A New England Nun

I really enjoyed this week's reading A New England Nun. Even though it is a short story, it has an immense amount of themes and depictions of the "new woman". One thing that really struck as a new woman quality is Louisa's ability to end a relationship. Generally, it was assumed that a man made the decisions about marriage, relationships, etc. However, when Louisa hears about Joe's infidelity she is willing to suggest they don't get married. She does this against her "womanly" duty to go along with what her parents guided her to do, and took the initiative to end it on her own. Even though she obeyed him for 14 years and was willing to wait, she wasn't willing to be treated like an obligation, and object without meaning.

I also believe Cesar, the dog, has a special significance. Even though he extremely aggressive Louisa finds the good in him. I believe this was included to demonstrate character development. Louisa was willing to show compassion to the animal because he meant something to her brother. Even though Joe meant something to her mother, Louisa took charge and didn't allow him to negatively impact her life, despite her womanly duties. Louisa represents the new woman demanding equal treatment emotionally in a relationship. Louisa did this in a classy way. She didn't mention Lily and made it about taking care of herself, not creating a heated conversation. I believe this once depicts her caring character and how significant her decision really was.