October 2022 Prep Docs (Adherennium)

Day 5 - Plot: Climax

Maurice's unspoken fear is that he might become violent like his father. This manifests in his inability to get close to any potential wife or partner.

Maurice is led by the Devil, (which is his own Shadow, (Jungian psychology)), to the point where he could do violence to Philomena. He does not. The climax is his realisation that his behaviour is not, and does not have to be shaped in anyway to be the same as his father's. This could be a larger realisation of the idea of original sin.

This realisation paves the way for him to join the Magic Theatre, and to further explore his, and its potentials.

This is a nod to Steppenwolf, but in that novel, the protagonist killed Hermine, (albeit in the Magic Theatre, so it is possible this was not absolutely true). Maurice is not told that he will kill Philomena, and as noted above the outcome of the crisis is different.

Philomena flirts with, and teases Maurice. Mrs. Abner, Maurice's part-time housekeeper tries to matchmake Maurice with a local girl, then with Philomena. The devil manipulates Maurice, and creates a series of problems that lead Maurice to become drunk, just as his father had been on the night that he murdered Maurice's mother and sister.

He further manages to suggest that the events that lead up to the crisis are somehow Philomena's fault. Philomena having been like Hermine, broadening Maurice's horizons, this could easily be accomplished. Maurice's actions whilst following Philomena's suggestions, leading to the crisis.