The Demon Lover: Review/Summary

“The Demon Lover” is a story of a troubled woman’s psychological journey to come to terms with details from her past. The story details the exploration of Kathleen Drover’s past and uses symbolism to create a portrait of a ghostly excursion. Throughout the story, Mrs. Drover is fighting an internal battle, of intense memories, within her own mind.
The story starts out with Mrs. Drover going to her former house to “look for several things she wanted to take away.” (Pg. 1) Though presumably she is looking for a tangible item, a deeper analysis would have you believe that she is actually searching for memories of her past. In the beginning, when Mrs. Drover wants to open the door to her former house, or rather her repressed memories, the entrance is at first unwilling to give way. The mention of the door’s not wanting to open is a way to show her reluctance to bring life to these repressed thoughts and memories.
Once the door is pried open, she begins to wade overwhelmingly in her own inner thoughts. The mention of there being little to no light in the house shows that these are some of her darkest memories. Mrs. Drover is actually being symbolized by the house here, bruised and scarred by war. As the story goes on, Kathleen eventually finds a note, addressed to her, on the hall table. She begins to ponder how it would get there, with no one knowing that she was due to be at this house. She obviously wrote this letter to herself and forgot.
Upon reading the letter, Kathleen realizes that the present day is her anniversary. The letter also mentions her leaving London, and that she could expect someone at the “arranged hour.” (Pg. 2) Kathleen thinks that her dead fiancé has written her this letter, and she begins to get anxious of his arrival. She wrote this letter to herself to relieve herself of guilt that she did not remain loyal to him. Therefore, she has convinced herself that she needs to be punished for her actions, and that she did not write this letter to...