“THE DEMON LOVER”
By Elizabeth Bowen
“THE DEMON LOVER”Allusion
• English Ballad
• Absent lover
• Intervening
marriage• Desertion upon lover’s return
“THE DEMON LOVER”Setting and
Mood• PRESENT• Month and year: August, 1941• War: London Blitz WWII• House with cracks on a deserted street• Weather: Humid, sunny day interrupted by rain
• PAST• August 1916, WWI
“THE DEMON LOVER”Setting and
Mood• Shut-up house• Steamy, showery day• Humid, yellow, afternoon sun• Batch of clouds…ink-dark• Broken chimney• Cat wove itself • No human eye watcher Mrs. Drover’s return
“THE DEMON LOVER”Setting and
MoodDeath and Decay
• War destroyed London - blitz
• Buildings and silence
• Abandoned
• Lives lost
“THE DEMON LOVER”Flashback &
Foreshadowing• Fiancé left for war and went missing
• Letter signed “K” from fiancé • Fiancé alive• Indicates she might have to confront him
• She broke promise
“THE DEMON LOVER”PoV
3rd Person OmniscientGod-like perspective not
restricted to time and placeSwitches to 1st person – why?
“THE DEMON LOVER”Protagonist
Mrs. Kathleen Drover• Age: • 44 years old
• Family: • husband, 3 boys, sister
• Physical appearance• Thin from wartime rations
Stability and dependability
Completely unnerved by the
letter
“THE DEMON LOVER”Symbolism
Structurally unsound HOUSE• Wartime damage• Mrs. Drover’s PSYCHE is damaged by war• Muscular flicker on the side of her
mouth
• Lost husband, displaced family
• Letter and taxi – exist??
“THE DEMON LOVER”Symbolism
The CLOCK• Passage of time
• Importance of time
• WWI – peace – WWII
“THE DEMON LOVER”SymbolismThe LETTER
• Signed by “K” – her own initial
• WWII triggers repressed memories of WWI –
lover
• Cannot remember lover’s face (may be
Everyman)
• War is a DEMON that lingers over her
“THE DEMON LOVER”Symbolism
The TAXI and the DRIVER• Knows where to take her• Heaven (save) or Hell (torture)• Can’t escape from taxi…WAR
• Driver• Only sees his face • Can’t remember face of fiancé• Does it/he exist??• Who do you think it is??
“THE DEMON LOVER”Themes
Appearance vs. Reality• Similar to “The Necklace”
Heaven vs. Hell
Sanity vs. Insanity
“THE DEMON LOVER”Themes
Death vs. Life – surviving the war
War vs. Peace – after WWI• War disrupts Drover’s family• Takes her fiancé• Internal war of lover returning• War or driver cause her to scream in
taxi?
“THE DEMON LOVER”
By Elizabeth Bowen
Does she see the visage of her fiancé?
OR
Does she have an emotional and psychological breakdown?