Exploring Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in 'A New England Nun'

Over the course of history there has 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

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. Elbert reaffirms this notion by stating, “…Modern psychologists would look askance at such compulsive, fetishistic behavior, especially as it deteriorates into meaningless repetition without any obvious purpose: ‘Louisa dearly loved to sew a linen seam, not always for use, but for the simple, mild pleasure which she took in it. She would have been loath to confess how more than once she had ripped a seam for the mere delight of sewing it again’” (Elbert 199), thus reinforcing the idea that Louisa has a propensity to partake in various senseless compulsive activities that are simply pleasurable to her, which only further confirms the fact that the character is exhibiting signs of obsessive compulsive disorder. Furthermore, another compulsion that is seen as a contributing factor to the characters condition is Louisa having to wear three separate aprons depending on what activity she is involved with. For instance, when gardening outside, Louisa will wear a green apron, when sewing, she will wear a pink and white apron, and when having company over, she will wear a white linen apron

For example, Louisa spends a great amount of her time simply arranging her maidenly possessions, such as her books, which are sorted in a specific order, as well as having all of her sewing tools in a specific place and order in her work-basket. A scholarly article analyzing the character of Louisa reaffirms this notion by stating, “Louisa had almost the enthusiasm of an artist over the mere order and cleanliness of her solitary home. She had throbs of genuine triumph at the sight of the window-panes which she had polished until they shone like jewels. She gloated gently over her orderly bureau-drawers, with their exquisitely folded contents redolent with lavender and sweet clover and very purity” (Harris 27). With this in mind, it is evident that the character of this short story lives a life of structure, precision, and order, which presents itself as a major clue for her having this condition based on the disorders symptoms. It can also be visibly seen that Louisa is quite upset when the order in her house is disturbed as she is constantly worrying about something being out of place or appearing untidy, as well as her constantly cleaning up and reorganizing her possessions after Joe Dagget comes to visit her. For example, while Louisa and Joe are