55 pages • 1 hour read
Jacqueline SusannValley of the Dolls
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1966A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Realism
Susann’s narrative exposes the excesses of elevated social circles and the celebrities who inhabit them, writing from her own experiences as a Broadway actress. She writes in the matter-of-fact tone of someone who moves freely through those circles. To the uninitiated, the behaviors the author describes seem outlandish, while to those Susann describes, this is actually mundane reality. Readers in 1966 would have been startled when Anne, wearing Allen’s engagement ring, has sex with Lyon and lies in bed having a candid conversation about birth control. The novel’s three protagonists casually discuss sex, abortion, drug use, and schemes to seduce or divorce men. Likewise, the novel does not shy away from depictions of misogyny, describing rape, unwanted sexual comments and conduct, and vulgar language reducing women to objects.
Before Valley of the Dolls, novels that centered on young female characters often depicted sexuality in euphemistic language. Even Truman Capote’s 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, whose main character is a sex worker, speaks of sexuality only in coded language. Susann’s relaxed style startled the mid-60s reader by openly describing previously concealed realities about celebrities and those who deal with them.
Mid-20th-Century Slang and Cultural References
Susann builds realism in Valley of the Dolls through language and cultural references. While this slang can feel foreign to a contemporary reader, most of the terms appear in conversations, so the context of what is said reveals the meaning of the slang term. Many of the terms are sexual, and the author also uses derogatory words and slurs when describing gender and sexuality.
The novel incorporates references that felt contemporary to its readers and cement its status as a cultural artifact today. News is delivered by telegram, and Anne lives in a boardinghouse where she shares a phone with all of the other girls. Women showed social status by wearing animal fur coats—an increasingly controversial practice today—with mink being the most sought-after fur. Virtually all the characters smoke, even though singers note that it’s unhealthy. The dolls are given name-brand corollaries like Demerol and Seconal. Susann’s accurate use of slang terms and technology makes the novel a time capsule of the unique era she describes.
Ironic Foreshadowing
Susann employs ironic foreshadowing throughout the narrative. Readers come to understand that the things the protagonists consider absolutes will be negated by their own behavior. Lambasting Helen for her grandiose attitude, Neely proclaims that should she ever achieve stardom, she will remain eternally grateful and treat those around her with respect. Once she becomes Hollywood’s number one attraction, however, she is ungrateful and believes she can do whatever she pleases and treat anyone as her servant. Jennifer, overjoyed by her new relationship with Winston, announces to Anne—now married to Lyon—that they are the two luckiest women in the world. Shortly afterward, Jennifer dies by suicide and Anne’s marriage becomes her greatest source of pain. Anne repeatedly vows she will abstain from sex until she is married until she finds herself alone with Lyon and talks him into making love. After Lyon abandons her, numerous characters tell her to forget about him because he is gone for good. When Anne gets engaged to wealthy, doting Kevin, Lyon suddenly reappears and resumes his love affair with Anne within hours. The repeated use of ironic foreshadowing expresses that idealism falters in the hedonistic society the book chronicles.
