英美短篇小说欣赏a new England课件 nun

1、Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930)lShe was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, and attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, from 18701871. Freemans parents were orthodox Congregationalists, causing her to have a very strict childhood. Religious constraints play a key role in some

2、 of her works. She passed the greater part of her life in Massachusetts and Vermont. Freeman herself married late in life, wedding Dr. Charles Freeman when she was forty-nine. After an initial period of harmony, the marriage ended in separation when she had her husband institutionalized for alcoholi

3、sm. AchievementslIn 1926 she was awarded the William Dean Howells Gold Medal for Fiction by the American Academy of Letters, and later that year she was inducted into the prestigious National Institute for Arts and Letters. She died in Metuchen and was interred in Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains,

4、 New Jersey.Primary WorkslA Humble Romance and Other Stories. 1887.lA New England Nun and Other Stories. 1891.lPembroke. 1894.lSilence, and Other Stories. 1898. lThe Revolt of Mother and Other Stories. 1974. The feature of her workslNarrated in a firm and objective manner with occasional subtle unde

5、rtones of humor and irony, Freemans stories were deft character studies of somehow exceptional people who, trapped by poverty or other handicaps in sterile, restrictive circumstances, react in various ways against their situations. Her use of New England village and countryside settings and dialects

6、 placed her stories in the local color movement, and her work thereby enjoyed an added vogue; nevertheless, she avoided the sentimentality then current in popular literature. lWhile Freemans successful career afforded her financial security and a great deal of autonomy, her best fiction focuses on t

7、he plight of women whose lives are bounded by poverty and the social constraints imposed on them by their strict religious beliefs and their position as women. Fascinated by the impact of traditional Puritan values of submissiveness, frugality, and self-denial on New England culture, Freeman often p

8、ortrayed characters who create obstacles to their own happiness by their strict adherence to Calvinist morality. lIn other stories, however, she explored the rebellions and triumphs of seemingly meek women, depicting their strategies for gaining and maintaining control over their domestic situations

9、 with humor and sensitivity. She provided unflinching portraits of both the difficulties of spinsterhood and the often oppressive power dynamics that structured nineteenth-century marriage. A New England NunHistorical ContextlReligion and EconomicslMary Wilkins Freeman wrote most of her best-known s

10、hort stories in the 1880s and 1890s. They provide a unique snapshot of a particular time and place in American history. The small towns of post- Civil War New England were often desolate places. The war itself, combined with urbanization, industrialization, and westward expansion, had taken most of

11、the young able-bodied men out of the region. The remaining population was largely female and elderly. Women like Louisa Ellis, who waited many years for husbands, brothers, fathers and boyfriends to return from the West or other places they had gone to seek jobs, were not uncommon. The area was suff

12、ering from economic depression and many were forced to leave to support themselves and their families. There were many widows from the war, too, often living hand-to-mouth and trying to keep up appearances.Characters lThe main character in the story is Louisa Ellis. The plot focuses on her desire fo

13、r remaining alone and maintaining her lifestyle. This character is classified as a round one, more individualized and belonging to the everyday world. Louisa can be defined as an independent and organized woman.lThe secondary characters are Joe Dagget, Lily Dyer, Joes mother and the community. They

14、all are classified as flat characters, constructed by a dominant trait.PlotlA New England Nun is a story about the heroine who learned to live a solitary life, despite her engagement of fifteen years to a fortune hunter. Freeman begins the novel with Louisa Ellis sewing in her sitting room. The late

15、ness of the afternoon causes her to perform chores throughout the house. She is meticulous as she prepares her tea, cooks a meal, feeds the dog, and tidies the house. She is preparing for Joes return. Joe Dagget is her fianc of fifteen years, fourteen of which he has spent seeking fortune. lAs she w

16、aits, she thinks about the solitary ways she has adopted during the years spent with Joe. Freeman introduces two characters who dont really know each other. Every time they come together, the meeting is awkward and forced. Joes presence interrupts Louisas peaceful solitude. He brings imbalance. By t

17、he end of the story, Louisa discovers that Joe is in love with someone else and she calls off the engagement. Although she weeps at the loss, she is grateful to the idea that she doesnt have to give up her personal domain to a marriage with Joe. Narration lHeterodiegetic narrator who does know the s

18、tory and thoughts of all the characters, and tells a story different to her own. lNeutral omniscience- 3rd person narrator who has voice and knows everything about characters lives, dreams, thoughts and intentions. lThere is no direct authorial intrusion: the narrator just tells the story and the re

19、asoning of her characters mind, and does not give her own opinion about the matter. Symbols lLouisas pet: they are symbols of Louisas captivity. Louisas pets, like her, are living lives that are different from the way they would exist naturally. Thus, as the dog is chained and the canary is caged, L

20、ouisa is confined at her home voluntarily, and rejects her natural inclinations to motherhood.Symbols lThe yellow canary: It symbolizes the way how Louisa is seen by Joe, the woman is considered to me a mere decorative object with the only function of being wife and mother. Moreover, the canarys wil

21、d fluttering when Joe appears reflects Louisas anxiety over change. For Louisa Joe supposes a threat to her security and serenity.lThe dog Caesar represents the way in which Louisa sees herself. Caesar has been chained for the same period of time that Joe has been away. This fact leads us to interpr

22、et that both Caesar and Louisa are tied to something because of a mistake that they committed. Caesar bit a neighbor, so its punishment consists on remain chained; Louisa was engaged, so she had to be tied to this promise and renounce to her independence.lThe author also emphasizes the hermit- like

23、existence that Caesar endures under the worried eye of Louisa (who is also an hermit). The fear she feels of taking the dog out is linked to her fear for the unknown. Thus, she prefers to stay at home instead of going to a strange house and changing her customs.lLouisas home: it is linked to the ide

24、a of harmony, order and serenity. The house represents the known.Discussionl1. What is the structure of this short story?l2. Why does Louisa wear three aprons at the same time? And what does that indicate?l3. What details will foreshadow the ending of this short story? tired farmers lIt was late in

25、the afternoon, and the light was waning. There was a difference in the look of the tree shadows out in the yard. Somewhere in the distance cows were lowing and a little bell was tinkling; now and then a farm-wagon tilted by, and the dust flew; some blue-shirted laborers with shovels over their shoul

26、ders plodded past; little swarms of flies were dancing up and down before the peoples faces in the soft air. There seemed to be a gentle stir arising over everything for the mere sake of subsidence - a very premonition of rest and hush and night. lThis soft diurnal commotion was over Louisa Ellis al

27、so. She had been peacefully sewing at her sitting-room window all the afternoon. Now she quilted her needle carefully into her work, which she folded precisely, and laid in a basket with her thimble and thread and scissors. Louisa Ellis could not remember that ever in her life she had mislaid one of

28、 these little feminine appurtenances, which had become, from long use and constant association, a very part of her personality. Louisa Ellis What is Louisa doing in her garden?What is Louisa doing in her garden?lLouisa tied a green apron round her waist, and got out a flat straw hat with a green rib

29、bon. Then she went into the garden with a little blue crockery bowl, to pick some currants for her tea. After the currants were picked she sat on the back door-step and stemmed them, collecting the stems carefully in her apron, and afterwards throwing them into the hen-coop. She looked sharply at th

30、e grass beside the step to see if any had fallen there. lCeasar! she called. Ceasar! Ceasar! lThere was a little rush, and the clank of a chain, and a large yellow-and-white dog appeared at the door of his tiny hut, which was half hidden among the tall grasses and flowers. Louisa patted him and gave

31、 him the corn-cakes. Then she returned to the house and washed the tea-things, polishing the china carefully. The twilight had deepened; the chorus of the frogs floated in at the open window wonderfully loud and shrill, and once in a while a long sharp drone from a tree-toad pierced it. Louisa took

32、off her green gingham apron, disclosing a shorter one of pink and white print. She lighted her lamp, and sat down again with her sewing. CsarCsar was a veritable hermit of a dog. was a veritable hermit of a dog. lLouisas favorite dog “Csar .Joe Joe DaggetDaggetlIn about half an hour Joe Dagget came.

33、 She heard his heavy step on the walk, and rose and took off her pink-and-white apron. Under that was still another - white linen with a little cambric edging on the bottom; that was Louisas company apron. She never wore it without her calico sewing apron over it unless she had a guest. She had bare

34、ly folded the pink and white one with methodical haste and laid it in a table-drawer when the door opened and Joe Dagget entered. Yellow canarylHe seemed to fill up the whole room. A little yellow canary that had been asleep in his green cage at the south window woke up and fluttered wildly, beating

35、 his little yellow wings against the wires. He always did so when Joe Dagget came into the room. lGood-evening, said Louisa. She extended her hand with a kind of solemn cordiality. lShe placed a chair for him, and they sat facing each other, with the table between them. He sat bolt-upright, toeing o

36、ut his heavy feet squarely, glancing with a good-humored uneasiness around the room. She sat gently erect, folding her slender hands in her white-linen lap. lBeen a pleasant day, remarked Dagget. Louisas Louisas BehaviorBehavior Dialogue between Louisa and JoeDialogue between Louisa and JoelHe was n

37、ot very young, but there was a boyish look about his large face. Louisa was not quite as old as he, her face was fairer and smoother, but she gave people the impression of being older. lI suppose shes a good deal of help to your mother, she said, further. lI guess she is; I dont know how motherd get

38、 along without her, said Dagget, with a sort of embarrassed warmth. lShe looks like a real capable girl. Shes pretty-looking too, remarked Louisa. lYes, she is pretty fair looking. Joe escaped from her houseJoe escaped from her houselWhen Joe Dagget was outside he drew in the sweet evening air with

39、a sigh, and felt much as an innocent and perfectly well-intentioned bear might after his exit from a china shop. lLouisa, on her part, felt much as the kind-hearted, long-suffering owner of the china shop might have done after the exit of the bear. Lily Dyer AppearsLily Dyer Appears lThats Lily Dyer, thought Louisa to herself. The voice embodied itself in her mind. She saw a girl tall and full-figured, with a firm, fair face, looking fairer and firmer in the moonlight, her strong yellow hair braided in a close knot. A girl full of a calm rustic strength and bloom, with a masterful w