The Clean House

Lane is frustrated because she cannot force Matilde to clean her house. Her frustration is rooted in her need for control and her desire to prevent death and change. As a doctor, Lane must make life-or-death decisions while maintaining a professional demeanor and showing just enough emotion to be compassionate. The hospital is a clean, sterile environment, its rooms sanitized, and dead bodies removed by the unseen hands of orderlies and nurses. Lane has control over the hospital environment, and as she demonstrates for Matilde, can bark orders at a subordinate if anything falls out of line. There is no room for mistakes, as a misplaced speck of dirt can become life-threatening in a hospital. There, cleaning staves off death and decay. But without a team of well-trained nurses, Lane’s home life is less easy to control. In her pristine, white house, with her white clothing and perfectly white underwear, Lane leaves no space for mistakes, spills, or messes. When Matilde won’t clean, however, and when Charles leaves the home he and Lane shared, Lane’s loss of control over her house symbolizes loss of control over her life. Dust and dirt accumulate unchecked, like Ana’s cancer.