in the present-day story, Bell and Lizzie start to renew their old friendship — a friendship that is fraught with mystery and intrigue. In the background story, Bell appeared almost from out of nowhere. Using her charm and attractiveness, she managed to win over the affections of Lizzie and her friend and substitute mother, Cosette. However, Lizzie and Cosette knew very little about Bell or her background, and Bell resisted telling them the truth about herself. In fact, Bell wasn’t who she appeared to be. Inspired by the story of a well-known book, she had formed a secret, evil plan through which she hoped to become rich. However, her plan went terribly wrong and ended in a tragedy that affected everyone living in the House of Stairs. More than a decade has passed since the dark days at the House of Stairs, and Bell has been freed from prison for her crimes. However, it remains to be seen if she has truly been rehabilitated — or if she is destined to return to her old ways.
Background and themes Not the usual detective story: The House of Stairs isn’t a conventional detective story — instead, it is a rich and complex psychological thriller. Vine explores the series of events that lead to a murder. The truth about the tragedy is gradually revealed as the story jumps backwards and forwards in time. It is dark and mysterious, making it hard for the reader to stop turning the pages. The book is psychological in that the author is interested in how things happen as a result of her characters’ personalities. She
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes
of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs wants to see what it takes to push someone over the edge and commit a terrible crime. She shows us how seemingly insignificant events can lead certain personalities towards disaster. A complex read: The House of Stairs is a complex book because the reader doesn’t know what facts are important and what facts aren’t — even though he or she has been given all the information needed to understand the basics of what is happening in the story. The reader knows that something is going to happen, but he or she doesn’t know what, when or to whom. The plot has many layers to it, and it makes back and forth between the past and the present, so the reader must always read carefully to keep up with the twisting and turning storyline. The complexity of the story compels the reader to want to keep reading in order to straighten out the story’s plot. In fact, the story is so complex that it even makes the reader want to read the book a second time. By reading the book a second time, the reader can finally put all the pieces of the puzzle into the right places. Unreliable narration: One way in which Vine achieves the psychological tension in The House of Stairs (for which she is well known) is that she uses a first-person narrator. However, Lizzie isn’t very reliable as she often interprets events incorrectly. Although the reader is led to believe Lizzie, the cleverness of the writing makes him or her suspect that occasionally the truth may lie elsewhere. For example, when Lizzie’s father comes and talks about the future (on page 32), Lizzie fails to understand Bell’s look. However, the reader is likely to know exactly what Bell is thinking because of what he or she already knows about her character. This technique, in which the reader often feels that he or she knows more about a character than the narrator, creates an almost unbearable tension throughout the story. Mother-daughter relationships: An important aspect of the psychology embedded in The House of Stairs is Vine’s exploration of the mother and daughter relationship and what happens to people when — through some twist of fate — their mothers are absent from their lives. Lizzie and Bell are both ‘motherless’. Lizzie replaces her own mother, whom she lost to a fatal illness, with Cosette, who becomes the most important person in her life. However, even Cosette ends up disappearing, and Lizzie loses a mother for a second time. Bell’s mother failed to prevent her child from committing an evil crime, starting a pattern
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
of behaviour that is destined to repeat itself throughout Bell’s life. Vine seems to be saying that both characters have lost their way due to the absence of good mothers. It raises the question: how would the characters have turned out if they had grown up with mothers in their lives? Life imitating art: An interesting theme in The House of Stairs is the way in which life imitates art. In a calculated and perhaps cynical way, Bell dresses up as Lucrezia because she sees that Lizzie will be charmed by seeing the portrait come to life. However, Lizzie, who is educated and literate, doesn’t understand how literal an uneducated person like Bell can be. For Bell, the plot of The Wings of the Dove is a clever idea for making some money, which she then proceeds to act out in the real world. Lizzie, on the other hand, recognizes the plot as a good idea for a novel. The final irony is that at the end of the book, it is Lizzie — and not Bell — who finds herself in the position of the life-threatened Milly Theale from The Wings of the Dove.
Discussion activities Chapters 1–3 Before reading 1 Discuss: Ask students to look at the picture on the cover of the book. What can you see? Where are the people in the picture? What are they doing in the picture? How do you think they are feeling? Why do you think this? What do you think the book will be about? Why do you think this? What do you think will happen in the book? Why do you think this? Do you think the book will be exciting or dull? Why do you think this? Does the picture make you want to read the book? Why or why not? 2 Discuss: Ask students if they have ever seen an Inspector Wexford mystery on TV. Did you like the TV programme? Why or why not? Do you remember the main character in the TV programme? Do you remember the story? Get students to describe Inspector Wexford and recount the story as completely as possible, and write notes on the board to record what Inspector Wexford is like and what the story is about.
After reading 3 Pair work: Put students into pairs and get them to decide if the following words describe Cosette and/or Elizabeth: angry, afraid, busy, cruel, kind, independent, intelligent, lonely, understanding, unhappy, young. They should find parts of the book to support their opinions. When they have finished, they should stand at the front of the classroom and share their choices and reasons with their classmates.
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes of 3
Teacher’s notes
PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 4
The House of Stairs Chapters 4 –6 Before reading 4 Research: Ask students to bring information about Notting Hill to class. Then put them into pairs and get them to attach the information to a piece of paper folded into three panels in order to make a travel brochure for the area. When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and present their travel brochures to the class.
After reading 5 Pair work: Put students into pairs and get them to look at Chapters 4–6 again in order to determine when things take / took place. They should draw two timelines — one to show the things that are happening in the present-day story (in the order in which they are happening) and one to show the things that happened in the past story (in the order in which they happened). When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and present their timelines to the class.
Chapters 7–9 Before reading 6 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 7–9. 7 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 7 is called The Wings of the Dove. What is a dove? What does a dove look like? What does a dove symbolize? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
After reading 8 Check: Review students’ predictions about what would happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 7–9. Check if their predictions were right or wrong. 9 Artwork: Put students into pairs and get them to draw a picture to describe a scene from Chapter 7, 8 or 9. When they have finished, the pairs should stand at the front of the classroom and describe their picture to the rest of the class, and the class should guess which scene the picture illustrates.
Chapters 10 –12 Before reading 10 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 11 is called In Love. What does it mean to be in love with someone? Who do you think falls in love with someone in the chapter? Why do you think this? Who do you think the person falls in love with? Why do you think this? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
c Pearson Education Limited 2008
After reading 11 Artwork: Get students to draw a picture of one of the characters in Chapter 10, 11 or 12. When they have finished, they should stand at the front of the classroom and describe their picture to the rest of the class, and the class should try to guess which character the picture illustrates.
Chapters 13–15 Before reading 12 Discuss: Ask students to think about why Chapter 13 is called Just Friends. What does it mean to be ‘just’ friends? What can people be if they aren’t just friends? Who do you think are just friends in the chapter? Why do you think this? Why do you think the people are just friends instead of being something else? Why do you think this? Why do you think the author chose to use this title for the chapter? Do you like the title of the chapter? Why or why not?
After reading 13 Write: Write the following combinations of letters and blanks on the board — they are outlines of words that can be found in Chapters 13–15. Get students to fill in the missing letters to spell the words. When they have finished, some of the students should stand at the front of the class and read the words to their classmates. a l _ v _ b _ _ r t c k _ _ _ d w _ _ l e _ r _ _ l f c _ _ c _ _ g _ _ n _ y h u _ _ _ p p _
Chapters 16–18 Before reading 14 Guess: Ask students to predict what will happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 16 –18.
After reading 15 Check: Review students’ predictions about what would happen to Lizzie and the other characters in Chapters 16 –18. Check if their predictions were right or wrong. 16 Discuss: Put students into small groups and get them to discuss the following questions: What is Bell’s true background? Why did Bell go to prison? What makes Bell do bad things? What does Bell want more than anything else? Who died and how did it happen?
Vocabulary activities For the Word List and vocabulary activities, go to www.penguinreaders.com.
The House of Stairs - Teacher’s notes of 3
