Picnic at Hanging Rock

Appleyard College, which is “immediately impressive,” grandly decorated and surrounded by a neat, British-style garden, epitomizes aristocratic English society. This symbol is linked to the theme of Civilized Versus Wild Spaces, as the college represents civilization. It also connects with the theme of Female Propriety and Decorum, as Mrs. Appleyard runs her college according to strict rules and iron discipline: Even on the hot summer’s day of the picnic, the girls must be seen to be wearing their gloves through the town.

Appleyard College’s symbolism changes through the course of the novel. Much to Mrs. Appleyard’s dismay, the college becomes the subject of gossip and is increasingly linked to violence and chaos after the Hanging Rock picnic. The college can no longer hold wild spaces at bay, as is illustrated when Irma visits, and the girls descend on her with animalistic ferocity. Finally, Mrs. Appleyard goes to Hanging Rock and throws herself off a rocky precipice; the next year, the school burns down in a bushfire. Through these events, the college, once a symbol of civilization, prestige, and colonialism, is engulfed by the mystery, danger, and chaos of the wilderness.