Circumstance

"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.