The similarities between The Demon Lover, The Happy Autumn Fields and Mrs. Dalloway is that the novels exemplify the effect of war on the individuality of the British people. This done through omniscient third person narrative occurring within the novels.  The Demon Lover centers around the character of Mrs. Drover, who has difficulty within her thoughts in separating World War I and World War II. Within the novel of Mrs. Dalloway, omniscient third person voice is used through the characters within the novel of their overlaying personal and societal effects of the World War I. Mrs. Dalloway focuses on the effects of World War I, while The Demon Lover brings both world wars into context. The Happy Autumn Fields discusses the destruction and loss incurred by the blitzs and the unending crisis and change of the war. 

Once Mrs. Drover returns back to her home, the furniture and flooring bring back memories of  life after World War I. She receives a mysterious letter that is signed with “K”, which reminds her of a promise she made to a former past lover who was a soldier who died World War One. She becomes fearful of the letter in how it came into her possession in the first place. She begins to have memories of her dead fiance, as the letter acts in a way of her dead lover returning to reclaim his love in a haunting manor. Ultimately it becomes uncertain in whether she is haunted by this unknown presence within her home or if it is a mental condition on Mrs. Drovers part. Mental illness is prominent within Mrs. Dalloway, as Septimus struggles with the effects of war and Clarissa Dalloway struggles with loneliness and being a social elite. Within The Happy Autumn Fields, Mary is desperate for stability by being around chaos. She has hallucinations and has a desire in reaching people she has never met. 

The most prominent difference between the novels is the relationship dynamics between Mrs. Drover and her past lover within The Demon Lover, and the relationship between Clarissa Dalloway and Peter Walsh within Mrs. Dalloway, and Henrietta and Sarah within The Happy Autumn Fields. The impression I received between Mrs. Drover and her former lover is that if her former fiance had not died in World War I, they may have still been together. The relationship between Clarissa and Peter Walsh is a much more complicated one. Clarissa was hesitant in marrying Peter Walsh and refused his offer years ago. Walsh returns to visit Clarissa and is haunted by his emotions in still having love for Clarissa. Clarissa is haunted by the unexpected visit of Walsh and his reappearance in her life after all these years, which corresponds to Mrs. Drovers visitation from her former fiance. The relationship between Henrietta and Sarah represents the response to the threatening change of childhood. The passing of childhood is unwelcoming and frightening to the characters. All novels reflect back to the past and reflect the struggles that the characters face in moving forward and letting go of the past that seem to haunt them. 

The “Temple” chapter within A Passage to India, introduces a new beginning to erase the turmoil from the “Cave” chapter. The temple section aims to bring forward the importance of the Hindu principle of unity. The majority of this chapter is an entire reference to the Indian culture. Within the chapter Professor Godbole is at the Gokul Ashtami festival, who is portrayed mostly as a mysterious figure who has more concerns with nature and spirituality than worldly matters. Throughout the section there is a continuous reference to imitating God and the presence of the wasp throughout the novel. This links to the worship of Nature and Earth within Hinduism, which has a viewpoint of living in harmony with nature and to not exploit it. However, chaos returns later on throughout the chapter when Aziz and Ralph are in unfamiliar territory with the storm that takes place and the Hindu ceremony. Ralph shows control over his unfamiliarity by showing his connection to Hinduism. The boat crash that takes place and all of what was left behind from the storm creates another climax of chaos; everything within the novel begins to take an apparent turn. Within the event of the boat collision, Stella reaches out to Aziz rather than turning to her husband and the questionable reconciliation of Aziz and Fielding creates a disorder within the narrative of the novel. 

The character of Mrs. Moore holds a literal and symbolic presence within the novel. She is a religious, elderly woman with mystical leanings. Mrs. Moore has a quiet and introspective approach to the Indian culture, which is most prominent when she argues with Ronny about his viewpoints only when he draws her out. When she visits India, she has an attentive and intuitive viewpoint to the place. Throughout the novel Mrs. Moore continues to show an ability to sense who she likes and dislikes without the help of labels. She has a great understanding of people and what their true intentions are. She also discovers that sprituality is based upon having love all living beings. This is indicated in her allowing the tiny wasp to sleep in her room. The symbolic presence she holds within the novel is the fact that her name is associated with Hinduism, even though she is English, she is able to develop a strong connection with the Hindu concept of unity. She has the best understanding of this concept than any other English character within the novel. 

A British and American comparison that I had found that corresponded well to Mrs. Dalloway was F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Both novels were published 1925 and, they both come from the same era of post-World War I and, they both focus on similar issues of the society at the time that these novels were set in. The Great Gatsby focuses on the American Dream, while Mrs. Dalloway represents the decline in the British Empire. Woolf exposes the minds of the characters, which allows the reader to observe how thoughts of the war refused the characters the ability to carry on with their lives from post-war effects. The upper class in Mrs. Dalloway were losing their importance in society due to the effect of the war leaving not only physical disorganization in Britain but a change in the values of old imperial England. In The Great Gatsby, the upper class do whatever they can to remain in their high social class position, even when there is a disruption within the social classes. An example of this in The Great Gatsby is when Tom and Daisy Buchanan leave just before Gatsby dies. 

The article provided a useful way for me to look into how gender is portrayed within the novel as the article begins on focusing on sexuality within the characters. The novel itself is mostly dominated by a strong female presence, whose lives in turn are dominated by men. Renner claims that the novel focuses on the governess’s psychosexual behavior. Within James’s writing, he represents his strong fascination with sexuality and the differences of power between gender. The ghosts within the novel help represent the fear of sexuality that the governess has. The governess takes on a heroic role of any character in his novel, which I find interesting within the time-frame that this story was set.

The only male character that has a voice within this novel is Miles, who is a ten-year-old boy. He is perceived to be well behaved and he is always making efforts to please the governess. Flora, an eight-year-old girl is portrayed to be well mannered and polite. The governess favors Flora immensely, whilst being cautious of Miles from her haunting experiences believing that he is involved. An interesting event that takes place within the novel is the death of Miles. I am not quite sure why Miles dies but I believe it is an interesting event in how James represents the genders of characters. Renner further explains that the governess’s fear of the ghosts is paralleled to her fear of having both Miles and Flora enter on the border of puberty.

The article provided a useful way for me to look into how gender is portrayed within the novel as the article begins on focusing on sexuality within the characters. The novel itself is mostly dominated by a strong female presence, whose lives in turn are dominated by men. Within James’s writing, he represents his strong fascination with gender differences and the power between gender. The character of the Governess is the most prominent within the novel, as the story follows her supernatural occurrences along with her responsibility of Miles and Flora. The Governess takes on a heroic role of any character in his novel, which I find interesting within the time-frame that this story was set. The only male character that has a voice within this novel is Miles, who is a ten-year-old boy. He is perceived to be well behaved and he is always making efforts to please the Governess. Flora, an eight-year-old girl is portrayed to be well mannered and polite. The Governess favors Flora immensely, whilst being cautious of Miles from her haunting experiences believing that he is involved. An interesting event that takes place within the novel is the death of Miles. I am not quite sure why Miles dies but I believe it is an interesting event in how James represents the genders of characters.