- “Elizabeth. Hers is the story that haunts these walls.”
- ―Master Gracey to Sara Evers[src]
Elizabeth Henshaw is the fiancé of Edward Gracey in The Haunted Mansion.
Role in the film
In 1881, Henshaw was the daughter of one of the servants of Gracey Manor and of very low social class. Edward Gracey, the master of the manor and youngest child of George Gracey, developed a close relationship with Henshaw, and the two eventually decided to become engaged. However, Ramsley, the manor's butler, disapproved of his master's relationship, believing it to be a disgrace upon the Gracey legacy. During the masquerade ball on All Hallows' Eve, 1881, Ramsley murdered Henshaw by poisoning her glass of wine with iocane powder, then hid the truth by passing it off as suicide. After her death, Henshaw's soul lingered in the manor as a ghostly orb.
122 years later in 2003, after Ramsley was taken to Hell for damnation, her orb appeared into Sara's body. Thus, returning herself to reunite with Edward in the afterlife. With the curse lifted, she and Edward could now live a peaceful life as their spirits ascended into Heaven with other spirits who had been trapped from the curse.
Trivia
- Elizabeth's death may have been racially motivated on Ramsley's part as he insisted that marrying her would have ruined Master Gracey. Upper class African-Americans were prominent in the 1800's following the American Revolution. Many of them were Mulatto (one black parent, one white parent), but were conceived through unsavory means. Marsha Thomason herself is of Mulatto origin, somewhat supporting this notion.
- Elizabeth's wedding dress (worn by Sara in the film) is currently in the collection of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (see gallery below).
Gallery
Screencaps
Wedding dress
