Alice Dagget Passages

Why this matters Louisa’s lack of obvious, explosive anger at Joe Dagget’s accidental introduction of chaos into her home caught my attention. Rather than dwell in her anger, Louisa automatically ties on two aprons and begins cleaning the living room. The questions I asked while reading this particular passage were: why two aprons? Are the aprons a part of rebellion, or acceptance, toward the woman’s role? Why is Louisa’s anger so restricted? What is Freedman saying about domestic labor in the absence and presence of a man?
Close reading Just reading the passage, many commas appear throughout, creating long sentences, which work to create and maintain the calmness and slowness of the scene. The slow pace of the passage also conveys pleasure

“‘He's tracked in a good deal of dust,’ she murmured. ‘I thought he must have.’” Perhaps the most interesting use of diction is in this line. “Murmur” denotes speaking quietly, creating the image of Louisa on the ground whispering to herself. The angry connotation of murmur frames her examination the carpet: murmuring connotes passive, silent discontent. This aids the understanding of her inspection as being anger-filled. But, if she enjoys cleaning, why is she angry? Perhaps it is because she is cleaning a man’s mess rather than her own. She is not cleaning as part of her habit, but out of force. While Louisa cleans the living room in silence and calmness, the underlying emotion is unhappiness. At the end of the passage, Louisa’s anger becomes vocal, but quiet. Despite Louisa’s irritation, she maintains the image of tranquility. This oddly intensifies the passage. Even in private, Louisa refuses to express her emotions openly, so her examination of the carpet, which expresses some irritation, suddenly becomes angry. Louisa is not emotionally free even in solitude, implying she cannot escape social constraints anywhere. On the other hand, Louisa could be embracing the social constraint, like when she embraces the constraints of aprons and domestic labor. She becomes the perfect model of femininity by restricting her emotions, because she behaves as a woman should even when not under the scrutinizing eyes of