A white heron's nest in the pine canopy
New England's standard of beauty: quaint, plain, white church accents nature
A classic New England cottage like Louisa's
English 3332 students:
For our Friday, February 5, blog, please post a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs comparing and contrasting the depiction of nature in Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White Heron" and Mary Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun." Please use as least two quotations from each story (in other words, at least four total) in your comment.
After you post your comment, please reply in one well-developed paragraph to at least one of the other students' comments.
For Monday, February 8, please read Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Goophered Grapevine,” 354-64.
Have a great weekend,
Prof. K
Nature is a prominent factor in both stories, A New England Nun and A White Heron. A New England Nun talks about "the light was waning and "there was a difference in the look of the tree shadows out in the yard." A White Heron is a story specifically about nature and starts off with: "The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees." Although one story relies on the plot of nature, both stories need the naturalistic background.
ReplyDelete"Outside was the fervid sunnier afternoon; the air was filled with the sounds of the busy harvest of men and birds and bees; there were halloos, metallic clattering, sweet calls, and long hummings. Louisa sat, prayerfully numbering her days..." According to this quotation from A New England Nun, nature is used as a picture to set the mood. The words "sunnier", "sweet calls" and "hummings" create a peaceful day, therefore this story uses nature more as an adjective than a noun, to create a sense of serenity and peacefulness. On the contrary, A White Heron is based in the physical nature, the outdoors. "The next day the young sportsman hovered about the woods, and Sylvia kept him company,...He told her many things about the birds and what they knew and where they lived and what they did with themselves." This story depicts nature as a beautiful place to live, grow and learn. Nature not only sets the mood, but it captures the essence of the story's characters, the hunter and the young adventurer.
I definitely agree with the point you made about how nature in "A New England Nun" sets the mood for the scene. It's interesting to me how the natural setting changes from scene to scene, depending on the current situation and mood of the heroin. Conversely, as you said, nature is very ingrained in the story of "A White Heron," and without nature, there would really be no plot at all. It's fascinating to see the different ways that the same thing (e.g. nature) can be used in literature.
DeleteI concur with your statements that "A White Heron" relies more heavily on the subject of nature while "A New England Nun" adopts it as a less dominant role for the story. I found it interesting that you saw the references to nature as a serene mood-setter in Freeman's text. While I felt the tone that it set, I did not acknowledge her skillful use of nature itself. However, I would add to your claims that Jewett's story portrays nature as a place to learn and grow, that it is also at the mercy of mankind and individuals like the hunter and Sylvia.
DeleteI agree with your comment Jordan! There is definitely more of a purely dominant role of nature in A White Heron rather than A New England Nun. A New England Nun solely relies on pursuing five of the readers senses that would nostalgically remind one of growing up in the south, while A White Heron depicts and illustrates nature in more of a concrete form.
DeleteNature plays an extremely important role in Jewett’s "A White Heron". In this story, nature is what liberates the young heroin, Sylvia. In the beginning of the story, Sylvia experiences some fear of nature: As the sun sets during her walk home, Silvia remembers a boy from her past who used to scare her, and fearfully begins to “hurry along the path to escape from the shadow of the trees” (173). However, Sylvia undergoes a major change throughout the short story, and, by the end of it, is found climbing the tallest tree in the forest in the dark of night. Sylvia learns to embrace the beauty of nature and adventure, and becomes completely transformed. Sylvia becomes one with nature while resting in the arms of the old pine-tree. First, her face is compared to a “pale star” (178); then, Sylvia is likened to two flying hawks: “And toward the glorious east flew two hawks with slow-moving pinions…and Sylvia felt as if she too could go flying away among the clouds” (178).
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the approach to nature in "A New England Nun" seems far less explicit, though still quite substantial. As Louisa rests alone in her home, “peacefully sowing” (183), the natural imagery is quite soft and sweet, much like her personality, her preferences, and her situation: “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” (182). However, the natural imagery changes somewhat before the entrance of Joe Dagget, almost as if foreshadowing his disruptive arrival. Right before his coming, “the twilight 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” (185). Fittingly, Louisa’s “gentle,” quiet, “soft,” and peaceful night becomes “loud and shrill” and “sharp” before the disruptive arrival of her fiancé.
We had the same idea about the interruption of Joe! I think it was definitely foreshadowing. Joe Dagget was the tree-toad to Louisa's twilight! She is a woman set in her ways, very routine, and Joe Dagget would only throw that all off. I didn't catch it at the time, but I should have expected Louisa to not marry Joe Dagget from the foreshadowing nature scene. Both stories used nature to really capture the mood of the plot!
Delete"A New England Nun" and "A White Heron" both heavily use nature in their plots. The authors both depict nature for reasons important to the plot of the story.
ReplyDelete"A White Heron" itself is prominently about nature. Sylvia loves being outdoors, the young man is a hunter, and the story is set mostly in the woods. The story begins with: "The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'-clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trees." This opening line paints a picture of a nature scene and gives the audience an idea of what the rest of the story will be like. The scene described is peaceful and sweet- like we imagine Sylvia to be. Sylvia does not understand why the young hunter wants to kill the birds, and "she would have liked him vastly better without the guns." The nature in "A White Heron" really captures the mood and sets the scene perfectly for what is happening: calm, peaceful nature that a sweet, caring girl loves and wants to protect. (I believe that the story might be different had the imagery described a raging storm and violent animals rather than serenity in the woods and a peaceful heron.)
"A New England Nun" depicts nature as well. When Louisa finishes feeding Caesar the evening is described: "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." This scene, much like the one in "A White Heron," sets the mood for the rest of the story. However, while this twilight scene is peaceful, it does mention a "tree-toad" that interrupts the peaceful evening. Much like Joe Dagget interrupts Louisa Ellis' peaceful way of living. Her life of routine is compared to nature at one point. Mary Wilkins Freeman describes Louisa's path as "smooth maybe under a calm, serene sky, but so straight and unswerving that it could only meet a check at her grave, and so narrow that there was no room for any one at her side." This description lets us know that Louisa is very much set in her ways and that Joe Dagget is much like the loud tree-toad piercing the calm twilight scene.
Nature is a very important aspect of "A White Heron" and "A New England Nun." Both stories use nature in different ways to set the mood of the story and provide an image of certain scenes.
Sarah Orne Jewett in “A White Heron” and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman in “A New England Nun,” approach nature in two contrasting styles. Jewett allows nature to be the main driving force of her story, with the animals and trees playing major roles in the plot, while Wilkins leaves nature as an underlying parallel to different aspects of the story with the narrative of Caesar being at the forefront. A major similarity is the roles of Joe Dagget in “A New England Nun” and the hunter in “A White Heron” to a very specific part of nature: the birds. Joe Dagget disturbs the yellow canary each night that he visits his soon-to-be wife and sends it into a frenzy in its cage. The hunter (or ornithologist as the story refers to him) plays a more sinister part against the winged creatures. While Joe Dagget unintentionally terrorizes the captured piece of nature, the hunter, in trying to preserve part of nature, kills the free birds. These are both good men as portrayed by the texts, Joe Dagget being an “innocent and perfectly well-intentioned bear” and the hunter being a “friendly lad, who proved to be most kind and sympathetic.” Both characters do not wish to destroy any bit of nature, but they continue to unknowingly harm the world and creatures around them.
ReplyDeleteNature in “A White Heron,” is at the mercy of mankind. The hunter shoots birds and collects them for his own hobby and the little girl, Sylvia, knows the location of the hunter’s most coveted birds. Sylvia has the opportunity and ability to reveal this information for a fortune that the hunter has promised the grandmother, but does not. Jewett states, “when the great world for the first time puts out a hand to her, must she thrust it aside for a bird’s sake?” Sylvia has the chance to better her own life and the life of her grandmother as well as bring happiness to the hunter, all for the life of a single bird. Nature is held in her hands and she chooses to defend it. Nature in “A New England Nun,” continues no matter the human situation. As Louisa’s life changes, the birds still sing and the bees still buzz. Freeman states, “Now the tall weeds and grasses might cluster around Caesar’s little hermit hut . . . but he never would go on a rampage through the unguarded village.” Because Joe Dagget is no longer part of her life, Caesar will remain tied up. The cast of characters has changed around the house, but the plants still crowd the dog’s home as Louisa continues her work year-in and year-out, as methodically as the seasons.
I like your ideas on how you say "A white Heron" is sort of mercy on mankind. I read more into Sylvia getting over her fears of interacting with nature
DeleteAlthough I read differently into the birds and how they receive the other characters, I find it really interesting how you interpreted the way you read it. I would not have thought it a bad thing that the bird went into hysterics whenever Joe Dagget walked but just that it was a bit excited to see a different face.
DeleteIn Sarah Orne Jewitt's "A White Heron" and Mary Wilkin Freeman's "A New England Nun" Nature's role is important in both tales that both authors plays on the sensory feelings of the readers, but also the protagonist interact with the natural world around them.
ReplyDeleteThe White Heron specifically starts off with "The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees " (Jewitt 173), setting up the foreground for how the story is set to play out. It is the protagonist Sylvia who goes from having a fear of trees to being able to climb the tallest tree at the end of the story, showing the physical and mental interaction with humans and nature.
"A New England Nun" uses nature in a more tranquil way then compared to "A white Heroin". With passages like “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” (182), there seems to be a more soft interaction with nature.
I agree that "A New England Nun" uses nature in a tranquil way. It was more melancholy, I think, due to the fact that Louisa was a nun. You do not see most nuns who are crazy loud, hysterical, and doing things out of the norm of what most nuns do.
DeleteAs soon as "A White Heron" begins, it states "The woods were filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o'clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees." All throughout the story, Sylvia is connected with nature and her surroundings. Her grandmother exclaims "There ain't a foot o'ground she don't know her way over, and the wild creaturs counts her one o'themsleves." Nature in this story is depicted as beautiful and serene.
ReplyDeleteIn "A New England Nun", nature is seen as a common, old folks, town. "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 shoulders plodded past; little swarms of flies were dancing up and down before the people's faces in the soft air." It is very melancholy besides the trouble between Louisa and the return of her husband. As she chose to reject her husband and continue being a nun, we perceive the end as peacefully and righteous. "Outside was the fervid summer afternoon; the air was filled with the sound of the busy harvest of men and birds and bees; there were halloos, metallic clatterings, sweet calls, and long hummings."
Both stories resemble nature in a calming scenery. Except in "A New England Nun", in certain parts of the story it is loud, disrespectful due to the fact her husband returns after 15 years. As you read through each short story, you can picture what their lifestyle seemed like and can almost feel like it comes to real life.
I like your assertion that both stories portray nature as calming scenery.. It is very interesting that you describe parts of "A New England Nun" as loud and disrespectful due to the disruption of Louisa's way of life because of Joe's return. It should also be noted that the young man and the grandmother's support of the young man in "A White Heron" also disrupt the nature of the story.
DeleteI also found that both authors made it very easy for the reader to be able to mentally picture both landscapes in the story. I felt that it was easy to connect to the characters in their natural environment. The imagery was well written and the beauty of these stories almost seemed to jump off the page and envelope you in their surroundings.
DeleteIn the regional writing of both Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins Freeman, the scenery and nature of New England are integral components of the story-telling. Despite this, there are differences in the way that the description of said nature is handled in the works of the writers. There are also a few similarities. The first is that, in both “A White Heron” and “A New England Nun”, nature is treated as a pleasant and almost healing force on the characters. Following the awkward and stiff encounter with Louisa, Joe steps outside to breathe in the “sweet evening air with a sigh” (185) implying that simply being out in nature after the careful order of Louisa's home had a calming effect on him. In “A White Heron”, being out in the woods with her feet in cool water and moths fluttering around her causes Sylvia's heart to “beat fast with pleasure” (173). For both characters nature is a solace and comfort. From here, the two short stories approach nature in different ways according to the context of their tales.
ReplyDeleteIn “A New England Nun” nature is regularly referenced in relation to people and civilization, making it almost seem tamed. Louisa distills the fragrances from plants found in nature to freshen her home and to entertain herself. When describing the nature seen during a walk, it is noted that there are walled-in fields, “luxuriant clumps of bushes” (189) growing alongside the wall, and trees growing intermittently. While the trees are apparently wild, the picture painted by the description calls to mind intentional landscaping. In direct opposition to the tamed domesticity of the nature in “A New England Nun”, the woods are referred to as the “New England wilderness” (174) in “The White Heron”. There are regular mentions throughout the story of the “little birds and beasts” (173) residing in the woods outside of Sylvia's home and of the birds coming to sing on the steps of her house, essentially bringing nature and the wilderness directly to their home. The treatment of nature between the two stories acts a balm for the characters, but exists in all of its wild glory in one, while it had been effectively domesticated in the other.
Nature is plays a huge role in both of the stories. “The White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett takes place out in the New England Woods. The story has these very beautiful scenes of nature. In the opening of the story Jewett talks about “a bright sunset still glimmered over the trunks of the trees” (Jewett 172). Jewett captures the beauty of nature in this story. Around this time as more and more people began to move into cities the rural ways of life slowly started to become less prominent. This story shows that beauty that you cannot find in the city. When Sylvia is climbing up she sees the beauty of everything around her. “Westward, the woodlands and farms reached miles and miles into the distance”; (178) furthering the importance of beauty of nature.
ReplyDeleteWhile nature is not as prominent in A New England Nun by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman it is still prevent. This story like the last opens with a scene of nature “It was a late in the afternoon, and the light was warming.” (Freeman 182). In A New England Nun nature is used as a sense of freedom for Louisa. At the end of the story when Freeman describes “the fervid summer afternoon” with “air filled with the sound of busy harvest of men and birds and bees” ; (191) creates a peaceful imagery which goes along with Lousia’s character.
I really liked how you incorporated the emotions the characters were feelings within the nature scene. I think that is a really big part in these stories and how these characters interact within nature. Especially since they could have acted completely different if they were in an urban, city setting.
DeletePeople really didn't understand what true beauty was until they moved to rural areas and experienced the morning sun rise, or birds singing. Sylvia shows us how nature makes the world a better place. Though both stories have to do with nature, they have to do with two different types.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout both short stories, the serene surroundings are what set the tone. In A White Heron, Jewett uses nature themed personification in order to show the process of which Sylvia over comes her fear of the night. Although Jewett describes the air as "soft and sweet" 173), Sylvia still feels the urgency to return home because of a previous conflict with a boy. Here, the reader can figure why Sylvia is afraid of the night and understand the significance of her epiphany at the conclusion of the story. "There was a huge tree asleep yet in the Pauling moonlight, and small and silly Sylvia began with utmost bravery to mount to the top of it, with tingling, eager blood coursing the channels of her whole frame, with her bare feet and fingers, that pinched and held like bird's claws to the monstrous ladder reaching up, up, almost to the sky itself" (pg. 177). Here the reader is able to experience not only the tree being personified, but the stillness of the night according to Jewett's description.
ReplyDeleteThe short story A New England Nun has a similar nature setting as well. As I read this story, I got the feel of a nostalgic summer in the south. "Outside was the fervid summer afternoon; the air was filled with the sounds of the busy harvest of men and birds and bees; there were halloos, metallic clatterings, sweet calls, and long hummings" (pg. 191). Pauline Walkins illustrates a scene that appeals to the readers five senses to get the reader as close to her experience as possible.
In contrast to both stories highlighting the importance of nature, both stories are set up in opposite forms. In A White Heron, the reader is presented with Sylvia's fear in the beginning which in turn concludes in her over coming her fears of natures nights. In A New England Nun, we are given the serene setting of a southern summer until Louisa's fiancé disrupts the peace with his uneasiness. "... Sitting there in her delicately sweet room, he felt as if surrounded by a hedge of lace. He was afraid to stir lest he should put a clumsy foot or hand through the fairy web, and he had always the consciousness that Louisa was watching fearfully lest he should. (185). Here we can see the roles that a man plays on offense to the women at different times of the story.
In both, "A White Heron" and "A New England Nun" nature is used as a major theme. However, both stories use nature in different ways. In "A White Heron" nature is used in its most literal sense. Sylvia is a very outdoorsy type person and she spends most of her time admiring nature. The grandmother speaks highly of Sylvia and says, "There ain't a foot o' ground she don't know her way over, and the wild creaturs counts her one o' themselves" (Jewett 175). This describes perfectly how well Sylvia interacts within nature. When the hunter enters the story, the reader immediately sees Sylvia's caution towards him and his need for this bird. Sylvia respects nature and does not want to see nature destroyed for the story states, "she cannot tell the heron's secret and give its life away."
ReplyDeleteIn "A New England Nun" Louisa also respects nature. However, it is in a different sense. Louisa has this nature of her own way. She has lived alone and has enjoyed living in her own little world for many years and she doesn't like to mess it up. However, when Joe Dagget comes back, she doesn't want to give up her natural way of living. She has her own garden and backyard that she tends to describe nature in a more literal sense. When she takes a walk, Louisa admires the nature around her and the "tall shrubs of blueberry and meadow-sweet, all woven together and tangled with blackberry vines and horsebriers, shut her in on either side" (Freeman 189). She is cocooned in this way of living and she doesn't want to leave it. In the end, she keeps her way of natural life and lets Joe marry whom he really loves.
Both of these stories enraptures nature in different ways and yet the same in the way that nature is a major part of both of these women's lives. They embrace nature.
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ReplyDeleteBoth Sylvia from A White Heron, and Louisa from New England Nun have a connection to nature and the natural way of doing things. However, their interactions are very different and reflect different aspects of human nature. Sylvia forms an unspoken friendship with the wilderness surrounding her, while Louisa has made her own home amongst the environment and it aids her relationship to God.
Sylvia embodies youth, freedom, and the beauty. Her interactions with nature are loving and joyful. She listens to the heron “with a sense of comfort and companionship” and she wishes to join nature, and leave the “dull little life” she is living (177). When it comes time to tell the young man where the heron’s secret nest is, “she cannot tell the heron’s secret and give its life away” (179). Sylvia’s relationship with the heron and many other creatures emphasize Jewett’s assertion that nature is the true home, and humans are guests that observe the beauty surrounding us. Sylvia understands this concept and protects the herons from the young man and his gun. The nature Jewett depicts is full of living creatures and gives one a sense of community.
On the other hand, Louisa from A New England Nun, has a more solitary and contemplative nature. Her sanctuary is the world she has made, her cottage and her garden. After she decides to let Joe Dagget go she “felt like a queen who, after fearing lest her domain be wrested away from her, sees it firmly insured in her possession” (191). Her “domain” was more valuable to her than a life with Joe. When she realized a life with Joe jeopardized her seclusion, she closed her chapter with Joe and returned to her previous way of life. The nature in A New England Nun was created and cared for, it was domesticated by Louisa. To her, seclusion and contemplation were essential. When she would ponder her future, those “future days strung together like pearls in a rosary, every one like the others, and all smooth and flawless and innocent” and she would thank God for them. These intimate moments would not have been possible without the surrounding nature she had fostered.
This seems to illustrate the Romantic ideas of nature and the individual. Every person was unique and could have a personal relationship with God. God was to be found in nature. Nature was the sacrament through which one connected with God through sublime experience. Thus, as you've noted, Sylvia longs for freedom, which is a gift from God. Louisa values order, another gift from God, who "call into existence the things that are not" and "is not a God of confusion, but of peace." Thus Louisa and Sylvia each find the grace they are looking for mediated to them by the divine sacrament through which the divine nature of God is "clearly seen, being visible through the things that are made."
DeleteI had not thought about viewing the nature in both stories from the different perspectives of both Sylvia and Louisa. But after reading your response, I can see how in 'A White Heron' the nature is more pure and innocent and enjoyable, a reflection on Sylvia's youth and freedom. And for Louisa, who lives a solitary and secluded life, the nature in 'A New England Nun' is more distant.
DeleteSarah Orne Jewett’s A White Heron depicts nature in an upfront manner; it is the setting and theme of this short story. The imagery of this story sets the reader up on the first line, “The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening.” In this line Jewett breathe life into the beauty of the scene. Mary Wilkins Freeman also sets up A New England Nun in the same way,” It was late in the afternoon, and the light was waning. There was a difference in the look of the tree shadows.” Both stories show the simplicity of living with nature. Jewett portrays her character as being kind and mind full of her surroundings with Sylvia’s interactions with animals, “Squer'ls she'll tame to come an' feed right out o' her hands, and all sorts o' birds.”
ReplyDeleteFreeman depicts nature as a calming setting for her character and something to occupy her time. Louisa has her chickens and her dog, Caesar. Freeman also personifies nature, “The trees were in full leaf, a heavy south wind was blowing, and there was a loud murmur among the new leaves.” Jewett allows nature to speak for its self, whereas Freeman gives them a voice.
The language that Freeman used completely won me over. Her personifications of nature and descriptions of light, sound, and events that were taking place were brilliant. I especially loved the situation with the books on the table. She may seem a bit obsessive compulsive, but I would have reacted no differently. I loved the text! Great response!
DeleteIn “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett, nature is prominent and the majority of the story is set in the woods. When the story first begins the setting helps add to the fright that Sylvia will experience and builds it up so that it is wondered if she’s in danger. The shade and shadows coming from the beginning of the night and trees and the cow that seems to linger. When the boy shows up there is an uncertainty because he whistles “determined, and somewhat aggressive”. The beginning of “A New England Nun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman begins in a similar way with the day ending and the trees casting shadows both with cows, but it seems peaceful rather than frightening. Another similarity is the characters and their interaction with birds. Mrs. Tilly, the grandmother of Sylvia, tells the young man that Sylvia gets along with the birds and when he finds out that Sylvia “knows all about birds”, he gets excited and ignores everything she has said to focus on Sylvia’s knowledge on the birds. Joe Dagget in “A New England Nun” is described by his way to “fill up the whole room” and when he steps into Louisa Ellis’ apartment the little yellow canary that is asleep in his cage in the corner “woke up and fluttered wildly”. When Louisa ends the engagement with Joe, the little canary will “have no need to wake and flutter” like when it did when he came around.
ReplyDeleteOne difference that stands out is that the main girls in the stories are different when it comes to being outside. Louisa Ellis does not spend too much time outside of her house when she goes out to feed the dog, Caesar, and it says his hut is “half hidden among the tall grasses and flowers”. Right after Louisa feeds Caesar she goes right back inside her home. When she ends the engagement the “tall weeds and grasses might cluster around Caesar’s little hermit hut” and Louisa will stay inside sewing “linen seams, and distil roses, and dust and polish and fold away in lavender”. Sylvia spends her time in the woods and when the young man describes the white heron to her she knows exactly what he is talking of. She even walks away from her home at night when she should be sleeping to explore the woods and is satisfied with “an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest”. Sylvia does not tell the young man about the white heron and “how they watched the sea and morning together” because she feels so connected to it and nature.
The fact that there is an interaction with birds in both short stories escaped my notice. Louisa's, presumably peaceful/ bird becoming ruffled and fluttering about in agitation serves as a hint as to the way that Joe's presence in Louisa's life ruins the quiet and careful order that she has created. Likewise, the heron in "A White Heron" can symbolize Sylvia's own solitude and desire to be free in the woods. Birds and their interactions and relationships with characters in these stories are symbolic and add another layer of meaning.
DeleteThe descriptions of nature in “A White Heron” and “A New England Nun” are alike but also different.
ReplyDeleteFirst, they are alike in that nature is described in both stories with a sense of wonder. Nature is a place of beauty that awakens human feelings, for example in “A White Heron” where it is noted “Sylvia felt as if she too could go flying away among the clouds…truly it was a vast and awesome world!” Similarly, in “A New England Nun,” we see that because of the beauty of nature Louisa “sat down on the wall and looked about her with mildly sorrowful reflectiveness.” Thus, nature amplified the feelings of the protagonists. For Sylvia this was a sense of freedom she felt after being confined in the city. In Louisa nature provoked introspection about her relationship with Joe.
Second, the stories are different in that nature takes shape before the eyes of the protagonists according to their primary motivations. Sylvia, in the midst of the natural world felt “this was a beautiful place to live in” and “she never had been alive at all before she came to live at the farm.” For her, nature took an aspect of the freedom she had not felt in the city. How freeing it was for her to see “woodlands and farms reach[ing] miles and miles into the distance” from the top of the massive old tree. Louisa, on the other hand, sees nature from the context of her orderly life. Focused as she was on order and beauty in her home, Louisa also saw it in nature, noting that “Luxuriant clumps of bushes grew beside the wall, and tress-wild cherry and old apple-tree-at intervals” (emphasis mine). Thus, while nature evoked emotional responses in each of the protagonists, nature was viewed through the lens of each one’s underlying emotions.
In both 'The White Heron' by Sarah Orne Jewett, and 'A New England Nun' by Mary E. Wilkins, nature plays a very prominent part. The two authors begin both stories with a beautiful vision of the view outside, with a 'bright sunset' glimmering 'among the trunks of trees' in A White Heron' (Jewett 172) and in 'A New England Nun,' there is the waning light in the 'look of the tree shadows out in the yard' (Freeman 182). There is also a depiction of the animals in nature, both stories mention a cows, whether it be hearing their tinkling bells in the distance or a girl driving her cow home. In both stories, the natural world of rural New England comes to life and is easily envisioned from the author's detail.
ReplyDeleteHowever, one could argue that nature plays a more intricate role in 'A White Heron' as opposed to 'A New England Nun,' because the little girl Susie and the hunter are actually out and about within the nature. Susie knows more intricate details about the outside world, like where the heron frequently is located, 'where the sunshine always seemed strangely yellow and hot' and 'tall, nodding rushes grew' in the 'soft black mud' (Jewett 176). In 'A New England Nun,' Louisa does not really venture outside, choosing instead to stay inside and much of the story is spent describing what she does in the house, the time it took her to 'prepare her tea' and spending an entire afternoon 'peacefully sowing' (Freeman 183). The nature is more of something only in the background as opposed to being almost a character itself, as it is in 'A White Heron.'
The depiction of nature in Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s “A New England Nun” differs greatly, though both are central to the texts. Jewett depicts nature as a wild forest, feral and sacred. The character, Sylvia, feels at ease in the forest, comfortable and at home. She lives on a farm and tends to a cow; preferring that to city life. She honored nature by protecting the heron from death in “Sylvia could not speak; she cannot tell the heron’s secret and give its life away” (179). The choice between human nature and nature itself made itself known in the hours Sylvia found herself unable to sleep. She, of course, decided to align her loyalty with the forest and its creatures, protecting the wanted bird’s removal from the forest, as well as her own in “Alas, if the great wave of human interest which flooded for the first time this dull little life should sweep away the satisfaction of an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest” (177).
ReplyDeleteIn Freeman’s “A New England Nun,” a new idea of nature is introduced. Louisa’s character thrives on order and appropriateness. Her life is scheduled, predictable, and clean; this includes her garden. Louisa, like Sylvia, is completely comfortable in her place, and she is very self-reliant. This is evident in, “Louisa was very fond of lettuce, which she raised to perfection in her little garden” (183). Louisa differs from Sylvia because of her hold on nature. She dominates her world with a clean hand; letting her world and her nature be her sanctuary where she is in control, and only allowing it to become wild by her own neglect. In the world Louisa created for herself, and considering the elements that make up that world, Louisa, with a steady hand of control, “was peace itself” (187).
That is an interesting contrast between the settings I initially didn't notice. Apart from the different moods you described, the nature does also seem more wild and beyond Skyvia's control in The White Heron where in A New England Nun, everything Louisa has and does is very precise and controlled. Nice point.
DeletePerhaps most interesting when both stories begin is the uncannily similar choice of settings they depict, with The White Heron describing "woods...filled with shadows one June evening" and A New England Nun starting off "late in the afternoon" with growing "tree shadows out in the yard," with cows tended to by young ladies present in distinctly rural areas. Both stories make extensive of adjectives to make every movement, color and sound imaginable to the reader, as in the way The White Heron describes Sylvia's walk through the dark woods or Louisa feeding corn-cakes to her dog in A New England Nun.
ReplyDeleteAs far as differences go, A New England Nun seems to place more emphasis on describing the people in the story, particularly their own actions and colors, than the nature itself. When it does, it's done all at once in an almost expository paragraph, whereas with The White Heron, it makes significantly less effort to describe the people and when it describes nature, it does so as the story plays out. For the former, this is seen in the beginning of A New England Nun how Louisa's actions while alone at her home are carefully described with little description given to her home or garden, and in The White Heron when Sylvia walks through the woods with her cow, giving little description to either beyond age or minute details while thoroughly describing their surroundings as they ventured onward. For the latter, this is in A New England Nun during the night the week before Louisa and Joe's wedding when Louisa walks down the road. The scenery is described almost entirely in one go in an almost third-person perspective, whereas in The White Heron, when Slyvia climbs the large tree in the forest, details of the ocean or the birds are described as she makes the climb and are depicted more as things she sees rather than what happens to be there.
This week’s stories were all about nature! In “A White Heron” and in “A New England Nun” we see two very different examples of how people embrace nature. Sylvia in “A White Heron” is one with the outdoors. She spends her days embracing life all around her. Even her family says “the wild creaturs counts her one o’themselves.” To be one with nature, Sylvia felt free. It was a feeling she had never had before when she lived in the city. The connection with nature and freedom is very evident.
ReplyDeleteIn “A New England Nun” Louisa sees nature from a different perspective. She does not see nature as freedom because she is very content with her simple life. She talks about nature in a more realistic way, describing what she sees; “tall shrubs of blueberry and meadow-sweet, all woven together…” (Freeman 189)