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Literary analysis everyday use
The help literary analysis
The help literary analysis
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A nun is known for her dedication to God and service. Her life becomes about self-fulfillment through that dedication. In A New England Nun by Mary Wilkins Freeman, Louisa Ellis becomes a nun to her mundane activities. The story follows how people attach meaning to their lives. She is soft spoken and independent, but she lacks ambition and adventure. Through her ordinary activities, Louisa fills the void of a lack of relationships and accepts a life of separateness. Louisa has spent a lot of her life by herself. In the beginning of the story her mother and brother have already died. “She was all alone in the world” (472). She has spent fourteen years away from her fiancé, Joe Dagget. Louisa has become accustomed her lifestyle in her …show more content…
She had the “enthusiasm of an artist over the mere order and cleanliness of her solitary house” (473). This is where she created her version of a perfect world. She is fine with solitude because she found household work fulfilling. Louisa enjoys single activities like sewing, preparing tea, and cooking. She felt “these little feminine appurtenances had become…a very part of her personality” (469). She is set in her ways. When she sees Joe for the first time in fourteen years she felt anxious and annoyed with him. When he brought in mud and messed with her books. Joe intruded her shelter and altered it. Afterwards she “felt much as the kind-hearted, a long-suffering owner of the china shop might have done after the exit of the bear” (471). This interaction shows Louisa does not want her alone life …show more content…
Her yellow canary was peaceful until Joe came. When he arrived it “fluttered wildly, beating his little yellow wings against the wires” (470). This represents how Louisa felt when she realized her life of was about to change. When Louisa broke off her engagement the canary “[had] no need to wake and flutter with wild terror” (476). It could not rest peacefully in its cage just like her. Her scrappy dog Caesar was similar to Louisa because it was not liked by the village and lived in “his secluded hut, shut out from society” (473). Joe admired them both despite these
LaPlante, Eve. Amrican Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.
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
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.
One of the biggest challenges Francie faces while growing up is loneliness. As a young child living in a Brooklyn slum, Francie has no friends her age. The other children either find her too quiet or shun her for being different because of her extensive vocabulary. Betty Smith describes how most of Francie's childhood days are spent: "in the warm summer days the lonesome child sat on her stoop and pretended disdain for the group of children playing on the sidewalk. Francie played with her imaginary companions and made believe they were better than real children. But all the while her heart beat in rhythm to the poignant sadness of the song the children sang while walking around in a ring with hands joined." (106). Francie is lonely, and longs to be included. As Francie matures, she begins to experience a different kind of loneliness. Betty Smith portrays her feelings as she observes her neighborhood: "spring came early that year and the sweet warm nights made her restless. She walked up and down the streets and through the park. And wherever she went, she saw a boy and a girl together, walking arm-in-arm, sitting on a park bench with their arms around each other, standing closely and in silence in a vestibule. Everyone in the world but Francie had a sweetheart or a friend she seemed to be the only lonely one in Brooklyn without a friend." (403). Loneliness is a constant challenge for Francie but it is through her loneliness that she finds a new companion in her books. Francie reads as an alternative for her lack of friends and companions. It is through her love of reading that Francie develops her extensive, sophisticated vocabulary. Her books lead her into maturity and help her learn to be independent and overcome her many hardships.
Lastly, as we discussed in class the meaning behind last line of this story “Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days, like an uncloistered nun.” (477) I believe it is a representation of Louisa praying the rosary and her devotion to her life. The statement of “numbering her days” is like a rosary, which are like “numbered
In her autobiography, “The Life of an Ordinary Woman, Anne Ellis describes just that; the life of an ordinary woman. Ellis reveals much about her early—ordinary if you will—life during the nineteenth-century. She describes what daily life was like, living a pioneer-like lifestyle. Her memoir is ‘Ordinary’ as it is full of many occurrences that the average woman experiences. Such as taking care of her children, cleaning, cooking the—world’s greatest—meals. It also contains many themes such as dysfunctional families, insensitive men, and negligent parents that are seen in modern life. The life of Anne Ellis is relatable. Her life is relatable to modern day life, however, very different.
n seventeenth century Virginia, women were expected to be faithful to their husbands. Slaves and servants were expected to be obedient to their masters. As for the white man in the south, he was the figure with the most rights and credibility. The dilemma that Katherine Watkins faced revealed life among the slaves and others. As shown in the document of the Testimony from Virginia Court Records, 1681, the southern societal perception of the everyday person differed greatly among women, men, and slaves and any other varying attributes such as religion.
The females begin responding “stiffly” rather than “quietly”(7) as before. This adjective usage serves to support the speech even more by allowing readers to see the progression from silence to a bold rebellion in the women regarding their husbands, for “by hiding the canary Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are also going against their husbands” (Bee2). Indeed, this act was the major act of defiance that secured the women’s strengthened devotions to each other rather than their husbands. Peters especially undergoes a drastic transformation when she eventually joins in as “support of her fellow oppressed women” (Block B 1). When, at the climax of the story, the bird is hidden from the men in the sentimental tin box, Glaspell exhibits the tension with the selection of detail. She chooses to focus on the clammy hands of Mrs. Peters as she stuffs the tin away and the quivering voice of Mrs. Hale as she denies knowing any information about the crime. The descriptions of the seemingly miniscule and weakening objects around her house match the “quiet desperation” (Schotland 3) Foster repressed until it overflowed the night before. Considering that the adjectives show how burdensome it is for the women to conceal the evidence, it truly demonstrates how strong the relationships between them has grown based
Elizabeth Bishop’s Sestina is a short poem composed in 1965 centered on a grandmother and her young grandchild. Bishop’s poem relates to feelings of fate, detriment, and faith that linger around each scene in this poem. There are three views in which we are being narrated in this story; outside of the house, inside of the house, and within the picture the grandchild draws. The progression of the grandmother’s emotions of sadness and despair seen in stanza one to a new sense of hope in stanza six are what brings this complex poem to life. Bishop’s strong use of personification, use of tone, and choice of poetic writing all are crucial in relaying the overall message. When poetry is named after its form, it emphasizes what the reader should recognize
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
...ory progresses, Louisa’s personality begins to develop. Shirley Jackson’s characteristics are revealed, which include intelligent, impudent, and organize. Shirley successfully develops a character throughout the story with a distinct personality. “Louisa, Please Come Home,” which is my favorite book, makes me feel frustrated because I have never seen a 19-year-old-girl would dare to leave her parents for three years, and her family worries about her. Imagine a person who leaves his/her family for three years, his/her mom would feel dishearten. In all, I think this story is excellent because a famous writer writes this story. Famous writes generally put their effects on their stories because the authors want to bring the readers into their text. I think Louisa is a good role model. So, if you ever come across Shirley Jackson’s book, be sure to pick it up and read it.
The woman suffers from depression and is prescribed a rest cure. John believes that she is not sick, but she is just fatigued and needs some rest. John took her to a summer home and placed her in a room upstairs. He then instructs her to rest and not to do any writing. John's views as a doctor forbid any type of activity, even writing, for he feels it will only worsen her already fragile condition. The woman believes she would feel better if she could write: "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good" (470). The woman did not like the room that John put her in: "I don't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of it" (470).
The canary and the birdcage are symbolic to Mrs. Wright?s life in the way that the bird represents her, and the cage represents her life and the way she was made to live. Mrs. Hale compares the canary that she and Mrs. Peters discover to Mrs. Wright, when Mrs. Hale refers to Mrs. Wright as ?kind of like a bird herself?real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and?fluttery.? Minnie Foster was a distinctly different woman than Minnie Foster ...
Louise has turned into a little girl that must depend on man to take care of her. Louise pleads with Brently to go to the gardens of Paris. She begs like a child begging for something that is impossible to give. Brently must lock her up in their home to protect her from her curiosity and need to see the world. The filmmakers do not give her the commonsense to realize the dangers she would face in seeing Paris and all the other places she would like to visit. Louise remains the little girl in the flashbacks and Brently has replaced her dead father as the soul keeper of her world. Brently must protect her from the world and herself. She is made to be completely dependent on him from her everyday needs to being her only window into the outside world. There are no female positions of authority in her life. Aunt Joe is left in the background and Marjorie must ultimately answer to Brently. Louise is left to see men as the only authority in her life. She herself as a woman must feel powerless to the will of men. Brently even chooses the destinations of their daily visits to far off and exotic places. These excursions are Louise's only escape. Brently is made to be her captor and savior at the same time. Her fate is completely dependent in his yet she is given no control of either.
...is engaged to Mr. Bounderby; the man the doesn’t love. Her future has been set. “From that moment she was impassive, proud, and cold” (102). Dickens later on goes to describe Louisa as “stone.” This is an example of the rights women had in the 1800s. Louisa had no say in whether she wanted to marry Bounderby or not. She had to face a miserable life next to the man she hated and just like her mother she just had to be submissive.