Rosemary's Baby

When Rosemary gets home, she barely has time to change her clothes before Minnie arrives, holding the drink and a piece of cake. Minnie holds the wrapped-up book while Rosemary eats and drinks. After Minnie leaves, Rosemary opens the package and looks at the book, titled All of Them Witches. She flips through it, noticing where Hutch added marginal notes or underlined certain phrases. He underlined “Devil’s Pepper” as well as some information about Adrian Marcato, the witch who used to live at the Bramford. The book includes a portrait of Marcato, a familiar-looking man with a black beard. The book also includes a picture of Marcato with his wife, Hessia, and son, Steven. Steven’s name is underlined.

Still reading, Rosemary notices that Hutch underlined information about the belief in the power of fresh blood. She then recalls Hutch’s message about the anagram and gets out a Scrabble set. Using the tiles, she tries to make new phrases out of the book’s title but cannot find another phrase that makes sense. She tries the same with the author’s name, which also does not yield any results; she then tries it with Steven Marcato’s name, which Hutch had underlined particularly forcefully. On the first try, she spells out “Roman Castavet.”

Rosemary is starting a chapter on Satanism when Guy comes home. Rosemary tells him that Roman is Steven Marcato and shows him the book. Guy asks if she is saying the Castavets are witches and laughs when Rosemary nods. She argues that witchcraft still exists and says that the Castavets and their friends are in a coven. They plan to use her baby’s blood in a sacrificial ritual. Guy asks if she also suspects Dr. Sapirstein; Rosemary says that Sapirstein is too intelligent to be involved. Guy says he is glad Rosemary left someone out of her “McCarthy-type smear campaign” (179-80). Rosemary insists that even if magic is not real, the coven believes it is, which means they are in danger. Guy says they are not going to move. He takes the book and puts it on a high shelf, saying that Rosemary has become too emotional.

At her next appointment, Rosemary tells Dr. Sapirstein about her suspicions. He says Roman must be ashamed of his father. Rosemary asks him if Minnie could have drugged the drinks, and Dr. Sapirstein laughs, unconcerned. Rosemary says she will not take anything else from Minnie, and Dr. Sapirstein agrees to prescribe her some pills for the last weeks of her pregnancy. He then tells Rosemary that Roman has a terminal illness and does not expect to live longer than a month or two. Roman wants to visit some of his favorite cities before he dies. Dr. Sapirstein urges her not to tell anyone else about Roman’s identity and assures her they will be leaving in a few days. Rosemary is relieved.

The Castavets stop by that evening and tell Guy and Rosemary about their upcoming departure. The next day, Minnie drops off the drink and cake; Rosemary throws them both away and takes one of Dr. Sapirstein’s pills. The day before the Castavets leave, Minnie stops by and asks Rosemary if she knows who Roman’s father was. Rosemary nods, and Minnie said she could tell by Rosemary’s behavior. She curses Adrian Marcato and says he has made Roman’s life very hard. She asks Rosemary not to reveal what she knows about Roman’s family.

Laura-Louise throws a party for the Castavets at her apartment. The next morning, Guy helps the Castavets take their minimal luggage to the cab, and Rosemary comes down to say goodbye. Minnie says that no matter where they go, their thoughts will be with the Woodhouses, and Rosemary thanks her for everything. Roman takes her hand and tells her she will have a happy life; she tells him to come back and realizes that she means it.

That afternoon, Rosemary looks for All of Them Witches and cannot find it. Guy admits that he threw it away several days ago. Rosemary feels annoyed, telling him Hutch left it to her and it was not Guy’s to throw away. He apologizes repeatedly, but Rosemary is still bothered.

Rosemary lies awake that night, feeling unsettled. With two weeks until her due date, she assumes it’s normal to feel anxiety at that point in a pregnancy. She hears a sound from the Castavets’ apartment but tells herself it must be coming from a different apartment.

Rosemary prepares for the birth and goes out to lunch with Elise and Joan. The Woodhouses receive a postcard from Paris with a short message from the Castavets. Rosemary feels an occasional contraction.

On June 24, Rosemary runs into Dominick, Guy’s former vocal coach. He congratulates her on the pregnancy and Guy’s career successes, and Rosemary thanks him for the tickets to The Fantasticks. Dominick denies giving Guy any tickets. As Rosemary walks home, she tries to think of reasons Guy could have wanted her out of the apartment that night. He could have been having an affair, but the apartment smelled like tannis root, not another woman’s perfume. She also remembers that Guy had been especially energetic that evening and “had made unusually violent love to her” (193). That was also the night she heard music coming from the Castavets’ apartment. She tries to stop thinking about witches and wishes she had never run into Dominick.

As she continues walking, Rosemary remembers reading in Hutch’s book that new members of a coven were anointed with a “witch mark.” Guy wore a Band-Aid on his shoulder for several months. She realizes that Guy does not sleep naked anymore. She asks herself why Guy would join a coven, given that his career is improving every day. But even as she asks the question, she knows the answer. Donald Baumgart went blind only a day or two after she saw The Fantasticks.

The book described a coven’s power to collectively blind, paralyze, or even kill an enemy. Rosemary realizes Hutch had been reading it—and filling it with messages for Rosemary—the night before going into the coma. She also remembers that Guy had gone out that night, ostensibly for ice cream, and that Hutch had lost one of his gloves. Rosemary concludes that Guy took Hutch’s glove so the coven could kill Hutch because he knew too much.

Deeply frightened, Rosemary drops the charm necklace into a sewer grate. After she gets back to the apartment, she tries to convince herself that Hutch died a natural death, witches do not exist, and Guy couldn’t have cast a spell on Donald Baumgart because he didn’t have any of Donald’s belongings. However, she returns to the fact that Guy has not been naked in front of her in months.

Rosemary calls Donald Baumgart and asks if his condition has improved. Donald tells her it hasn’t. He accepts her condolences, saying that is how the business works and Guy would have become successful anyway. Rosemary asks if Guy has anything that belongs to Donald, and Donald says he and Guy traded ties that night and never traded back.

After they hang up, Rosemary changes clothes, gets her packed suitcase and emergency money, and takes the service elevator down to the street, where she gets into a cab. She goes to Dr. Sapirstein’s office, where the receptionist asks her to wait. Rosemary sees that she is reading a copy of Time magazine, the cover of which reads “Is God Dead?” (202). The receptionist compliments Rosemary’s scent and says she hopes Dr. Sapirstein will follow her example, as he has a good luck charm that smells strong and unpleasant, similar to the scent Rosemary used to wear. Rosemary makes up an excuse and leaves.

Rosemary goes to a phone booth and calls Dr. Hill’s office, leaving a message for him to call her back. She waits in the stifling booth. Dr. Hill finally calls, and Rosemary tells him that Dr. Sapirstein has been giving her strange drinks and pills and she is worried about her baby. She adds that her husband is involved in a plot against her. She begs him to let her come to his office and explain. He finally agrees to see her that night.

Rosemary takes a taxi to Dr. Hill’s office. She tells him the entire story, speaking calmly and quietly to avoid any accusation of “hysteria.” Dr. Hill agrees with her that it seems like the coven wants her baby, and Rosemary feels overwhelming relief that he believes her. Dr. Hill says he can arrange for her to go to Mount Sinai that evening and has her lie down in the consulting room.

Rosemary wakes from a dream in which she is living in Los Angeles with her son when Dr. Hill comes back in, followed by Dr. Saperstein and Guy. Dr. Saperstein tells her to come with them quietly and threatens to put her in a psychiatric hospital if she says anything else about witches. Guy promises no one is going to hurt Rosemary or the baby. She gathers her things and leaves with them. They drive back to the Bramford in silence.

The elevator attendant at the Bramford smiles at Rosemary in the lobby, which reawakens a sense of resistance in her. She intentionally drops her handbag, and when Guy, Saperstein, and the attendant stoop down to gather everything, Rosemary gets into the elevator and slams the door. When she gets out on the seventh floor, she sees that the service elevator is coming up and hurries to the apartment. She locks the door and hooks the chain right as the men arrive. She tells them to go to hell and accuses Guy of promising the baby to the coven. He denies this, saying she has imagined a conspiracy. She calls her brother and several friends, but no one answers.

Suddenly, Guy, Saperstein, and Mr. Fountain, another friend of the Castavets, are inside the apartment. Dr. Saperstein is holding a hypodermic needle. Rosemary is trapped between the bed and the wall, and as they grab her and gag her, she feels a strong contraction. Dr. Saperstein says she is in labor. He sticks her with the needle. Rosemary is dimly aware of Guy begging her not to struggle. In her head, Rosemary asks her child to forgive her.