Feminist Freeman

It was mentioned in class the other day that a lot of people complain that not much happens in Mary Wilkins Freeman's story, "A New England Nun," or perhaps even in her other story, "Two Friends." On the contrary to this, I found these pieces to be very engaging to read and also found them to be easier to analyze and discuss than some of the other works we've read this semester.

Initially, I really liked that there was a female writer like Freeman bold enough to create a female protagonist who was not only comfortable being alone, but also comfortable being herself, before feminism started to take form in the literary world. Louisa has had 14 years of solitude to really establish herself independently--or "finding who she is" as someone commented the other day--and for a woman to have that specific characteristic was a strong move to make on Freeman's part. I have to say though, that Louisa's small Obsessive-Compulsive habits were humorous but relatable for me. In the scene where Joe has come home and unconsciously moved the books out of order, Freeman writes, "Louisa kept eying them with wild uneasiness. Finally she rose and changed the position of the books, putting the album underneath. That was the way they had been arranged in the first place." I can relate to a scene like this because I myself have a touch of OCD. I can remember friends coming over to my house on different occasions, and different things get moved out of place, and I cannot help but feel the urge to organize everything again.

Nevertheless, Louisa has a sort of tragic element added to her character as the reader is informed that she is to marry Joe and move out of her family's house, the house she has grown up in and takes care of. She has built a routine around her life to which she is very content, and the thought of having to marry Joe interrupts the entire balance she has created. And as Joe enters the house for the first time in the story, it's like he is trespassing onto property that isn't his. Freeman even described this moment with, "He seemed to fill up the whole room." Thankfully, by the end of the story, Joe and Lily want to be together. Hopefully, the reader--granted he or she likes the story--breathes a sigh of relief for a female protagonist who gets out of a neutral marriage and can remain independent without a man at her side.