July 26, Freeman

In Freeman’s “A New England Nun” a woman becomes set in her ways and fears change when her future husband returns home. I think when people are truly scorned by love, friendship or any other human interactions, which evoke emotion, we can become callused. Louisa Ellis lost her brother and mother, all that she had, in a very short amount of time. She also was separated from Joe for 15 years, an ample amount of time to accept loss and move on. With everyone who was close to her dead or gone she fell into a reclusive nun like life. An outsiders perspective may be that of pity, but the text reveals, “Then there were some peculiar features of her happy solitary life which she would probably be obliged to relinquish altogether…Louisa dearly loved to sew a linen scam, not always for use, but for the simple, mild pleasure which she took in it. She would have been loath to confess how more than once she had ripped a seam for the mere delight of sewing it together again. Sitting at her window during long sweet afternoons, drawing her needle gently through the dainty fabric, she was peace itself. But there was small chance of such foolish comfort in the future.” She has found peace in her mundane activities. Most of us equate happiness with human relationships, but this could be a considered norm that everyone does not follow. Perhaps Louisa has lost everyone and has no interest in doing it again. She is perfectly happy by herself and takes little stock in relaying with others. The reader feels sorry for the lone woman, such a foreign character trait is hard to resonate with or understand. But, the reader must trust the text and accept that she is happy this way. Like a nun devoting themselves to God, she has devoted herself to a routine life she has made for herself.