How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She had taken to wondering lately, during these swift-counted years, what had been done with all those wasted summer days; how could she have spent them so wantonly? I am foolish; I am grown up now and know the values of things. (1.44)
Eleanor's story starts with a typical display of dissatisfaction. She's all grown up and upset that she spent her years the way she did. Let that be a lesson to us all. Make every day count, or you may find yourself the main character in a Gothic horror story one day.
Quote #2
It's awful, she thought, unwilling to move, since motion might imply acceptance, a gesture of moving in, it's awful and I don't want to stay; but there was nowhere else to go […] (2.27)
Eleanor came to Hill House dissatisfied with her life, and now she is dissatisfied with Hill House. There's just no pleasing this one.
Quote #3
They were all silent, looking into the fire, lazy after their several journeys, and Eleanor thought, I am the fourth person in this room; I am one of them; I belong. (3.24)
Or is there? Here, we see Eleanor in a rare moment of satisfaction, and that satisfaction comes from the fact that she feels like part of the group, part of a family.