Domestic Violence and Abuse in Stephen King’s Dolores Claiborne

Domestic violence and abuse are among the most relevant social issues with potentially long-lasting and detrimental consequences. One of the novels that place domestic abuse in the centre of attention is Stephen King’s 1993 novel Dolores Claiborne. The protagonist, Dolores St. George, is subject to domestic abuse throughout the entirety of her marriage to Joe St. George, who later starts exhibiting patterns of abusive behaviours towards his children as well, which culminates with him sexually abusing their daughter Selena. Once he empties his children’s savings accounts, Dolores and the children can no longer afford to escape his tyranny. Dolores has no other way out but to retaliate with an act of violence and begins planning Joe’s death. The article opens with a brief definition and description of domestic violence and abuse, after which follows a discussion of the four most common types—physical, emotional, sexual, and economic abuse—as represented in the novel. The abusive acts analysed in the article are also observed through the lens of Cathy Caruth’s theory of trauma. The analysis shows that Joe perpetrates all four main types of domestic abuse: Dolores is abused physically, emotionally, and economically, Selena emotionally and sexually, and Joe Junior emotionally. Direct and indirect emotional abuse are shown to be the most damaging and traumatic form of abuse for the members of the St. George family.