Heidi is a Hamilton-based illustrator whose work has been featured in magazines, books, newspapers, murals and advertising campaigns.
I chose to focus on Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story/novella, "The Parasite", which was first published in Harper’s Weekly in late 1894. The story focuses on a professor who is a skeptic of all things of the occult, and whose mind is infiltrated by a woman gifted in mesmerism, and has him act out things he has no memory of, when she feels scorned by him. I choose to highlight aspects of the story as well as themes and even a quote that the narrator repeats throughout. From the idea of her control over him shown with a marionette, the game of cat and mouse they’re playing, a crucial letter, a broken heart, sulphuric acid and an important time on the clock, each aspect represents a hint at something in the larger story. The story, written as a series of journal entries, has him often repeating the phrase “oh, that devilish woman!” as he realizes all the things she’s made him do against his will.
