Character Analysis Of Miss Adela Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

In other words, Mrs. Hopewell does not recognize the fact that Mrs. Freeman desires to know everything about Mrs. Hopewell’s life, instead Mrs. Hopewell perceives the lower class Mrs. Freeman as just desiring to work hard; hence, Mrs. Hopewell ’s sense of superiority causes her to become ignorant of Mrs. Freeman’s true intentions, alike to

If this article is an example of her judgmental attitudes towards children, then it is concerning to know that she is a mother herself. Katie is an elitist. “Dirty, sticky soft play area”, is how Katie describes the venue of a birthday party her daughter received a “garish” party invitation to. Immediately, she shows she doesn't want her daughter to go, even though she's visibly excited.

She has a daughter. She calls herself worn-out, balding, arthritic mother. She has low self-esteem. “Maureen allowed this thought in self-mockery, to make herself feel young, but it did not have this effect”(1). Maureen is heartbroken.

“Arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence. Not a pretty cocktail of personality traits in the best of situations. No siree. Not a pretty cocktail in an office-mate and not a pretty cocktail in a head of state. In fact, in a leader, it’s a lethal cocktail.”

Is Ms. Strangeworth a victim OR villain In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, the protagonist Ms. Strangeworth is a villain because she isn’t what everyone’s aspect of her is, she is very deceptive, and the letters she sends are the very cause of the evil she’s trying to stop. Ms. Strangeworth is a seventy-one-year-old lady who lives in a little town, which she thinks is her own. She always feels the need to know everything, about everyone. Even though, no one knows who she really is.

“Miss Strangeworth is a familiar fixture in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Little do the townsfolk suspect, though, that the dignified old woman leads another, secret life…”. A secret life can be evil or good, in Miss Strangeworth’s case it is suitable, but do others appreciate this secret life. In The Possibility of Evil Shirley Jackson illustrates inner thinking, revealing action, and symbolism to show how Miss Strangeworth tends the people like her roses, but truly state's them evil.

The character Miss Strangeworth in the literature “The Possibility of Evil” in inconsiderate and a perfectionist. She is inconsiderate because of her thoughts and actions. For example, Miss Strangeworth thinks this “Miss Strangeworth noticed that Miss Chandler had not taken much trouble with her hair that morning, and sighed” (Jackson 112-114). This reveals how inconsiderate she is to others solely picking out their imperfections. Miss Strangeworth is also a perfectionist who disdains imperfection or sloppiness.

“An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy: but her manners were excellent.” (Stevenson 1886, p. 36). Although the housemaid of Hyde’s face does not look like very friendly, her behavior is polite to the lawer and policemen. People’s face is a good reflection of their heart.

This quote also gives you an idea of how Miss Strangeworth enjoyed gossip or talking about someone behind their back. Miss Strangeworth was writing letters to “The town where she lived had to be kept clean and sweet” it's ironic how she could say this when in reality she was doing all the evil of the town. The way Miss

She acts in a caring manner to everyone’s face, but when she is alone, she becomes a heartless woman, determined to reveal what she knows. Miss Strangeworth is the one causing the distress in her community, yet she acts oblivious as to what is bothering everyone. She shows her extreme deceitfulness by attempting to ease Helen Crane’s concern about her child by saying “Nonsense… some of them develop… more quickly than others” (Jackson, 1941, p. 167). This is deceitful because she is aware that there is something different about the child and instead of voicing that, she consoles the mother, only to subsequently shatter her in an anonymous letter. Additionally, Miss Strangeworth cleverly utilizes the most common paper and envelops all townspeople use for her letters.

In the beginning, the speaker says a brief statement of her feelings about abortion, “Abortions will not let you forget, You remember the children you got that you did not get” (lines 1-2). These first two lines explain how her children will never realize certain accomplishments in life, this also shows a mother who is unable to forget the dramatic events that have emotionally scarred her. The speaker later on says,

Although in NH’s gothic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth presents as a well-respected physician. As the story progresses, Hawthorne’s wicked imagery and evil symbolism reveal his true nature to illustrate him as a dark and sinister figure obsessed by revenge. In the first appearance of Roger Chillingworth at the Scaffold scene, he comes across as being likable and calm, yet he is seen as hideous but intelligent with wrinkled features. “...stood a white man, clad in a strange disarray of civilized and savage costume” (58).

Baby was raised in an unstable and derelict environment, paired with the absence of familial support, which crippled her childhood development. Baby’s moral contradiction and personal integrity was fueled by the stigma she encountered from her social networks. Consequently, her understanding of social and moral values deviated from societal norms. I.

By all appearances, Miss Strangeworth is a sweet, old lady, living in a perfect, shiny, happy town. But appearances are not everything, especially in the case of Miss Adela Strangeworth of Pleasant Street. Miss Adela Strangeworth, a character in the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, is a 71-year-old spinster living in a small town in the 1940’s. At the beginning, she seems like any normal old lady, but it is quickly realized that this is not the case and that she has a dark side. Of the many traits that Miss Strangeworth possesses, the most prominent are her deceptiveness, perfectionism, and the god complex that has developed.

Her flaw is not a temporary misjudgment, but a chronic issue of her single-minded goal to nurse her child regardless of her