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    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun"
    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun"
    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun"
    Ebook37 pages28 minutes

    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJul 15, 2016
    ISBN9781535829953
    A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun"

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      A Study Guide for Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's "Old Woman Magoun" - Gale

      08

      Old Woman Magoun

      Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

      1905

      Introduction

      Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's short story Old Woman Magoun was originally published in Harper's New Monthly magazine in October 1905. This tragic story was next included in a collection of Freeman's short stories published in 1909, called The Winning Lady and Others. Most recently, Old Woman Magoun was anthologized in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories (1992).

      Freeman's short stories often depict the lives and conflicts of New England women. Her work might best be described as that of a realist and a regionalist, since her stories deal honestly with poverty, marriage, and loneliness among the women and families who inhabit New England. Freeman's female characters display strength in dealing with conflict, often in the face of patriarchal oppression. Old Woman Magoun fits well into this literary tradition of women who struggle against societal conventions. The story's heroine, Mrs. Magoun, is an older woman who so completely desires to protect her granddaughter, Lily, that she is willing to kill the child to save her. The conflict that this woman faces is typical of Freeman's female characters, who show great strength when forced to find a means of survival in a man's world.

      Author Biography

      Mary Eleanor Wilkins was born in Randolph, Massachusetts on October 31, 1852. She was the first of Warren and Eleanor Wilkins's children to survive childhood. Her parents were very protective, and Wilkins had little contact with people outside of her family. When she was seven years old, her younger sister, Anna, was born, which helped to alleviate some of her loneliness. Wilkins's family moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1867. Wilkins's father had supported the family as a house builder and carpenter while in Randolph, but after the move, he decided to go into the retail dry goods business. Wilkins was brought up in a very strict Congregationalist household, with rigorous religious observance. After she graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1870, Wilkins attended Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary but left after only a year. The severe depression of the 1870s and her father's decision to return to carpentry as a way to support his family resulted in the family suffering a severe financial setback. Wilkins's

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