A New England Nun Essay

A nun is usually seen by society as someone who does not follow the normalcies of every day life, especially when it comes to men. They do not rely on men to make them happy, and because of this they are often seen as lonely. Mary E. Freeman Wilkins depicts the decaying love of a couple in “A New England Nun” through a woman who has many habits of a nun. Louisa and Joe, though once happily engaged, have grown too distant over their fourteen years apart. After Joe returns from his long trip, the spark the couple once had was gone, and they grew aggravated at everything the other person did. Louisa Ellis does not let societal norms affect her, which eventually leads to her leaving Joe Dagget. Louisa’s non-conformity is apparent in several…

In Freeman's "A New England Nun" we read and find that Louisa has two pets, and she lives with her old white yellow dog Caesar and a little yellow canary in her home. Both of these animals are exceptionally laid back and open to being bound to their home on an everyday premise on the grounds that these creatures mirror Louisa's breaking points being that both the creatures and their expert and irreversibly tamed and content with their bondage. They no more desire flexibility and are set to live…

The Character of the “New England Nun” Protagonist Louisa Ellis is a protagonist of a short story “A New England Nun”, written by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman. She lives alone with her dog and a bird, and spends her days sewing; drinking tea with a queen’s manners or cleaning up her accurate housing. This woman waits for her marriage for fourteen years. She is the only master of her life, in which there is no place for men. She seems to feel comfortable within such a framework and content with…

A New England Nun,a short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is about the life of a woman named Louisa Ellis. Ellis struggles with the thought of marrying her fiance after not seeing each other for 14 years. Over the years in which her fiance was absent from her life she has become accustomed to being alone. Louisa develops a strong attachment to her feminine belongings and routine lifestyle. Her attachment is so strong, in fact, Louisa can not even bare the thought of these things in a new home…

Love is a very strong emotion, but unlike the beliefs of many, love does not always win. There are sometimes factors in people’s lives that are stronger than love. Louisa Ellis, a character in the short story “A New England Nun” is proof of this. While her fiancé Joe is away trying to make the fortune so that he can come back and marry her, Louisa falls into a particular routine. For fourteen years she follows her own routine. When Joe comes back, she is a changed person. In Mary Wilkins…

This passage is found towards the end of "A New England Nun" written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and describes the main protagonist, Louisa, and her complacency with her solitary, ritualistic lifestyle as opposed to marrying her disruptive and unfaithful partner that she had been engaged with for 14 years. Throughout the story, a routine of common domestic work and chores are done daily, similar to a nun's simplistic habitual schedule, which most likely consists of prayer and other Catholic…

The focus of this will be on Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and her story “A New England Nun.” It is very important to know something about the author so that it is known how their experiences affect their story. Wilkins’ father owned his own business, and eventually died soon after his business went under. Wilkins family also forced her to attend a boarding school, and she eventually left it. After the death of her parents, she went into a “Boston Marriage,” a living situation between two friends…

During the early nineteenth century a new idea of what a woman should be was beginning to develop in society. This new idea was called The Cult of True Womanhood, sometimes also known as The Cult of Domesticity, and it laid out a set of goals for the ‘ideal’ woman. These goal were domesticity, piety, purity, and submissiveness. Even though these ideas pervaded the media of much of middle and upper-class society at the time, there were still female authors who did not take so kindly to them. One…

In “A New England Nun,” one can view the protagonist, Louisa Ellis as either a feminist or a selfless person. The view chosen depends on the reader’s own views and beliefs. The evidence shown throughout the story suggests the story takes place in a time period where women were not able to sustain a life on their own. Although this idea existed, Louisa shows she can live an independent life as “her life has been full of pleasant peace” the last 7 years she has been alone (Freeman, 472). This…

Old maid or “happily” married the only two filling statuses before the 21st century. In Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s short story “A New England Nun” readers see main character Louis Ellis defy all social roles set before her in the 1800s. Through a careful analysis one may see the elements of symbolism, local color, and a theme of defiance. In Freeman’s piece symbolism is seen throughout and holds major reins. First seen in the title “A New England Nun” one can speculate the piece is about a nun…