An Exorcism

The exorcism in which Penelope Slinger found it necessary to embark came about entirely of her own choice. Faced by the enigmas and torments of her impetuous youth it was essential to find a means of expression which would be the fruit of her own desires and fears. But simultaneously in doing so she was entering with "mystical participation" into a drama of the widest generality. We follow the sequence of a passionate history of love and disillusionment into which the act of sacrifice becomes interwoven as an essential element.The scene is set in an ancient country house, with the implication that it is a token of maternity, and by rebirth it becomes the feminine symbol of the author herself, both in her beauty and her spiritual disintegration. It is the stage where the exorcism destined to unite the two and reinstate her in life takes place.