Elizabeth Bowen The Demon Lover

The events in Elisabeth Bower's 'The Demon Lover'; can be explained naturally. The story being as vague as it is leads most to concur with the title of the story and imagine that there is a supernatural aspect in the story. In the short story, Kathleen has returned to her home in London that has been abandoned during the bombing of World War II. She is not expected, yet she finds a letter addressed to her on a table in the hallway. Twenty-five years has past since the leaving of her former lover during World War I. Kathleen's lover is had been presumed dead after months of being missing in action and she has moved on. She is now married to a William Dover and living the countryside with her immediate

When she was nineteen she made a promise to her fiancé, who her mother claimed "was set on her, not in love." A couple months after he left for war he was reported missing and presumed dead. At thirty two she met and married her current husband and had children. Now, it seems that the demon wants his "fiancé" to keep her promise. Bowen may have chosen to give her the last name of Drover, because a drover is someone who herds animals to market and it seems as though her fate will meet the same demise as the demon takes her away. Mrs. Drovers internal conflict occurred when she did not come through on the promise that she made and now, it seem she can not even recall what the promise was. She is faced with an external conflict as well because she will no longer have her family. She is in the hands of a demon. The third person objective point of view forces the reader to conclude for themself what is really happening. We can not hear her thoughts so it is impossible to know if she really remembers this "so-called promise." The two main elements that really work together to make this story felt by the reader are setting and language. The excellent use of literal imagery evokes the readers senses and sends a chilling feeling of suspense and terror down the spine, thus, creating the perfect setting. A sense of uneasiness is created

ago I left Brooklyn to drive to California.”(Fletcher 2). This sentence demonstrates how many days he has been out on the road. “MRS.ADAMS I know, but- you’ll be careful, won’t you? Promise me you’ll be extra careful. Don’t fall asleep or drive fast or pick up any strangers on the road.”(Fletcher 3). The In the story when he is on the road Adam sees the hitchhiker. He listens to his mom and doesn’t pick the stranger up. “ADAMS:I was in fine spirits. The drive ahead of me , even the loneliness, seemed to lurk.” (Fletcher 4). In the beginning of his drive he was alive and in perfect condition. The darkness (also known as the hitchhiker) wasn’t following him because he wasn’t dead yet. “ADAMS:...At the same time I felt - more than ever - unspeakably alone.”(Fletcher 8).Ronald died on the brooklyn bridge. He was no longer in the world everyone else was in. He was someone dead except he didn’t accept it yet. Fletcher uses flashback in the story to set in a time earlier than the main story or vivid memory of an event in the past.Fletcher writes the story is chronological order. It started out as a normal trip to california. He was quite

Many Elizabethan bedsides were haunted from “the terrors of the night”. Back then their ghosts were nothing like the pasty blobs we call ghosts now. Theirs were quite gruesome. Ghostly visitations were claimed to have been very unpleasant. Not only this, but they claimed it cast them into a state of spiritual confusion.

The flashback Shown in “The Demon Lover” is when she has the memory of meeting the soldier and agreeing to marry him and giving a hint that Mrs. Drover thinks the letter came from him. She also explains a flashback by how the soldier would treat her showing that she might had made a promise to him that she didn't keep (British Literature 171).

However, they are similar in the way of both women ending with the ex-lovers in their face. “The driver braked to what was almost a stop, turned round, and slid the glass panel back: The jolt of this flung Mrs. Drover forward till her face was almost into the glass. Mrs. Drover’s mouth hung open for some seconds before she could issue her first scream. After that she continued to scream freely and to beat with her gloved hands on the glass all round as the taxi, accelerating without mercy, made off with her into the hinterland of deserted streets.” (Bowen 1023). This scene by Mrs. Drover exhibits her side of shock that was also shown to the unnamed women in a different way. In both stories the ex lovers are away for enough time that the women moved on. However in the Demon Lover Ballad the wait was seven plus years. "Oh, do not speak of your former vows, for they will breed sad strife; oh, do not speak of your former vows, for I have become a wife"(Ballad 1025). The unknown lady’s shock was portrayed in this quote proving her wait. In conclusion both stories plot twists are significantly different leading to the decisions of both

The article “Ghost Stories: There Was Something About My New House” by Hannah Betts, follows the author’s own paranormal encounter in her old home. Hannah and her family moved into a spacious Victorian manor that was always rumored to be haunted. Being skeptics, the Betts family decided to move into the house anyway. During their time in the manor, several smaller encounters, such as hearing footsteps and voices; which ultimately led to a ghost breaking a mirror, etching 666 into the shards of glass, and writing “I’m going to (explicit) kill you all” in blood. In her article, Betts uses pathos to appeal to the reader’s emotions by her use of tone and mood, the parts of speech, and foreshadowing.

We believe that Father Bishop was rationally justified in believing that the body of Ronald Doe was possessed by a demon based on documentation of his sensory and personal experiences. Firstly, Father bishop was rationally justified on the basis of his own personal experiences that the body of Doe was possessed. Accounts of witnesses involved such as family members, close friends, and associates that all agree with the claims made by Father bishop can help provide strong support to the truthfulness of his experience. Secondly, due to accurate documentation of his personal experiences we can add that Father Bishop must have used undistorted sensory experiences such as hearing and sight. For instance, the sense of hearing was apparent when he

On a stormy night in Chicago, a woman gave birth to a beautiful little redheaded girl. She and her husband, two great scientists and eminent professors of the University of Chicago, held their child happily, hoping she would one day follow their path. As the mother was resting, her husband’s mother arrived, eager to see her grand-daughter. However, seeing the redheaded baby with a small birthmark on her upper lip, the profoundly Christian and superstitious woman saw a sign of the devil. In a moment of inattention from the parents, she stole the baby and fled to Greece to exorcise her on the grave of their ancestors. Luckily, right before the grand-mother began the exorcist ceremony, a phoenix came out of the sky and saved the little girl. As the

Many individuals ponder whether paranormal activity in fact does exist, or whether it is just a hallucination of the mind. Although, this may be a controversial topic, countless individuals can swear that they have witnessed a spirit with their own eyes, as others couldn’t disagree more. In the book, The Hauntings of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, the author uses personal encounters of witnesses to justify the presence of a spirit in a historical location. The tales the author includes pertains to people from all different classes and statuses such as, slaves, soldiers, lost-lovers, and even the prosperous individuals of Virginia. Meanwhile, the author also provides historical information, by stating the establishment of towns and informing the reader about the effects of wars, such as the Revolutionary and Civil War.

Before the family gets too far in their awkward journey, O’Connor tips off her readers of the eventual future for the family. Foreshadowing is used when the family passes an old burial ground with six,

One of her spookiest book claimed by readers would be Deep, Dark, and Dangerous. The story talks about how an old girl who died haunts a family with her spirits. It all traced back to Hahn’s childhood, as she experienced these scary things happen around her. Hahn has experienced ghosts in her life which made her write stories that related to hers. Hahn has once said she has encountered a ghost at a hotel inn in Kansas.

At the time the book was written it was the late 19th century, Victorian era; and at the time Victorians were fascinated by ghosts - a perfect reason to write a psychological ghost story.

In a small town, married men keep on disappearing from their cars with only blood smears left behind along a certain deserted road. After research into the victims and other disappearances over the past decade, they believe it to be the ghost of a woman who killed herself after drowning her two children. As a way to get back at her unfaithful husband, she continues to kill men who are unfaithful or secretive to their special other. In the end, they send the ghost to Hell to spend the rest of eternity. This premiere adventure represents a ‘trial’ in Sam’s life, one of many trials that have already been predetermined to happen as Vladimir Propp would reason (Propp

The critics from psychanalytic perspective claim that the existence of ghosts is the governess’s hysterical delusion. The ghost is the projection of governess's own sexual hysteria, which resulted from the conflict between native romantic impulses and idealistic innocence required by Victorian society (Renner). The inexperienced governess encounters the "handsome," "bold," young gentleman with "charming ways with women" (James, 4) and she