Water
There's water, water everywhere in Possession, and this powerful and mysterious element gives the novel some of its most captivating imagery and symbolism.As in many of the folktales, fairy tales,...
Ice
You knew this was coming: Possession's water imagery wouldn't be complete if it didn't include the frostier side of H20. What happens when water gets below freezing? You get ice, ice baby.If you lo...
Fire
Fire imagery isn't as common in Possession as water and ice imagery, but it makes a few important appearances all the same. When it does show up, we're presented with two conflicting visions of it....
Gardens
These ain't your mama's gladiolas.Garden imagery abounds in Possession, and depending on the context, it symbolizes knowledge, understanding, revelation, love, paradise, and the never-ending cycles...
Forests
Into the woods, Shmoopers.To paraphrase Sherlock's Jim Moriarty, every fairy tale needs a good, old-fashioned forest—whether it be treacherous and dismal like Tolkien's Mirkwood or safe and hospi...
Wall, Tower, and Battlement
When a novel has two women protagonists whose surnames form the two halves of the term "motte-and-bailey," you can bet there'll be some wall, tower, and battlement imagery and symbolism on the way....