A New England Nun Analysis

Mary Wilkins Freeman and her writing can be considered the epitome of a lonely spinster. In Freeman’s piece, “A New England Nun,” Freeman tells of a woman by the name of Louisa Ellis. Louisa is a spinster in New England following the Civil War. She is destined to marry a man by the name of Joe Dagget. However, when Joe returns from making his fortune to take Louisa’s hand in marriage, Louisa would now rather have her independence than a husband. Freeman’s character development, use of symbolism, and use of language make for a piece that is enjoyable and easy to understand.

In the story “Louisa, Please Come Home” by Shirley Jackson she needs attention . In the first place we have that, she ran away from home the day before her sister’s wedding. She did this because she wants attention and to ruin the wedding. Another piece of evidence is,She plans to stay in the city or near it. The reason she did this is because she still wanted to hear all the news about her and also see what her mother's doing . The last piece of evidence is that she lied to Mrs. Peacock about her mother and Paul the neighbor and said he was her brother. This is because she wanted to get the apartment and so she can start her new life. These pieces of evidence explain how she was an attention hog and she is selfish for

Her husband labels her as crazy and restricts her to a single room and forbids her to do most activities. Her husband demeans and belittles his wife’s condition by dismissing the severity of her depression. The Narrator has no say or control in her relationship. She has no control over the activities she’s allowed to do while in her room so she takes control of the only thing she can, her mind. She soon begins to imagine images within her room and within her wallpaper. The Narrator says, “Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be” because every day she now looks forward to helping the women behind the wallpaper escape. Now that Louise has complete control over her mind, she is beginning to taste freedom, even if she is destroying herself. Because John thinks he’s superior to his wife, he misjudges her condition and ends up making her condition worse by repressing her even

In each of these selected pieces, the woman’s position is dependant in some form to the male figure. Each work deals with conflicting views of the female protagonist and the expectations of their male counter-character, though each has a differing outcome that correlates to the woman’s reaction to this male supremacy. “A New England Nun” features Louisa and Joe Dagget, who come to a mutual agreement to call of their engagement. This ending follows closely with realism, as there is a healthy development and closure to the conflict. Then, Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” has possibility of development, however, the loose end does not establish any sort of progress. This piece ends with the American asking if Jig is alright, to which she smiles and states she’s fine (. Despite the fact that there is no closure to this particular ending, there is a chance that Jig does defy the American’s wishes. Lastly, Brooks’s poem “A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon” follows the chaos and self-conscious characteristics of postmodernism, as the white woman’s thoughts of the “Fine Prince” evolve from submissive denial to hatred, over the course of the piece. Although these pieces end quite differently, each portrays a woman that is submissive in some way or another at a point in the story.

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s A New England Nun applies a variety of literary devices that reveal the internal struggles of the main character, Louisa Ellis, as she approaches her impending marriage to Joe Dagget, who “represents a constant threat of potential chaos” (Glasser 127). In the short story, Freeman’s use of symbols, explicitly speaking of Caesar and the yellow canary, parallel Louisa’s internal struggles. Specifically, Louisa’s pets physically illustrate her discontentment for Joe Dagget that she is unable to outwardly express.

For a time, Lucy Gayheart feels the assurance of a bright future reaffirmed daily. And then a tragedy strikes, an undreamed-of turn of events, something which happens every day, and yet which we never address, because it is unthinkable. So will Lucy allow tragedy to beat her down into an existence she has long scorned? Or will she find the mettle to not only endure, but to grow in the face of, her heartbreak? This book was published in 1935. Its syntax can be long-winded, but its imagery is unforgettable. The author conveys a deep love for her fellow man, and for the inexpressible promise of a young life. I believe there is Lucy Gayheart in all of us.

Abby Alcott, Louisa’s mother, was a highly educated young woman, rare for her time, but like her husband, made poor decisions that would ultimately hurt the family’s well-being severely. Abby worked as a nurse for families living in poverty, who could not afford health care from paid doctors. However, Mrs. Alcott was very careless about her nursing and never bothered to ask what she was treating. Her carelessness caused her to bring home smallpox and scarlet fever to her husband and four daughters. The Scarlett fever Abby brought home would eventually lead to the death of one of her daughters, Beth (Steven 112). Her parent’s financial carelessness lead her to “beg[in] writing to make money for her mother and three sisters”(DeSalle). Louisa also at one point in her childhood vowed that she would one day become rich so she could provide for her family, in the way her father had not.

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

In Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s short story, “A New England Nun,” she writes about a woman who is very independent, but is unsure about marriage. The theme of “A New England Nun,” would be independence.

The beginning of the story sets the theme for the whole story. We are told about the heart condition that inflicts Louise. This is significant throughout the story. The heart condition is a symbolic way of describing her thoughts of oppression she felt about her marriage. She was trapped and isolated by the marriage. She felt the need to hide these feelings. Women of her era were supposed to be home and under their husbands command. The story has her going through this journey privately. That is significant in the fact that now in her husband’s passing, she will be alone. She will need to work through things by herself. She will be able to go through the whole process on her own, without being judged and persuaded to feel differently.

A nun who runs a homeless shelter discovers that people are being taken off the street. When she tries to find out why, she is abducted and taken to a government facility that is using nanobot technology to turn people into mind controlled super soldiers to fight in a war that is mostly forgotten and one we are losing. After she is turned into a super soldier the nun learns how to use her power to expose the abductions, reveal what the government is doing, and inform everyone that the war is being lost.

He informs Louisa that being in a wheelchair and not being able to do anything is not his life. Before the accident he was a very successful banker with a lot of money, he would go out and do a lot of adventures and have a lot of women he would date. On a specific scene, he tells Louisa, “I don’t want you to miss all the things that someone else can give you, selfishly I don't want you to look at me one day a have a tiny bit of regret…” (Sharrock, 2016). Based on his past relationships his standards for Louisa is she should receive the best from a relationship but not from

Lastly, the most compelling piece of evidence in the text which points to Louisa having obsessive compulsive disorder is found in her obsessive behavior which she displays throughout the majority of the story. This behavior is mostly shown by Louisa in her daily life as she is described washing her “tea-things” and polishing her china carefully as well as irrepressibly having to clean and tidy up after Joe Dagget leaves her home. Moreover, this fact is seemingly presented in the text as the author writes, “Then she set the lamp on the floor, and began sharply examining the carpet. She even rubbed her fingers over it, and looked at them. ‘He’s tracked in a good deal of dust,’ she murmured.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another?” (Jn 13:35)What is a committed religious life for being a Catholic sister or nun. Catholic sister and nuns have a different variation of lifestyle, ministries and callings. All community has its own peculiar identity and flavor, this is because there are no two association, as there is no two nuns that are the same. As we watch movies about nuns we sometimes predict sisters and nuns to be living a highly ordered life which is unchanging in structure which is repetitive in context. But the truth is that there may be some regular customs and practices, a day in Catholic sister and nun life as it is diverse, especially as the Holy Spirit is in charge.

Louisa breaks down at her father’s knees at the end of book two. All work and no play has made her a dull girl indeed! Mr. Gradgrind has no idea how to respond to this. “What can I do child? Ask me what you will.” [220]. Louisa’s philosophy, which bears a striking resemblance to that of James Harthouse, has led her to get married to a man she does not love. She essentially blames her strife upon her father’s upbringing of her. “All that I know is, your philosophy and your teaching will not save me. Now, Father, you have brought me to this. Save me