The Bunner Sisters- Meagan Niles

The first thing I noticed when reading The Bunner Sisters was difference in some gender roles compared to the other books we have been reading in class. In the first chapter, Ann Eliza and Evelina are described as business owners. The shop they work in “enabled them to pay their rent and keep themselves alive and out of debt; and it was long since their hopes had soared higher,” (274). This passage seems to say that the Bunner sisters are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and this is all they ever really wanted out of life. This characteristic definitely makes the sisters “new women” in this era. In the second chapter, we are introduced to Mr. Ramy. His role is also a bit different. He is described as sad and lonely which made Ann Eliza “wonder why he had never married, or if, on the other hand, he were a widower, (281). I found it interesting that Mr. Ramy was originally looked at by Ann Eliza as different for being single. In our other class novels, it has only been strange for a woman to be single at an older age. This may have only been because the narrator is a woman, but I thought it was refreshing to see an analysis of a single man rather than a woman for a change.