The Power of Women

I could not help but notice the portrayal of powerful women in Mary E. Wilkins Freeman’s stories.  Given that the women of the late nineteenth century did not have a lot of power, it seemed odd that the women in her stories had power over men.

In “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” Sarah questions her husband building another barn where he had

promised her a house, but he does not answer her.  She is upset and has enough sway over him to make him come in and listen to her, but she does not get an explanation or change his mind.  Up until this point, Sarah appears to be a typical woman of that time.  However, when her husband leaves town, Sarah decides to move into the new barn.  She tells her husband that this is the way it is going to be, and he does not argue.  The ending demonstrates the power Sarah truly has.  She was determined to have a house, so she made the barn into a house; her husband did not fight her on it, but rather wept, not realizing she was so determined to have a house.  The title also suggests that the “mother” was going to have some power, but the fact that her revolt against her husband’s authority was successful given that he acquiesced to her demands shows just how much power Sarah truly had.

Similarly, in “Old Woman Magoun”, the title character got the men to build the bridge she wanted.  Freeman writes that “the weakness of the masculine element in Barry’s Ford was laid low before such strenuous feminine assertion” (361).  Freeeman comes right out and makes Old Woman Magoun a powerful force to be reckoned with.  Unlike in “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” where Sarah gradually demonstrates her power, Old Woman Magoun is described as powerful from the start.  Also, while Sarah only had power over her husband, Old Woman Magoun wields power over the men in her town.  When Old Woman Magoun claimed that her daughter had been married and had not had a child out of wedlock, “no one had dared openly gainsay the old woman” (362).  No one dared to cross her; she certainly was not a powerless woman.

Even in “A New England Nun,” the female character has some power.  While Louisa participated in very ladylike activities – practically leading a girl’s life – she had power.  She wanted out of her engagement so she could keep on living her way, while Joe had fallen for another woman.  However, neither was willing to back out as they had given their word and didn’t want to hurt the other.  Yet, when Louisa realized that Joe also wanted to break their engagement, she was in the position to break it off as she knew that they both wanted out.  Thus, she had the power over him: either to free him of his obligations or to hold him to his word.  She chooses to break off the engagement, using her power in an unconventional way to keep living the girlish life that she so enjoyed.