# The Banshee explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

## What happens

Miss Baily recounts her personal experience with the banshee's supernatural music while attending her dying sister, Miss Kitty, at Lough Guir.

## Themes in this chapter

### Supernatural and the Uncanny

The banshee's unearthly music heard during a death vigil exemplifies the supernatural.

### Folklore and Local Tradition

The banshee is a traditional Irish folk figure associated with the Baily family.

## Character check-ins

### Una

Miss Baily, who relates her experience with the banshee's music.

### Lady Emily

Miss Susan Baily, who shared the vigil and heard the music.

## Key lines

> So old a Munster family as the Bailys, of Lough Guir, could not fail to have their attendant banshee.

The ancient Baily family of Lough Guir was believed to have a banshee that attended them.

_Establishes the family's connection to the banshee legend._

> One night at dead of night, Miss Baily and her sister, sitting in the dying lady’s room, heard such sweet and melancholy music as they had never heard before.

During a late-night vigil, Miss Baily and her sister heard an extraordinarily sweet and sad music.

_Describes the supernatural auditory phenomenon._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/the-banshee
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters