The Demon Lover, Elizabeth Bowen - Essay Example

Foreshadowing in Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” The past is inescapable and it will do anything to make you remember it. Elizabeth Bowen’s 1945short story “The Demon Lover” is a testament to such bondage. Although some critics say that the events in the story are merely imagined by Bowen, it is possible that there really is an evil that is observing her throughout the whole story. The element of foreshadowing in Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” is one of mystery and an evil that seems to observe her in a very sinister way.

The supernatural element in the story actually serves as a foreshadowing of the horrifying climax that awaits Mrs. Drover in the end. The first of these instances which foreshadow the climactic horror is in the statement: “But one door, she could just see, stood ajar, so she went quickly through into the room and unshuttered the big window in there” (Bowen). Although any door in a closed house would be left ajar, it would be unusual to mention such a detail at the beginning of the story unless there is some significance to it.

Another moment that foreshadows what is to become of Mrs. Drover – and perhaps the most mysterious and most supernatural – is the letter that is lying on the hall table: “She stopped dead and stared at the hall table – on this lay a letter addressed to her” (Bowen). The letter has been addressed to her, which means that someone knew all along that she was coming to the house that day. Moreover, someone somehow knew that she would find the letter. The latter had “no stamp,” which means that someone must have deliberately placed it right there on that day (Bowen).

Another thing is that the letter emphasizes that “today is [Mrs. Drover and the sender’s] anniversary” (Bowen). This means that someone must have either planned it all along or supernaturally caused this horror to happen.As she leaves the house, the other evidence of an evil presence is when Mrs. Drover feels is a “draft that traveled up to her face” which seems to have come from the basement where she heard someone leave the house (Bowen). This entity, whoever it is, and although it is more likely the long-lost lover who left her the letter, must be a mysterious character for he is not seen at all.

He may assume a human form for the physical environment responds to him, but he could also be evil as he seems to be very omniscient of everything about Mrs. Dover.The most horrifying part – the climax of the story – is when there is this taxi at the corner of the road which “appeared already to be alertly waiting for her” (Bowen). Based on the events that followed, Mrs. Drover then realizes that indeed the taxi is waiting for her. Moreover, with its merciless acceleration, perhaps she knows it will be her end.

The horror of Bowen’s story is all about the element of foreshadowing that shows itself in a number of instances in the story. It may be human for it leaves her a letter and it produces sounds in the house. However, it is most likely largely an omniscient evil that follows her every move from the house to the taxi where it finally shows itself. Top of FormBottom of FormWorks CitedBowen, Elizabeth. “The Demon Lover.” 2012. Nexus Learning. 3 Nov 2013.