New England Nun Analysis

New England Nun
Louisa Ellis can be viewed in two different ways. For one, she can be seen as a feministic hero who feels she is better off without a husband. For second, she can be viewed as a selfless person. There is evidence that this story takes place in a different time. A time where women did not have the right to vote, or to sustain themselves. By examining the clues throughout the story, one can say the story takes place in the late 1800’s. Some of the clues are revealed when the narrator points out certain things which are unusual to today’s world. For example, the narrator says, “she lighted her lamp” (). This story takes place in a time when were women counted on their husbands for financial support and protecting. When the reader knows this, the reader can come to the conclusion that Louisa Ellis was not so much a feminist, but instead was a selfless woman who worked for “the greater good”.
Throughout the story, Louisa is shown as a woman who is loyal to her commitments no matter how long she has to wait for something. Louisa is not only loyal, she is also a loner and perfectionist. The perfectionist side of her is shown multiple times. For example, when the narrator talks about Louisa growing her lettuce, the narrator says, “which she raised to perfection” (). The whole story shows how Louisa needs everything neat and

ordered. The personality of Louisa Ellis, shows a woman who does not want to conform to the everyday ideas (such as being a wife) of the time. Instead, she would rather make her own path as shown when the narrator says, “Louisa’s feet had turned into a path” (). This quote from the story suggests in order for Louisa to be happy herself, she may not want to be become a wife and be stuck with someone and have to move out of her comfort zone.
Louisa’s own personality and lifestyle can be shown through her pets.

The yellow-white dog named Caesar which Louisa owns, has been chained to the dog house the last 15 years after he bit someone. Caesar being chained to the dog house could actually represent the feeling the reader gets that Louisa is chained to her own house and to her solitary ways. The narrator talks about how Louisa would have to move out of her comfort zone and enter a new place where Louisa and her pets would be “robbed of their old environments” ( ) and they would come to not know themselves as the narrator says, “they would almost cease to be themselves” (

).