Set in the 1800s, Dragonwyck tells the story of Miranda Wells a young farm girl who moves to Hudson, New York to reside in Dragonwyck manor at the request of her cousin Nicholas Van Ryn, a very distant family member. While Miranda was sad to go at first, leaving her family in Connecticut was a small price to pay in order for her to live the life she thought only possible for the characters in her romance novels. At first Miranda is blinded by both the splendor of living in Dragonwyck manor and the handsomeness of her cousin. Though Miranda new life does not stay a fairytale and instead turns into a tragedy. She suffer the loss of her first born child and realizes too late that marrying her cousin was a mistake. In Dragonwyck the author, Anya Seton, writes …show more content…
However, underneath the melodrama of the Dragonwyck there are glimpses into actual historical events in the background such as the Astor Place Riots and the Anti-Rent War. Dragonwyck may seems to be only about Miranda out growing her girlish fantasies and finding love, but the other story taking place is that of tenants fight for land rights. In the beginning of Dragonwyck Miranda is accompanied to New York with her father Ephraim. Ephraim is a very religious man who thinks everyone should live a simple life. Though when he meet the ostentatious Nicholas Van Ryn they are able to have a civil conversation until the topic of partoons and tenants in brought up. Partoons are landowner who allow farmer to work their lands in exchange for a cut of the farmer’s harvest. The farmers working the land for the