What a shame it is that one is so artistically talented yet so unable to express such creativity and what a disgrace that one is so timid and obsessive with their life…or so some seem to believe about Louisa Ellis. The short story, “A New England Nun”, is one in which the protagonist, Louisa, gives rise to many wandering minds about the truth of Louisa’s happiness. Very seldom do readers seem to express like opinions of Louisa and her happiness. Some argue that she is obsessive and afraid of the world and everything in it while others argue that she is simply just an artist who is unaware of how express her artistic abilities. Although both opinions can easily be argued, I think she is far from being either of the two. Louisa has simply found …show more content…
a happiness of her own and knows no greater joy than that that she has created for herself; she is a unique woman whose happiness is found through keeping order in her life by wearing specific aprons for specific occasions, keeping her dog Caesar tied up, and through keeping everything around her clean and tidy. Louisa is a character who goes about all of her days in very specific ways. From the very beginning of this story, Louisa is portrayed as being very peculiar and precise with all of her actions and daily tasks. Only a few paragraphs into the story, Mary Wilkins Freeman displays this unique characteristic about Louisa when she wrote, “…she quilted her needle carefully into her work, which she folded precisely, and laid in a basket with her thimble and thread and scissors. Louisa Ellis could not remember that ever in her life she had mislaid one of these little feminine appurtenances…” (654). It would be very easy to assume, directly after reading these lines in the story, that Louisa is both obsessive and an unexpressed artist despite this being the actuality of her character. Because there is no direct statement made in this story that Louisa is anything short of happy, how can it be assumed that she is anything but happy-even if her criteria for happiness is unlike most? Louisa displays her happiness in ways that seem obscure to many, like wearing different colored aprons throughout her days, and this is because she knows nothing better than her own depictions of true joy, which is certainly enough for her. Louisa is definitely an apron wearing gal! She has three aprons which are each designated to be worn at specific times in her day. Each apron is a representation of her unique happiness. Always worn directly on top of her clothes was a white linen apron with “a little cambric edging on the bottom” (Freeman 654). She wore only this apron when she had guests over to her home (Freeman 654). Not only does this display a sort of pride from Louisa to be at her best dressed when she has company, I also conclude that this shows a distinct kind of happiness in Louisa because of how she is always sure to only have on this apron in the presence of company to show off her elegance and cleanliness. Just like in today’s time, Louisa enjoys ‘dressing up’-to her, dressing up is wearing only her white linen apron- when she has guests present in her home. Louisa never wore this apron alone unless she had a guest over (Freeman 655) which, to me, displays her pride and joy in resembling an elegant woman to her company. On top of her white linen apron is a pink and white apron which is worn while she is not partaking in any tasks except for sewing. This apron is basically displayed as being her ‘relaxation’ apron. Lastly, Louisa wears a green apron, on top of the white linen apron and white and pink apron, when she is in the garden, preparing and eating meals, or completing other daily domestic activities (Freeman 654). The green apron portrays Louis’s wanting to stay clean and tidy, which makes her happy. Although this idea of Louisa’s happiness through her apron wearing seems a bit odd, it is just one of the many ways that Freeman depicts her happiness that ultimately comes from keeping a specific order in her life…just like she does by keeping her dog tied up for most of his life. Louisa’s dog, Caesar, remains chained up behind her house just like he has for most of his time on earth due to his youthful bite on a neighbors’ hand (Freeman 658).
Louisa never unchains Caesar because it would disrupt the order in her life which would take away part of her happiness. Every day, Louisa walks outside to call Caesar’s name as she proceeds to feed him and give him a nice pat on the back (Freeman 654). She keeps him chained up because it keeps her daily routine with him in order and constant which brings her joy. Although this may not be the kind of joy every one wishes for, it is all that Louisa knows and if this part of her life were to change, even by the unchaining of Caesar, her happiness would be interrupted as she would not know how to handle a change in Caesar’s restricted life. Unchaining Caesar would interrupt Louisa’s happiness just as would clutter and dirtiness of her house because it is disrupting the order in her life that remains …show more content…
constant. A clean home is a happy home…and a happy Louisa.
It is when Louisa immediately fixes the clutter of the books that Joe Daggett has caused that readers label her as obsessive. In the story, Freeman writes, “There was a square red autograph album, and a Young Lady’s Gift-Book…He took them up…then laid the, down again, the album on the Gift-Book. Louisa kept eying them with mild uneasiness. Finally she rose and changed the position of the books…That was the way they had been arranged in the first place” (655), which shows again Louisa’s constant needing of order in her life, not her obsessiveness. Louisa likes things to be a certain way, as one can see when she rearranges the books, because order makes her happy. As unusual as it seems, disorder can bring about uneasiness and unhappiness, like it clearly does to Louisa. Everyone finds happiness in their own ways, and it is most certainly clear that Louisa finds her happiness through order which includes a clean and tidy
home! Although many can strongly argue that Louisa is the furthest thing from happy, the story of “A New England Nun” does give examples and support that Louisa is indeed happy and that leaving her life behind if marrying Joe Daggett, would take away her happiness because it would take away her ability to keep order in her life through her apron wearing, Caesars chaining, and keeping a clean and tidy house because of Joe Daggett’s opinions of her ways. Freeman explains how Louisa would have to stop her daily, joyful tasks that she completes daily because “Joe’s mother would think it foolishness” (658). Freeman also indicates that Louisa does live a happy life when she writes, “Then there were some peculiar features of her happy solitary life…” (657). I find it quite hard to completely argue against the happiness of Louisa when Freeman blatantly states that she has a happy life, despite any conclusions that one may draw based off of their own views of the story. Whether one decides to agree, disagree, or even agree to disagree, it is clear that Louisa is a character who possesses happiness; even if it a little weird the things she finds her happiness in. Designated apron wearing, Caesar’s restricted life, and a squeaky clean and mess free home are all things in Louisa’s life that display her yearning for order that brings about such a true and distinct kind of happiness to Louisa. Although this depiction of happiness seems so unusually different than the normal depiction of happiness, it is a happiness that the unique character, Louisa, possesses.
Over the course of history there have been numerous works of literature which presented the reader with great descriptions of story characters and their overall personalities, and one of the most prevalent examples of such use of character depiction is shown in the story “A New England Nun,” written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. In this short story, Freeman is able to illustrate a woman who is struggling with the commitment of marriage after waiting fourteen years for her fiancé Joe Dagget to return from Australia while also maintaining a lifestyle that involves monotonous, domestic activities in her home. However, more importantly, Freeman is able to clearly establish the character Louisa as someone who is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder by outlining her behavior as being precise, organized, and compulsive, as well as depicting her traits of perfectionism. One of these compulsive tendencies involves Louisa constantly sewing to the point of perfection, in the sense that she often rips out her sewing in order to remake it again.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
In “Young Lions,” readers follow the protagonist, Caesar Matthews and his introduction to a life of crime in Washington D.C. As a teenager, Caesar’s father essentially disowns him and Caesar moves in with Sherman Wheeler, a confidence man that teaches Caesar about robbing people without getting caught. After Caesar completes his first “job” of removing his belongings from his father’s home, he meets Carol, a woman who develops a relationship with Caesar and falls in love with him. Caesar schemes to rob a “feeble-minded” woman, Anna, and involves Carol to wheedle the money from Anna. Horrified at her involvement in Caesar’s repugnant actions, Carol cannot react as Caesar wants her to after taking the money. Once this becomes clear, Caesar becomes enraged with Carol, strikes her repeatedly in a park, and threatens to shoot her. During this violence, Caesar “realized that if he beat her with the pistol, that, too, would not surprise her. And had he shot her, in the face or through the heart, she would not have been surprised at that either” (Jones 76). Following this attack, Carol leaves the park in tears with the full realization of the type of person Caesar is. Ultimately, Caesar is left alone and has no one to offer him
The main character, Louisa Ellis, lived a life which paralleled both of her pets' lives, her dog Caesar's and her yellow canary. The animals and Louisa are trapped by their captivity, and because they have lived like this for so long, no longer crave freedom. Both Louisa and Caesar live solemn and isolated lives. This is shown when Freeman describes Caesars house as "half hidden among the tall grasses and flowers" (258). Given the setting of where Louisa lives, she is fairly isolated as well. There is only a little road running through "the quiet and unguarded village" (265) which she lives in. Because it is quiet, one can make the conclusion that there is little interactions between the townspeople and Louisa. They fear her dog, for it has bitten once when he was a puppy, and tend to stay away. Freeman does a good job in portraying the solitude among the characters. By showing their day-to-day routine and the setting of the houses and town, it is clear that Louisa is isolated and Caesar is hidden from society.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
Edna seeks occupational freedom in art, but lacks sufficient courage to become a true artist. As Edna awakens to her selfhood and sensuality, she also awakens to art. Originally, Edna “dabbled” with sketching “in an unprofessional way” (Chopin 543). She could only imitate, although poorly (Dyer 89). She attempts to sketch Adèle Ratignolle, but the picture “bore no resemblance” to its subject. After her awakening experience in Grand Isle, Edna begins to view her art as an occupation (Dyer 85). She tells Mademoiselle Reisz that she is “becoming an artist” (Chopin 584). Women traditionally viewed art as a hobby, but to Edna, it was much more important than that. Painting symbolizes Edna’s independence; through art, she breaks free from her society’s mold.
I have chosen to write about Virginia Woolf, a British novelist who wrote A Room of One’s Own, To the Lighthouse and Orlando, to name a few of her pieces of work. Virginia Woolf was my first introduction to feminist type books. I chose Woolf because she is a fantastic writer and one of my favorites as well. Her unique style of writing, which came to be known as stream-of-consciousness, was influenced by the symptoms she experienced through her bipolar disorder. Many people have heard the word "bipolar," but do not realize its full implications. People who know someone with this disorder might understand their irregular behavior as a character flaw, not realizing that people with bipolar mental illness do not have control over their moods. Virginia Woolf’s illness was not understood in her lifetime. She committed suicide in 1941.
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
When reading literary works, as a reader one tries to understand why an author chose’s a certain subject. Also, why the author conveys the information of his or her literature in a particular way. An author’s literary works are generally influenced by aspects of his or her life. This allows the author’s poem, short story, or novel to transcend, the just another poem, novel, or short story title, and create a major impact in the literary world. Author’s generally write about what they know and experience. The same is evident for Edna St. Vincent Millay, a beloved poet of the early twentieth century. There is a strong connection of between Millay’s personal life and how it influenced her poetry. As a feminist Edna St. Vincent Millay’s upbringing
“a beautiful instance of what is reverentially called ‘a true woman.’ Whimsical, capricious, charming, changeable, devoted to pretty clothes and always ‘wearing them well,’ as the esoteric phrase has it. She was also a loving wife and a devoted mother possessed of ‘the social gift’ and the love of ‘society’ that goes with it, and, with all these was fond and proud of her home and managed it was capably as – well, as most women do (57).”
Elaine is an independent woman artist. This independence eventually contributes the successes Elaine achieves as a painter. It does cause Elaine difficulty in interacting and founding relationships with other women. In spite of what she believes, Elaine’s symbolization of her isolated experiences in each of her paintings speaks to other women. Her artistic career proves that, through art, women artists can open up and be creative and create opportunities for themselves and other women.
In Hard Times Charles Dickens portrays Louisa Gradgrind as a realistic character who faces conflict from the start of her life. Louisa encounters three major psychological conflicts in the form of three different men: Mr. Gradgrind, Mr. Bounderby, and Tom Gradgrind. Men play a very important role in the shaping of Louisa's life. Instead of being her own person and expressing her own feelings, Louisa falls under the realm of these three men.
Marianne’s brand of free expression sometimes has little else to recommend it (Intro, I). What is true of Marianne’s classification system is true of her manners in general: In her refusal to place social decorum and propriety above her own impulses and desires, she is absolutely unbending (Intro, II). Marianne is also characterized as being very charming. For example, she believes her poetic effusions to be striking in themselves as well as accurate expressions of her inner life (Intro, VII).
The women which Stephen comes across in his journey in becoming an artist define him and change him by nurturing him, fascinating him, and inspiring him. Stephen was forever changed by his mother, the Virgin Mary, Eileen, the prostitute, and the seaside woman. The object of the artist is to create the object of the beautiful, I argue that it was the beauty in the women of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which created the artist in the end.