Preview

A New England Nun

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
885 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A New England Nun
A New England Nun is a wonderful story about 2 people who fell in love with each other and became engaged 14 years ago. With the hopes of making money separating them for most of their engagement, Louisa and Joe decide to stay together with the hopes of eventually becoming married. As time went on the couple noticed that there was a lot of built up sexual frustration from being apart from each other and both had decided to deal with it in their own ways. Louisa used the power of sewing and gardening to control her thoughts. Joe, on the other hand, grew close to a girl names Lily, who, in the end, would change both of their lives forever and would help both of them live happily ever after. The symbolism used in the story portrays many physical thoughts and the temptations that we as humans face on a daily basis. Would the sexual tensions between the characters really be enough to keep them together? Day in and day out Louisa would tend to the things are her house. She enjoyed her life and the little things she had in it. When Joe decided to come around, it seemed as if he would only come visit in order to relieve his sexual tension and then go back to what he was doing.
He would be gone for long intervals of time, returning only when on leave. The long periods of absence and an assumed frustration at her apparently unrequited love may encourage biographically informed readers to read the story of Louisa and Joe. (Couch, par 2)
Joe dropped in unexpectedly so often, Louisa found herself very unhappy. Did Louisa really want to spend the rest of her life with this man, or did she want to be by herself and enjoy the things she loved the most? Her heart told her one thing, but the sexual chemistry between them made her choose to stay with him and keep him happy.
While Louisa loves her autonomous life and is pleased, self-confident, and happy in being her own woman, she is willing to give all of this up for a man, Joe Dagger, with full understanding that she



Cited: Couch, Ben. “The No-Man 's-Land of “A New England Nun” New Berry College 2002

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In A New England Nun, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman writes vividly about the feelings of her character Louisa Ellis after her breakup with her new ex fiance Joe Dagget. But, the difference between this breakup and the average is the fact that Louisa is now old and seasoned as she has awaited for the averal of her fiance for fourteen years while he was off in Australia, only to have it broken off upon his return.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    8th Amendment Case Study

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Leading to the event, Joseph had had finally met his love of his life after a decade of depression. After two weeks of dating he asked his girlfriend, Beneatha, to move to Nigeria with him but was rejected. At first, Joseph dealt with it but ended back in a hole of depression.…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joe had made a promise to Louisa to marry her after he returned from fortune seeking and that is exactly what he intends to do. Louisa, however, has almost forgotten about the idea of marriage having grown so comfortable with her daily routines. She fears the idea of leaving her house to live with Joe. Why is she so afraid to leave her little house? Why isn’t she happy to have…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Jane Pittman

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    We now are going to talk about what happened throughout the story of Miss Jane Pittman. During this story she remembered some historical event and figures throughout her 100 years of life. Jane begins telling the tale during the Civil War where she was a child. At this point her name was Ticey that one of the soldier’s had given her. She talked about fleeing the Confederate soldiers, arriving Union soldiers, and the dominant presence of the mistress of the plantation. She and Ned who was Big Laura’s boy ended up on a plantation doing work like they had done before. Ned left for the North having changed his last name to Douglas after Fredrick Douglas. He left because he knew his life was in danger. After Ned leaving Jan began her relationship with Joe Pittman. Justifying living together without marriage by saying black folk didn’t have church…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Devil in the Shape of a Woman is a book dealing with witchcraft in Colonial New England. The author is Carol F. Karlsen, who is currently a professor in the history department at the University of Michigan specializing in American women, early American social and cultural studies; she received her Ph D. from Yale University in 1980. In this book the author explores the social construction of witchcraft in Colonial New England between the years 1620 through…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johnny Got His Gun

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The relationship between Joe and his father was conveyed through precise details in the story, such as the isolated campsite “covered with pine trees and dotted with lakes”. This “nine thousand feet high” campsite was more than a vacation spot; it was a tradition - created by father and son, and bonded by time. It emphasized Joe relationship with his father as each summer, “ever since he was seven”, they came to this place. This perfectly conveys Joe and his father’s close relationship, as they preferred each other’s company than that of other people. Their many years together bonded their relationship, and it furthermore stresses the difficulty of the situation he knew “had to happen”, when Joe has to tell his father that he preferred to go fishing with Bill Harper instead.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Church Lady

    • 330 Words
    • 1 Page

    I suggest you search "comedians and religion" and then go to youtube and search Lewis Black and Eddie Izzard and George Carlin and religion. Carlin has one on the Ten Commandments. If you are sensitive to "profanity," don't do this. I don't want to be accused of "offending your tender young sensibilities."…

    • 330 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    She loves him way too much, and because of that, she forgets to love herself. Everything she does is in hopes of grabbing his attention. Her lack love towards herself shows when she says, “I wanted to hear him tell me that what we had was special, that I was special, and not merely some mousy girl.” (p.191). Jane’s love towards Lucky takes over and puts all her attention on him, in doing so; it blinds her from respecting herself. Jane’s much needed "acceptance" from Lucky causes her to be vulnerable, and become easily manipulated by Lucky, as she says, "I despised myself for letting my crush on Lucky make me so vulnerable." (p.163). Jane knows about how vulnerable she is to Lucky, but she chooses not to act upon in because of her love for Lucky. Jane is indeed a strong girl (p.228), but with her love for him dominates her mind, and making her forget to love…

    • 1535 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The protagonist, Janie, is constantly controlled by her second husband Joe Starks. Joe and Janie ran off together to Eatonville, where Joe become the mayor. Joe let the power of being in charge go to his head and began controlling everything Janie did as well. Hurston tell the reader that Joe is…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joe greeted Janie with the finest words as he walked by her yard. He began telling her how beautiful she was, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Looking for a way to escape this so-called love she and Logan was supposed to gain, she falls for his words, and runs off and marries him. Joe took Janie to a new town and showed her that he could be a man. He brought about new change to the town, and became the mayor! Janie already knew she was in love with him, but soon things began to feel different.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Developing sexual desires made Nanny realize that a new life should be put ahead of Janie. Nanny then forces Janie into her first marriage with a man named Logan Killicks. “Nanny chooses Logan because she feels marriage to a rich man will shield Janie from both sexual availability and thankless labor.” (Bealer) But Janie thinks different, while she is with Logan, she doesn’t feel loved or comfortable with him. Always having the responsibility to farm and work, she just felt used. After meeting Joe Starks one day, she finds herself thinking that "he spoke for change and chance” (28). She thinks that being with Joe will get her out of her unhealthy marriage with Logan, and so she left. Having the mayor of Eatonville being her husband, she feels as if she is on top of the world. But all that changes over time when he gets abusive verbally and physically which made her feel as if she’s an object rather than a person. This all led to the end of her second marriage.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine a sixteen year old girl, with no fatherly figure and no mother to guide her, she is left with her nanny; the girl is curious about love and emotions. This girl is Janie, when Janie was sixteen her nanny saw her kiss a young boy named Johny Taylor and told Janie that she was mature enough to get married. Janie had antipathy toward her nanny's decision; she thought that the man she was to marry, Logan Killicks, was old and gross. Janie didn't want to disrespect her nanny's choice; so she married Logan. Although she voiced her opinion on him, it was weak; sometimes happiness for one's self brings dissapointment to others. Janie stayed with Logan for a short amount of time before she decided she was going to leave him. Her voice became heard more when she made her own decision on her pursuit of happiness.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Patterson, M. H. (2008). The American new woman revisited a reader, 1894-1930. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.…

    • 2461 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Defending Slavery

    • 2485 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Maner, Martin. "Women and Eighteenth-Century Literature." 14 Apr. 1999. Wright State University. 9 Aug. 1999 .…

    • 2485 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics