The Town Poor (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sarah Orne Jewett
- First Published: 1890
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The mid- to late nineteenth century
- Setting: New England
- Principal Characters: Mrs. William Trimble, Miss Rebecca Wright, Ann Bray, Mandana Bray, Mrs. Janes
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Rural or country life, Women, Greed, Old age or elderly people, Isolation, Cooperation
- Locales: New England
The Story
Mrs. William Trimble, an independent and comfortably fixed widow, and Miss Rebecca Wright, a spinster who is dependent and of marginal means, discuss the impact of the severe weather on farmers in nearby Parsley as the two women journey home in Mrs. Trimble's horse-drawn carriage. Although the two women are friends, the author emphasizes the differences between them by having the narrator shift the focus from their conversation to their demeanor—how they respond to the ride and to the cold. Mrs. Trimble, an “active business woman” who has been obliged to handle...
[The entire page is 872 words long]
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