Free Essays on The Demon Lover

During times of war, â€Å"people [are] often led down strange paths in search of indestructible landmarks in a destructible world† (Mitchell 44). Hallucinations provide such landmarks in extreme moments. Paranoia appears to those who encounter the intense emotions of war. The psychological shocks of war deprive and fray emotions. Pressures from a previous war threaten uncertainties and fears. In â€Å"The Demon Lover,† Elizabeth Bowen reflects how war can take revenge on a person’s emotions through her use of setting and characterization. In â€Å"The Demon Lover†, Bowen’s use of setting exemplifies that war can take revenge on a person’s emotions. While walking up to Kathleen Drover’s old home, â€Å"an unfamiliar queerness† fills her from the inside out (346). The visit home in which she experiences war, unsettles her. Memories of war escalate inside her. For Mrs. Drover, already prone to a sense of loss, â€Å"the return to the house is a shattering revelation, a threshold experience that activates her dormant hysteria† which brews inside her after all these years (Hughes 52). As Kathleen nudges her front door open, â€Å"dead air† greets her with remembrance of her past feelings (346). A ghost-like presence overwhelms Mrs. Drover, which ignites wartime emotions. The aged residence suggests the consciousness of time and the company of death. â€Å"The hollowness of the house . . . cancelled† many memories that Kathleen bears in her mind from her youth (350). Voices, ways of life, warmth and love fill her home until war rips it apart. The uninviting existence of her surroundings produces her present condition of madness. Mrs. Drover comprehends that down in the basement â€Å"a door or window was being opened by someone† to cause the draught that hits her face while she stands at the top of the staircase (351). The intensity of what Kathleen feels and experiences is as real as the war she experienced. â€Å"Through th... Free Essays on The Demon Lover Free Essays on The Demon Lover During times of war, â€Å"people [are] often led down strange paths in search of indestructible landmarks in a destructible world† (Mitchell 44). Hallucinations provide such landmarks in extreme moments. Paranoia appears to those who encounter the intense emotions of war. The psychological shocks of war deprive and fray emotions. Pressures from a previous war threaten uncertainties and fears. In â€Å"The Demon Lover,† Elizabeth Bowen reflects how war can take revenge on a person’s emotions through her use of setting and characterization. In â€Å"The Demon Lover†, Bowen’s use of setting exemplifies that war can take revenge on a person’s emotions. While walking up to Kathleen Drover’s old home, â€Å"an unfamiliar queerness† fills her from the inside out (346). The visit home in which she experiences war, unsettles her. Memories of war escalate inside her. For Mrs. Drover, already prone to a sense of loss, â€Å"the return to the house is a shattering revelation, a threshold experience that activates her dormant hysteria† which brews inside her after all these years (Hughes 52). As Kathleen nudges her front door open, â€Å"dead air† greets her with remembrance of her past feelings (346). A ghost-like presence overwhelms Mrs. Drover, which ignites wartime emotions. The aged residence suggests the consciousness of time and the company of death. â€Å"The hollowness of the house . . . cancelled† many memories that Kathleen bears in her mind from her youth (350). Voices, ways of life, warmth and love fill her home until war rips it apart. The uninviting existence of her surroundings produces her present condition of madness. Mrs. Drover comprehends that down in the basement â€Å"a door or window was being opened by someone† to cause the draught that hits her face while she stands at the top of the staircase (351). The intensity of what Kathleen feels and experiences is as real as the war she experienced. â€Å"Through th... Free Essays on The Demon Lover In the short story,† The Demon Lover†, by Elizabeth Bowen, Mrs. Drover has made a pact with the devil {claim statement}. Nineteen year-old Kathleen (Mrs. Drover) is engaged to a man who is about to leave for war {background}. Oddly enough, he is not very receptive to her emotionally and actually, is rather frigid acting towards the young girl whom he is supposed to marry. Actually, it seems to be more of a business relationship than a bond created out of love. There are many ways that Elizabeth Bowen proves to the reader that Mrs. Drover has made a pact with the devil {warrant}. By making a pact with the devil I mean, surrendering blood as part of an oath to Satan, trading one’s soul for a favor for a specified number of years and/or accepting the Devils mark {definition}. Upon entering the house, an eerie feeling hangs in the air. Bowen makes this known by describing the atmosphere and feelings that are felt by Mrs. Drover as she walks into the old house. For example, nobody knows that she is coming to town; yet, as she enters the dark, cold room her eyes fall to a fresh letter placed on a dusty table by the door. The date on the letter is the present day, no return address can be found, and there is no stamp, which proves that the letter has not gone through the mail. As Kathleen opens the letter, Bowen makes it clear that the Devil has returned to make sure that the promise, made 25 years ago, by the young girl and the face-less man is honored. The meaning of the pact made in â€Å"The Demon Lover† can be interpreted in many different ways. For instance, one point of view in this matter is that the Devil promises Kathleen that she will marry and bear children in a time when men are scarce due to the war, and she, in return, will join him in 25 years. In times of war, women are abundant and men are extremely scarce for the obvious reason. In 1916, when this story takes place, women do not have many choices concerni... Free Essays on The Demon Lover â€Å"The Demon Lover,† by Elizabeth Bowen, is a story about Kathleen Drover and a promise that she makes twenty-five years before. Kathleen goes to her old house in order to collect a few belongings, and she finds a letter inside the house with her name on it. It discusses an arranged meeting between herself and someone whom she shares an â€Å"anniversary† with. She begins to think, all the while becoming more and more cautious and afraid. She becomes frantic, and plans to leave the house and find a taxi so that she can return to the house and take the driver inside with her, so that she can collect the items that she needs. When she finds a taxi, she sits in the back seat, only to discover that the driver of the car is the man she is trying to escape from. He drives off â€Å"into the hinterland of deserted streets.† The central idea is that when people make promises, escaping from those promises is not always possible. Kathleen is obviously a naà ¯ve girl when she is younger. She meets a man who pays attention to her, and she becomes fixated with him. He makes her promise to wait for him, and he has her make a blood promise by cutting the palm of her hand with one of his military buttons. After this encounter, she tries to forget about her promise, and she tries to escape her fate. She even represses the memory of what he looks like, and the details of her promise. A dynamic character, she is strong and brave when she enters the old house, but by the end, her fear gets the best of her and she panics. By becoming panicked, she plays right into his hands. The conflict in the story is between honoring commitments and breaking them in an effort to change the past, and it is an internal conflict. The man in this story symbolizes the devil, and Kathleen makes an agreement with him in blood that she will wait for him, and be with him in twenty-five years. In the meantime, she gets married and has children because she believe...