Honor As Viewed In Mary Wilkins Freeman’s A New England Nun

3 Pages 810 Words

Honor as Viewed in Mary Wilkins Freeman’s A New England Nun
Webster’s dictionary defines honor as “a keen sense of ethical conduct; one’s word given as guarantee of performance”. The characters in Mary Wilkins Freeman’s A New England Nun are each a vivid depiction of this definition. Beginning with Louisa Ellis, whom is a prim and proper woman engaged to a man she no longer knows and does not love, but none the less will marry because she has committed to doing so. Leading next to Joe Dagget, the mannerly fiancé of Louisa’s whom has fallen in love with another woman, but will go through with the marriage to Louisa because not doing so would make him less of an honorable man. And ending with Lily Dyer, the young woman who captured Joe Dagget’s heart, but would not dream of letting him back out of his engagement to Louisa because “Honor’s honor, an’ right’s right. I’d never think anything of any man that went against ‘em for me or any other girl…” (1619). Freeman’s story gives the reader a glance at how practicing honor and integrity can destroy the lives of those whom live a life of honor, just as Louisa Ellis, Joe Dagget, and Lily Dyer.
In the fourteen years that Joe Dagget had been away from Louisa, she had become a self-sufficient woman whom was content with her quiet homely life. Louisa, a reputable lady, had developed a life style that she was accustomed to and this routine life made her happy. Upon Joe Dagget’s return Louisa was now confronted with the issue of having to sacrifice her comfortable way of living for the sake of keeping her honor. If she were to refuse Joe Dagget after his return, she would be going back on her word, therefore making her a less than respectable woman. Although this compromise to many is small, Freeman expounds upon the effect marrying Joe Dagget would have on Louisa. She would not merely be giving up her home to live with the man she loved, but she would be gi...