Analysis Of Louisa Ellis A New England Nun

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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

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