"Circumstance" is an allegorical short story written by American author Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford. It was published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1860. The story takes place in the woods of Maine with an unnamed protagonist who walks home after caring for a sick neighbor. She ventures into the woods, where she comes in contact with the Indian Devil who assaults her throughout the story, but in this life-and-death situation she realizes her reality and religion and comes to terms with her life, sexuality, and fears. By the end of the story, her husband shoots the Devil with his shotgun in one hand and their baby in the other while the "true Indian Devils" destroy their home and town.
Contents
Plot summary
An unnamed woman travels back to her home after caring for an ill neighbor in Maine and notices a white apparition floating in the air that sighs, "The Lord have mercy on the people!" She continues on until she reaches a point where a gap of fallen trees allows twilight to enter in the form of diffused light. Suddenly, a shadow races past her and before she knows it she is taken captive by the Indian Devil, a savage, legendary black panther. It grabs her and lifts her onto the bough of a tree.
She begins thinking of her husband, her best friend. Then, in an effort to call to her husband and save herself, she sings to the beast. As she does, the beast dances around and releases its firm grip around her, but it still keeps hold. Any time she pictures her husband or her child, she ceases from singing and the beast returns to its ferocious ways and tortures the woman.