Queen - “The Revolt of "Mother" and “The New England Nun”
Freeman expounds, “Sarah Penn stood in the door like a queen; she held her head as if it bore a crown; there was that patience which makes authority royal in her voice. Adoniram went.” Making reference to the Queen typifies Mother’s power. Even though mother’s main duties encompass cooking and taking care of other matrimonial obligations, she is a royalty who has the supremacy to summon her spouse.
In “The New England Nun”, Freeman depicts Louisa as a queen following her break up from Joe. Freeman emphasizes, “but the next morning, on waking, she felt like a queen who, after fearing lest her domain be wrested away from her, sees it firmly insured in her pos session.” The break up reassures Louise that her life would never be obstructed with the dynamics of marriage. Being unattached would accord her the prospect of enduring devotion to herself.
The Books - “The New England Nun”
Freeman explicates, “There was a square red autograph album, and a Young Lady's Gift-Book which had belonged to Louisa's mother. He took them up one after the other and opened them ; then laid them down again, the album on the Gift-Book. Louisa kept eying them with mild uneasiness. Finally she rose and changed the position of the books, putting the album underneath. That was the way they had been arranged in the first place.” Joe’s deed of modifying the sequence of the books inconveniences Louisa that is why she readjusts them. Although the organization of the books may seem inconsequential for Joe, the order is a material emblem of Louisa’s life. Louisa is not disposed to adjusting the orderliness of her life since she has conscientiously adhered to it all her life. When Joe jumbles the books, he creeps up Louisa’s stability (which she perceives through the books).
