“A White Heron” and “A New England Nun”
Both Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron” and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s “A New England Nun” demonstrate aspects of romance in both protagonists. For example, according to "Romantic Flight in Jewett's 'White Heron'”, by Joseph Church, at their first encounter, “Sylvia at first fears the tall young man, she soon becomes comfortable, indeed infatuated, with the "charming" and "handsome stranger"” (Church 21). Contrary to Sylvia, the protagonist Louisa Ellis in, by, alienates herself “from the community of human experience” (Csicsila 2) according to “"Louisa Ellis and the Unpardonable Sin: Alienation from the Community of Human Experience as Theme in Mary Wilkins Freeman's 'A New England Nun'” by Joseph Csicsila. Both characters address the issue of establishing an identity in a society that accepts and rejects, as Sylvia at first yearns to be approved by the “great red-faced boy” (Jewett) and Louisa makes the decision of not marrying Joe Dagget because her alienation is a part of her identity, as “she had lived so long in one way that she shrank from making a change” (Freeman).
Jewett, Sarah Orne. "A White Heron." Jewett Texts. Peter Wickham, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Church, Joseph. "Romantic Flight in Jewett's 'White Heron'." Studies in American Fiction 30.1
(2002): 21-44. Web.
Csicsila, Joseph. "Louisa Ellis and the Unpardonable Sin: Alienation from the Community of
Human Experience as Theme in Mary Wilkins Freeman's 'A New England Nun'."
American Literary Realism 30.3 (1998): 1-13. Web.
Freeman, Mary Wilkins. "A New England Nun." Blackboard, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Brody, Jennifer DeVere. “Clare Kendry's "true" Colors: Race and Class Conflict in Nella
Larsen's Passing”. Callaloo 15.4 (1992): 1053–1065. Web.
Tate, Claudia. “Nella Larsen's Passing: A Problem of Interpretation”. Black American Literature
Forum 14.4 (1980): 142–146. Web....