The Haunting Of Bly Manor: 9 Henry James Stories That Inspired The Series

In addition to the stories that got their own episodes, there are a few other things that have been borrowed from different short stories by James, and inserted more subtly.

The first is titled Sir Edmund Orme which follows an unnamed narrator who falls in love with a young woman called Charlotte. When he accompanies Charlotte and her mother, Mrs. Marden, to church one day, they’re joined by a young man who doesn’t speak. Mrs. Marden reveals that the man is Sir. Edmund Orme, who killed himself after she jilted him. He reappears to her intermittently to ensure Charlotte does not behave in the same way as her mother.

After Charlotte turns down the narrator’s marriage proposals, Edmund appears to Mrs. Marden which causes her to faint. The following day, the narrator sees the shadow of death on Mrs. Marden’s face, who urged Charlotte to accept his proposal. When she does, the figure of Edmund appears for the last time, but Mrs. Marden is revealed to have died.

This relates to the way Dani is haunted by her fiancé Edmund after she rejects him and he dies from being hit by a truck. Eventually, Dani stands up to him, her guilt and accepts her love for Jamie, and he disappears. In the story of Sir Edmund Orme, he essentially offers protection to the male protections. Mrs. Marden dies, but so does Charlotte after a year of marriage to the narrator. In comparison to the story, Dani’s fate can be seen as a punishment for jilting Edmund, and perhaps because of her attraction to women.

This relates to the way Dani is haunted by her fiancé Edmund after she rejects him and he dies from being hit by a truck. Eventually, Dani stands up to him, her guilt and acjcepts her love for Jamie, and he disappears. In the story of Sir Edmund Orme, he essentially offers protection to the male protections. Mrs. Marden dies, but so does Charlotte after a year of marriage to the narrator. In comparison to the story, Dani’s fate can be seen as a punishment for jilting Edmund, and perhaps because of her attraction to women.

In James’ novel The Portrait of a Lady, a free-spirited American woman called Isabel becomes trapped in an abusive marriage. Her name is given to Viola’s daughter in the penultimate episode of Bly Manor. Parallels can also be made with Rebecca who, like Isabel, loses her once bright figure after falling for a sinister man when Peter convinces her to join him in death.