Sedgland Tale Sacrifice

In Sedgwick’s A New-England Tale, Mrs. Wilson is the classic representation of a novel’s antagonist, especially in regards to how she treats protagonist, Jane Elton. However, it is the parenting, or lack thereof that has the greatest impact on the lives of Elvira and David Wilson, who despite being prohibited from engaging in sinful behavior, do just that. Sedgwick demonstrates that Mrs. Wilson’s salvation may have given her an authority over others, but when she failed to teach her children the ways of the Lord, her responsibility abandonment led to her children’s act of sin.

Hiding away in the garret, readers find that Elvira, in act of defiance against her mother’s prohibitions keeps a romantic novel in the dark corners that she reads for

The defining moment in David’s inevitable demise is not when he steals the $100 his mother refuses to lend him, but the “altercation, noisy and bitter between this mother and son” as David’s predicament is a clear representation of his mother’s “mismanagement”, though she never takes responsibility for being the source of sin for her children (84). As the altercation continues, Mrs. Wilson’s focus remains on Martha’s death and her not being chosen or saved by Christ, but David becomes quite hostile voices his plans behind his mother’s back to obtain the funds she refused to provide. While one could expect that David would meet his punishment for stealing, but as seen with Elvira, Jane is once again the scapegoat for the children’s crimes despite her insistence that she had nothing to do with the latest scandal within the Wilson household. When it comes to this event, Mrs. Wilson’s behavior is very hostile towards Jane and I believe that this was an overcompensation for the grief she felt at the realization of her child’s sinful behavior, his corruption. It becomes evident that Mrs. Wilson’s egocentric behavior only worsens near the novel’s end, when David finally succumbs to