The Perfect Women In The Nesting Place, By Emily Carroll

Society often idolizes the idea of the perfect woman, one who is caring, beautiful, and the prime caretaker of children. But trying to become the ideal women can mean giving up one’s individuality and accepting one’s place in society. Emily Carroll protests these female roles by placing two very different female characters with each other. Their direct and indirect interactions challenge the reader’s view of the female role. In her short story, “ The Nesting Place”, Emily Carroll uses specific colors, tone, and dialogue to illustrate societal expectations towards female beauty and motherhood. Carroll uses specific coloring to depict the pressure women face to be beautiful. The main character, Mabel, does not appear to fit the qualities found in ‘ideal …show more content…
When Mabel finds out that Rebecca is a monster who wants to take over her body, Mabel desperately tries to explain to Rebecca that people will know that it is not her, “They’ll know something’s wrong, they’ll know it is not me.” Rebecca pities Mabel’s physical state and taunts Mabel to let Rebecca wear her skin. She explains how wonderful she will make Mabel, “…the children at school will much prefer you once my babies stretch you into something tall, slim, and pretty.” Rebecca continues to taunt Mabel, telling her that everyone will enjoy the change so much, they would not question it, “Who will miss such a cheerful change? Who will miss old Mabel then?” The tone of pity in Rebecca’s language represents society’s expectation for female beauty. Rebecca is trying to make Mabel release her personality for the sake of idealized beauty, making Mabel the perfect woman. But the cost of perfection is too great for Mabel. Mabel does not care about how the world perceives her and is determined to keep her individuality even if that means she does not fall into the standards of the ideal