Eleanor Vaughan

Eleanor Vaughan is the wife of Amity mayor and real estate magnate Larry Vaughan, a woman whose presence in the novel is defined by her quiet devotion and her complete ignorance of the forces destroying her husband. She spends much of her time at home doing needlepoint in front of the television, a simple, adoring woman who has no part in Vaughan's social climbing or his business affairs. Very few of Vaughan's summer-community friends even know he has a wife, a fact that underscores her isolation from the public life he leads.

Marriage and Domestic Life

Eleanor's marriage is one of profound asymmetry. While Larry Vaughan moves freely among the wealthy summer people of Amity, attending important parties alone, Eleanor remains at home, a figure of domestic stillness. She is so shy that, as Martin Brody reflects, if her house were burning down she would call the fire department and apologize for bothering them, asking if they could stop by the next time they were in the neighborhood. This timidity extends to her financial habits: whenever she writes a check for an even-dollar amount, she refuses to write "and 00/100," feeling it would insult the person cashing it by suggesting they might try to steal a few cents. Her world is circumscribed by the home, and she has no knowledge of her husband's business entanglements.

The Night of Vaughan's Collapse

Eleanor's most significant appearance in the novel occurs on the evening after the shark's reappearance on the Fourth of July weekend, when Larry Vaughan, having been exposed by Harry Meadows as the president of Caskata Estates and a partner of Mafia figure Tino Russo, comes home and drinks nearly a whole bottle of whiskey. Eleanor, who knows her husband rarely drinks at home, is alarmed. She calls Martin Brody, the one person she thinks might know what is wrong, and in a hesitant, apologetic phone call she reveals her worry. She tells Brody that Vaughan has not acted like himself for several days, and she asks, with the painful hope of a woman who trusts her husband completely, if Brody knows what the trouble could be. Brody lies, saying he does not, and promises to talk to Vaughan without revealing that she called. She extracts a promise from Brody not to tell Vaughan she meddled, because he has never wanted her to involve herself in his affairs.

The Farewell

Days later, after the shark has killed Matt Hooper and the town's economy has collapsed, Larry Vaughan visits the Brody home to say farewell. He tells Ellen Brody that he is leaving Amity, perhaps for good, and that his business is gone. He reveals that Eleanor knows nothing of his ruin, saying he wants to spare her, and that he loves her and would hate to take that love away from either of them. When he tells Eleanor they might be moving, she simply smiles and says, "Whatever you wish." Her response is the final image of her in the novel: a woman of absolute trust and submission, whose quiet life is about to be shattered by a catastrophe she never saw coming.

Narrative Role and Significance

Eleanor Vaughan functions as a foil to the public drama of Amity's crisis. While her husband schemes with the Mafia, suppresses news of the shark attacks, and pressures Brody to open the beaches, Eleanor remains in the domestic sphere, unaware and uncorrupted. Her innocence makes Vaughan's betrayal of his own family all the more stark. She is also a mirror to Ellen Brody: where Ellen chafes against her life and seeks escape through an affair, Eleanor accepts her role with unquestioning devotion. Her final, trusting "Whatever you wish" is both a testament to her character and a devastating irony, as the reader knows that Vaughan's wishes have already destroyed their future.