]
]
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The main themes in Sarah Orne Jewett’s “A White Heron”
Essay-White Heron.htm
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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoHeading7><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:14.0pt'>The main themes
in Sarah Orne Jewett�s �A White Heron�</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b></p>
<p class=MsoFooter><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoFooter><span lang=EN-GB>Anic�Bandino & Patricia Bourseaux<a
href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[1]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoHeading9 style='line-height:normal'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt'>Second- year students 2004-2005</span></p>
<p class=MsoHeading9 style='line-height:normal'><span lang=FR-BE
style='font-size:11.0pt;letter-spacing:0pt'>FUNDP Namur, D�rtement de Langues
et litt�tures germaniques</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:57.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=FR-BE style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:57.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=FR-BE style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:.8pt;text-align:justify'><b><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Abstract. </span></b><i><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>The story, first published in 1886, is set in South Berwik,
Maine, during the later decades of the nineteenth century. Sylvia, a
nine-year-old girl lives with her grandmother in the peaceful and harmonious
countryside when a young hunter suddenly comes into her life. The stranger
wants her to reveal where he can find the white heron he wants to shoot and add
to his collection. First suspicious, then enthusiastic, she finally refuses to
tell him the secret. �A White Heron� evokes the rapid changes happening at that
time in the wider historical context: the industrial revolution, the
development of cities and the introduction of new values such as capitalism and
materialism. Being a story of initiation, it focuses on the confusion of a
little girl confronted with complex feelings and unexpected situations.</span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:57.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:57.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>1. Introduction</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>Sarah Orne Jewett was born in South Berwick, Maine, in 1849, as the second daughter of a physician. As a child �she wished to become a
doctor herself, but poor health thwarted that ambition�.<a href="#_ftn2"
name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[2]</span></span></span></a> Suffering from arthritis, she could
not go to school regularly. Her father �encouraged her to read widely in his
library and she accompanied him on his visits to patients in the countryside�.<a
href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[3]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.4pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The sympathetic depiction of local colour
in the fiction of the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe had a great impact on Sarah
Orne Jewett. She began to write and to publish herself in her late teens. She
was not only a regional novelist whose works described Maine settings and
personalities, but she also published poetry, literature for children and short
stories. Her true gift was short fiction. In many of her works � including the
collections of short stories <i>The King of Folly Island</i> (1888) and <i>A
Native of Winby</i> (1893), as well as the novel <i>A Country Doctor </i>(1884)
� the careful documentary record of landscape, people and dialect is described
with understanding and sympathy. She deepened her knowledge of the country by
accompanying her father on his medical calls. Sarah Orne Jewett loved her
father deeply and it has even been argued that her adoration of her father was
so strong that it prevented her from ever falling in love. Jewett�s
relationship with her mother was less intense.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.4pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>She based her personal life on
close friendships with women and never married. She formed a very special
friendship with Annie Fields, the wife of an editor and publisher. Personal
tragedy brought them even closer together: �When Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie
Fields [...] lost the most important men in their lives, Sarah�s father died in
1878 and Annie�s husband two years later, the two women found their friendship
deepened by their mutual losses�.<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[4]</span></span></span></a>
Her relationship with Annie Adams Fields was very intimate: it was �of a kind
not uncommon at the turn of the century; indeed, such connections between women
were called �Boston marriages�, a term that implied shared living quarters and
a partnership that paralleled ordinary marriage in its intimacy and
exclusiveness� (Baym 2003: 1587). Some critics argue that the nature of their
relationship was closer to lesbian relations than to friendship but this hypothesis
has never been verified.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.4pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The two friends began to travel widely in
Europe and the Eastern United States. In 1869 the National Woman Suffrage
Association was founded. �From the late 1870s onwards Sarah Orne Jewett was a
member of a circle of prominent women writers and artists who lived near Boston. This group included Cecilia Thaxter, Sarah Wyman Whitman, Sara Norton and Marie
Th�sa Blanc� (Baym 2003: 1587). She published a lot of works from the 1880s
onwards. In 1901 Sarah was seriously injured by falling from a carriage; �she
never fully recovered her physical powers or her literary capacity, but she
continued writing [�] and visiting friends when her condition allowed�.<a
href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[5]</span></span></span></a> She died in 1909 in her native
South Berwick, Maine.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.4pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>In Jewett�s lifetime the industrial
revolution was in full swing: �The stable, secure, and remote small town [she]
knew and loved as a child was experiencing the economic, technological, and
demographic pressures that transformed America� (Baym 2003: 1586). The
industrial output grew exponentially, mineral wealth was discovered and
exploited, and the agricultural productivity increased dramatically. The
transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The nation was trying to
overcome the traumatic effects of the Civil War (1861-1865), which had been the
tragic and �seemingly inevitable result of growing economic, political, social,
and cultural divisions between North and South� (Baym 2003: 1223).</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.4pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Women such as Orne Jewett spoke up for more
equal rights in this male-dominated society. They wanted more than domesticity,
submissiveness and innocence. After all, the end of the 19<sup>th</sup> century
�brought many new opportunities for women in the United States and other
industrial countries and Sarah Orne Jewett took advantage of them [�] Women
were being granted certificates to practice medicine and they were being
admitted to universities </span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Symbol'>[</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>They</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>]</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> were gradually </span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>[</span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>�</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Symbol'>]</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> allowed
into full participation as citizens and professionals�.<a href="#_ftn6"
name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[6]</span></span></span></a> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> ���������� When �A White Heron� appeared in 1886,
as the title story in Sarah Orne Jewett�s collection <i>A White Heron and Other
Stories, </i>the author was already known as �one of the finest local colour
writers the United States had produced�.<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7"
title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[7]</span></span></span></a>
The story had been rejected before by the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i> magazine for
being too sentimental, but it was �immediately recognized by critics as a
treasure� and it soon became �the most admired and most widely anthologised of
Jewett�s nearly 150 short stories�.<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[8]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� The story is set in New England and begins
on a June evening some time in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century. Sylvia, a
nine-year-old girl, is driving her cow back home when she meets a young hunter
in the forest. First afraid and suspicious, she eventually agrees to take him
with her to her grandmother, with whom she is living after having left her
mother and the crowded town. Once there, the stranger explains to them that he
is looking for a very rare and precious bird, a beautiful white heron that he
has seen in the area and which he is ready to pay for. The next day, Sylvia and
the hunter walk through the woods in search of the bird. The young girl
gradually feels safer now and she is even attracted to the man. During the
following night, she decides all by herself to climb a huge pine-tree from the
top of which she thinks she can see the white heron�s nest. Her climb is very
painful and dangerous, but once at the top, she catches sight of the nest. When
she returns home, the hunter asks her if she found the white heron�s nest, but
Sylvia refuses to reveal her secret. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>We intend to focus our analysis on two main
themes present in the story. The first one is the contrast between town and
nature; the second the opposition between feminine and masculine attitudes and
identities. This will finally lead us to discuss �The White Heron� as a story
of initiation.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>1. �Town� versus �nature�</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>�Town� in the story symbolizes aggressiveness. It is
known from the historical background that there were many changes in the cities
at that time. Urban centres, industry and trade were developing very fast, and
this process induced more materialistic attitudes. Sarah Orne Jewett
experienced the industrial progress herself and she understood that one of its
consequences would be �the ruin of the natural environment� (Schaeffert 2005). Moreover,
this industrialised and increasingly capitalistic world was fundamentally
patriarchal: men ruled and women were oppressed.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:27.0pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The hunter in �The White Heron� who comes
from the town and enters the woods is the incarnation of urban culture and modernity.
With his arrival he �upsets the daily harmony<span class=MsoFootnoteReference> </span></span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>[</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>of the controlled rural space</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>]</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>, and potentially the life balance itself,
of nature� (Ammons 2005). The hunter brings material objects into the
countryside and he gives a weapon to Sylvia as a present. She considers the
jack-knife as a treasure but for him it is valueless, because such objects are
common in the town. Through this knife he brings an element of urban violence
to the countryside. He also offers her money:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>�I can�t think of anything I should like so much as to
find that heron�s nest,� the handsome stranger was saying. �I would give ten
dollars to anybody who could show it to me,� he added desperately, �and I mean
to spend my whole vacation hunting for it if need be.� (Jewett 2003[1886]: 1591)<span
class=MsoFootnoteReference> <a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[9]</span></span></a></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>This fragment shows the great determination of the hunter
who really wants to catch this bird. He offers ten dollars to anybody who can
find the white heron, which is a big sum of money for Sylvia, but perhaps not
for him. The offer of money is a typical materialistic gesture. The hunter only
wants to possess the bird without taking into account Sylvia�s feelings, let
alone the bird�s own interests. He is fascinated by birds but only in order to
kill them and add them to his collection of stuffed birds. Stuffed animals seem
to be alive, but of course, in reality, they are dead: they have been
transformed into sheer objects. This does not bother the hunter:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>�Do you cage �em up?� asked Mrs. Tilley doubtfully, in
response to his enthusiastic announcement. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>�Oh, no, they�re stuffed and preserved, dozens and
dozens of them,� said the ornithologist, �and I have shot or snared every one
myself.� (1590)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Perhaps the hunter likes nature, but in a
different way than Sylvia. He likes the birds stuffed and displayed in his room,
whereas Sylvia loves them alive in nature, when they are chirping and flying
around. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
27.0pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The previous fragment also
shows the effect of local colour: Mrs. Tilley, the grandmother, is speaking the
regional dialect, which creates an authentic sense of locale. Thus, the use of
language helps to emphasise the rural and idyllic character of the fictional
world. The local people in the countryside are deeply rooted in their region
and its traditions; they have not been �spoilt� by the superficial elegance and
sophistication of urban culture.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
27.0pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Nature is the symbol of peace
and sensibility. In the countryside everything is harmonious. Sylvia feels very
well living with her grandmother on a small farm. She likes the wood and the
animals. Until the hunter arrives, Sylvia, her grandmother and the grandmother�s
cow have enjoyed a serene life together. There has been no stressful situation
at all. She often goes for a walk with the cow, so she is very familiar with
the surroundings and enjoys the singing of the birds. Crucially, living with
her grandmother, Sylvia has found a balance, which she had previously searched
for in vain in the town:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>Everybody said that it was a good change for a little
maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town,
but, as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she never had been alive at all
before she came to live at the farm. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>[�] Sylvia whispered that this was a beautiful place
to live in, and that she never should wish to go home. (1588)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>But the hunter introduces conflict and
stress in this peaceful countryside setting. The hunter tells Sylvia of his
quest and wants her to disclose where the bird has its nest. They talk a lot
and for Sylvia he becomes the first male person from the city of whom she is
not afraid. She starts to like the hunter and hesitates whether to tell him or
not where the bird lives. Through the hunter modernity and industrialisation
approach Sylvia and her world. For a while she forgets where her natural place
is in the world, but in the end she remembers, and realises that she cannot
reveal the secret and thus betray the bird. She has to protect nature and its
animals. She cannot allow this man to kill the beautiful white heron. She does
not want him to destroy this harmonious, peaceful place. She refuses the money
and with it, the materialism of the town. She rejects her first male friend in
order to protect nature and its inhabitants.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The hunter comes alone to
the countryside. He does not speak about his friends or relatives. He appears
to be alienated from them, whereas Sylvia lives in perfect harmony with her
grandmother and the animals which are her friends. In nature there is a kind of
unity between the inhabitants, in opposition to the town, where individualism
prevails. It is important to note that the countryside in the story is
represented as being positive. The hunter from the town frightens Sylvia in the
beginning, whereas she feels totally at ease in the countryside. The natural
familiarity of this region is threatened by the modernism and capitalism of the
town. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The town is a place
dominated by men, whereas the countryside is rather feminine in this story: the
grandmother, the little girl, the cow. This brings us to the second main thematic
opposition of the story.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>2. Masculinity versus femininity</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='line-height:normal'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>The second main theme we wanted to discuss is the
gender opposition embodied by the hunter and Sylvia. The hunter is the
incarnation of masculinity. First, even if he says he loves birds, he wants to
possess them by killing them, whereas Sylvia stands for femininity, innocence
and purity, and is depicted as an integral part of nature, respectful and
protective of it (her name is derived from Latin <i>silva</i>, �wood�):</span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='line-height:normal'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:
0cm;margin-left:26.95pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>There ain�t a foot o� ground she don�t know
her way over, and the wild creaturs counts her one o� themselves. Squer�ls
she�ll tame to come an� feed right out o� her hands, and all sorts o� birds.
Last winter she got the jay-birds to bangeing here, and I believe she�d �a�
scanted herself of her own meals to have plenty to throw out amongst �em, if I
had n�t kep� watch. (1590)</span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='line-height:normal'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:26.95pt;line-height:normal'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Secondly, the hunter uses weapons, which stand
for aggressiveness, violence, power and typical masculine competition. The
hunter�s guns and knives can be seen as phallic symbols, emphasizing the
strength, virility and almightiness of men in general. This frightens the young
girl: �Sylvia would have liked him vastly better without his gun; she could not
understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much� (1591).</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:26.95pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The man also symbolizes the materialism
imported from the developing industrial cities at that time. The fact that he
wants to pay for the white heron presents a sharp contrast to the conception
that Sylvia has of nature and of life in general. But Sylvia�s reaction to the
proposition of the hunter is not so negative: �No amount of thought, that
night, could decide how many wished-for treasures the ten dollars, so lightly
spoken of, would buy� (ibid.). The offer of money is tempting, especially as
Sylvia and her family are relatively poor.</span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText2 style='margin-right:.8pt;text-indent:26.95pt;line-height:
normal'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Understandably perhaps, at this
point in the story Sylvia begins to change her mind. The hunter, first seen as
an enemy or potential aggressor, becomes less fearful:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:.8pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The next day the young sportsman hovered about the
woods, and Sylvia kept him company, having lost her first fear of the friendly
lad, who proved to be most kind and sympathetic. [�] [a]s the day waned, Sylvia
still watched the young man with loving admiration. She had never seen anybody
so charming and delightful; the woman�s heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely
thrilled by a dream of love. Some premonition of that great power stirred and
swayed these young creatures who traversed the solemn woodlands with
soft-footed silent care. [�] [t]he young man going first and Sylvia following,
fascinated, a few steps behind, with her gray eyes dark with excitement. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>[�] At last evening began to fall, and they drove the
cow home together, and Sylvia smiled with pleasure when they came to the place
where she heard the whistle and was afraid only the night before. (ibid.)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>This fragment shows how the relationship between the
two characters evolves. When she met the hunter, Sylvia was very afraid. She
had had a bad experience with another boy at school before and she did not want
anything like it to happen again. She sees men as enemies and is very
suspicious. But something happens in her while they are walking in the forest.
She feels fascinated by the hunter, even if she does not agree with the way he
treats animals. In spite of the fact that she is only nine, she is experiencing
a very strong and puzzling feeling for the very first time: she is falling in
love with the man. In a latent manner this impulse is sexual too. But Sylvia is
far too young to cope with such feelings and that is why, after being attracted
by the man, she finally represses her erotic attraction and rejects him.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Sylvia wants to find her own identity, her
own voice. She is trying to discover the place she is meant to occupy in
society and in the world in general. She represents the feminine character in
her love of nature, animals and peace. Despite her young age, she embodies
qualities that are typically associated with women: innocence, purity, naivety.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>3. A story of initiation</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><b><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>In Sarah Ore Jewett�s short story we can discover that
Sylvia has to cope with sudden changes in her habits brought about by the
intrusion in her life of a man coming from the town. As such it could be
regarded as an initiation story, by which we mean �a kind of short story in
which a character � often but not always a child or young person � first learns
a significant, usually life-changing truth about the universe, society, people,
himself or herself�.<a href="#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[10]</span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� At the beginning of the story we learn to
know Sylvia, a nine-year-old girl, who left the crowded manufacturing town
where she used to live with her mother, to go to her grandmother in the
countryside. Sylvia did not feel well at all when she was living in the town.
Now that she lives on the farm of her grandmother, she feels happier, she
thinks that she has found her place in the world, being surrounded by nature,
animals and wild life. But an unexpected element enters her life and brings tension
and confusion with it. The arrival of the hunter, who has lost his way, makes
her question what she thought to be certain before.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� The first reaction she has is suspicion.
She does not feel safe in the presence of this masculine character. The hunter
represents all that she hates and fears: town, aggression, materialism. But he
is determined to find the rare bird and manages gradually to �tame� Sylvia. The
girl feels very confused when the stranger she hated at the beginning begins to
open the doors of an unexpected world for her. Little by little, her distrust
disappears and she begins to have confidence in him. On the second day, when
they are walking through the forest to find the white heron, Sylvia feels
attracted to the man and falls in love with him. This feeling is unknown to
her. It is radically different from anything she had ever felt in the presence
of men. She is confused and loses former certainties. The world in which she
found innocent happiness and peace is suddenly changing much too fast for her. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� This change in Sylvia�s behaviour is also
expressed by the story�s structure. There are two parts in the story and the
second part begins after the amazing day that she spent with the hunter,
searching for the bird. The second part opens with her journey to reach the top
of the pine-tree, which indicates the climax of the story.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� During the second night Sylvia decides to
find the white heron�s nest and to tell the hunter where it is. In the forest,
there is a huge pine-tree. It is the tallest tree she has ever seen and she has
always thought that if she managed to climb the tree and reach the top of it,
she would be able to see the whole world. That is the reason why she silently
moves out of the farmhouse, walks through the forest and begins to climb the
pine-tree. This turns out to be very difficult:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The way was harder than she thought; she must reach
far and hold fast, the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her
like angry talons, the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as
she went round and round the tree�s great stem, higher and higher upward. (1592)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:.8pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText2 style='margin-right:.8pt;line-height:normal'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>But the narrator describes a curious
relationship between the pine-tree and the young girl:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The old pine must have loved his new dependent. More
than all the hawks, and bats, and moths, and even the sweet voiced thrushes,
was the brave, beating heart of the solitary gray-eyed child. And the tree
stood still and frowned away the winds that June morning while the dawn grew
bright in the east. (1593)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:.8pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText2 style='margin-right:3.6pt;line-height:normal'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>This fragment illustrates the strong,
almost personal bond that exists between Sylvia and nature (note that the tree
is referred as a �he� not an �it�). Sylvia does not only love nature, she is
part of it.</span></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText2 style='margin-right:3.6pt;line-height:normal'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� Climbing the pine-tree may be
seen as a kind of mystical experience. Once at the top of the tree Sylvia knows
that she will be able to see things that nobody else could see. She can
(almost) see the world from above as a bird would. The pine-tree thus becomes a
kind of �tree of knowledge�. Sylvia suffered a lot to reach the top, it was a
long and painful job, but the result was worth the effort.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� At this point in the story
Sylvia is still determined to reveal to the hunter where the white heron lives:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>She knows his secret now, the wild, light, slender
bird that floats and wavers, and goes back like an arrow presently to his home
in the green world beneath. Then Sylvia, well satisfied, makes her perilous way
down again, not daring to look far below the branch she stands on, ready to cry
sometimes because her fingers ache and her lamed feet slip. Wondering over and
over again what the stranger would say to her, and what he would think when she
told him how to find his way straight to the heron�s nest. (1593)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>After her journey at the top of the pine
tree, she comes back home and finds her grandmother and the hunter searching
for her:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The grandmother and the sportsman stand in the door
together and question her, and the splendid moment has come to speak of the
dead hemlock-tree by the green marsh. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:8.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>But Sylvia does not speak after all, though
the old grandmother fretfully rebukes her, and the young man�s kind, appealing
eyes are looking straight in her own. He can make them rich with money; he has
promised it, and they are poor now. He is so well worth making happy, and he
waits to hear the story she can tell.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:.8pt;margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:27.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:8.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>No, she must keep silence! What is it that
suddenly forbids her and makes her dumb? Has she been nine years growing and
now, when the great world for the first time puts out a hand to her, must she
trust it aside for a bird�s sake? The murmur of the pine�s green branches is in
her ears, she remembers how the white heron came flying through the golden air
and how they watched the sea and the morning together, and Sylvia cannot speak;
she cannot tell the heron�s secret and give its life away. (1594)</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>This fragment illustrates that �the story
no longer seems to be merely about a choice between nature and someone who would
destroy it but between �love� � a woman�s love for a man � and loyalty to
something else, something that inevitably leads to loneliness and isolation�
(Griffith 2005). The fact that Sylvia does not want to betray the white heron
indicates that, after being attracted by the new world the hunter offered, she
eventually rejects all that he represents to come back to nature.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� The choice of the white heron
is not insignificant. A bird is an animal which is not so familiar to men. One
can see it, but rarely approach it or touch it. Moreover, it symbolizes a dream
that all mankind has in common: birds can fly, whereas men will never be able
to do so without a machine. That is also why birds are so mysterious. The fact
that the bird of the story is a white heron underlines the mystery. In the 19<sup>th</sup>
century herons were hunted because people used their wonderful feathers to
decorate their hats. In Sarah Orne Jewett�s short story the white heron can
therefore come to stand for values such as purity, grace, majesty, and elegance.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The fact that Sylvia refuses
to give the white heron to the hunter allows us to establish a symbolic link
between the white heron and her own virginity. Sylvia is falling in love with
the hunter. This is a very unsettling experience. The feeling of �loving
admiration� (1591) is so strange and so strong that she would do anything to
please him, even sacrificing what is the most precious to her. Of course Sylvia
is far too young to consider the possibility of really offering her sexual
innocence to the hunter. But Sylvia has a woman�s heart that is being awakened:
�the woman�s heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of
love (ibid.). The heron might therefore symbolically anticipate the loss of her
virginity. Sylvia is by no means ready to surrender either to a man.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� This reading of the story might
be related to the biography of the author. We have pointed out that Sarah Orne
Jewett always refused to marry. She was very close to her father and some
critics said that she never wanted another man in her life for that reason. Following
the argument of Kelley Griffith Jr (2005), we could thus argue that �Sylvia�s
rejection of the hunter represents Jewett�s own decision not to get married. </span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>[</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>...</span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>]</span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:11.0pt'> Because of her deep emotional attachment to her
father, she could never give up her childhood and become a mature woman.
Instead, she chose to remain incomplete emotionally�.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><b><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>4. Conclusion</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The story shows the complex reaction of Sylvia
when a representative of modern urban culture suddenly enters the idyllic rural
world she shares with her grandma and all her companions in nature. The hunter
not only offers her money to obtain the rare bird he wants to add to his
collection of stuffed dead animals, but he also wakes up in Sylvia the first
stirrings of erotic attraction. In the end, Sylvia turns down the deal.
Refusing to enter the logic of a harder masculine world based on money,
violence and possession, she does not �sell� the beautiful white heron for
money and the prospect of love. She decides that her loyalty to nature and her
personal integrity � including her virginity � are more precious.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>����������� In our discussion we have had
to leave many questions unanswered. Thus, we could wonder about the future
development of Sylvia within the fictional world. Does the story suggest how
Sylvia is likely to react the next time when a similar tempting offer is made
to her? How realistic is her position in the longer run, considering that she
is now almost on the brink of puberty (within the sphere of her private life)
and considering also the relentless progress of modernity (within the broader
context of America�s economic and social history)? </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>It would also be interesting
to speculate a little bit further about the correlations between the story and
the author�s life. Such an analysis could take a more explicitly
psychoanalytical turn (the tree-climbing experience might then be regarded as
an allegory of sexual initiation). Or it could take as one of its starting
points the attitudes and moral judgments expressed by the narrator in the
story, who becomes much more overt in the last paragraphs of the text. From a
narratological viewpoint too, the management of time in the text and the
skilful use of variable focalisation would also provide interesting points of entry
into the story. </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>The critical reception of
this story appears to be another theme worth investigating. How has this
woman�s story � about a girl turning down a man � been understood and assessed
by literary critics and historians? How popular was it in the male-dominated
world of literary studies until the advent of feminism and gender studies, and
have there been specific feminist readings of the story?</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:3.6pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>All these and undoubtedly
many more questions that could be asked here testify to the richness and density
of this classic short story, but they go beyond the scope of the present paper.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:30.6pt;text-align:justify'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Bibliography</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Primary text</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>Jewett, Sarah Orne (2003 [1886]).
�A White Heron�. Nina Baym (ed.),<i> The Norton Anthology of American
Literature</i>. Shorter 6<sup>th</sup> edition. <span style='letter-spacing:
-.15pt'>New </span><span style='letter-spacing:-.15pt'>York</span><span
style='letter-spacing:-.15pt'> / London: W. W. Norton, 1587-1594.</span></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><b><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'>Secondary texts</span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Ammons, Elizabeth. �Sarah Orne
Jewett (1849-1909)�. Consulted (28.05.2005) at:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>��������������� <a
href="http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/jewett.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/jewett.html</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Baym,
Nina (ed.) (2003). <i>The Norton Anthology of American Literature.</i> </span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'>Shorter 6<sup>th</sup> edition. </span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>New York</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'> / London: W. W.
Norton.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:
-.15pt'>Bergmann, Ina. �Stories of Female Initiation: Two 19<sup>th</sup>
Century Examples of Female Professional </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Success�. C</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>onsulted (28.05.2005)
at: <a
href="http://www.uni-regensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_IV/Anglistik/Amerikanistik/copas/articles/bergmann.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.uniregensburg.de/Fakultaeten/phil_Fak_IV/Anglistik/Amerikanistik/copas/articles/bergmann.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Griffith,
Kelley Jr. �Sylvia as Hero in Sarah Orne Jewett�s � White Heron��. Consulted (28.05.2005)
at: <a href="http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/griffith.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/griffith.html</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoHeading9 style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt;line-height:normal'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-style:normal'>Hart, James D. (ed.) (1965). </span><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt'>The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-style:normal'>. New York / Oxford: Oxford UP.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Heller, Terry. �The Rhetoric of
Communion in Jewett�s �A White Heron��. Consulted (28.05.2005) at:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/heller-1.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/ess/heller-1.html</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Herzberg,
Max J. (1963). <i>The Reader�s Encyclopedia of American Literature</i>. London: Methuen.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/fiction/jewett.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/fiction/jewett.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.bookrags.com/biography-sarah-orne-jewett."><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.bookrags.com/biography-sarah-orne-jewett.</span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.bookrags.com/guides/whiteheron/"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>http://www.bookrags.com/guides/whiteheron.</span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/4e/students/author_pages/late_nineteenth/jewett_sa.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/4e/students/author_pages/late_nineteenth/jewett_sa.html</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.enotes.com/white-heron/"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>http://www.enotes.com/white-heron.</span></a></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.ksu.edu/english/baker/english320/cc-initiation_story.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.ksu.edu/english/baker/english320/cc-initiation_story.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/glossary_i.htm"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/glossary_i.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Rocke, Julie. �American
Literature Web Resources: Sarah Orne Jewett�. Consulted (28.05.2005) at:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>��������������� http://www.millikin.edu/aci/crow/chronology/jewettbio.html.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Royal, P. Derek. �Study Points
for Sarah Orne Jewett�s �A White Heron� and Charlotte </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Perkins Gilman�s �The
Yellow Wallpaper��. C</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;
letter-spacing:-.15pt'>onsulted (28.05.2005) at:</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'><a
href="http://www.faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/droyal/jewett-gilman.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/droyal/jewett-gilman.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:35.45pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:
-35.45pt'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Schaeffert,
Anja. �The Function of Nature in Sarah Orne Jewett�s �A White Heron��. Consulted
(28.05.2005) at: <a href="http://www.hausarbeiten.de/faecher/aml_0.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.hausarbeiten.de/faecher/aml_0.html</span></a>.</span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Webb, Dottie. �Sarah Orne Jewett
and Annie Adams Fields: Boston Marriage and Cultural </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:35.45pt'><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>Nexus�. Co</span><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;letter-spacing:-.15pt'>nsulted (28.05.2005) at:
<a href="http://www.traverse.net/people/dot/jewett_fields.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.traverse.net/people/dot/jewett_fields.html</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div><br clear=all>
<hr align=left size=1 width="33%">
<div id=ftn1>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref1"
name="_ftn1" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[1]</span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> The present text is an edited version of the paper originally
submitted by these students [Dirk Delabastita]. </span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn2>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref2"
name="_ftn2" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[2]</span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> <a
href="http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/late_nineteenth/jewett_sa.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/late_nineteenth/jewett_sa.html</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn3>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref3"
name="_ftn3" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[3]</span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> <a href="http://www.bookrags.com/biography/sarah-orne-jewett/"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.bookrags.com/biography/sarah-orne-jewett/</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn4>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref4"
name="_ftn4" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[4]</span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> <a href="http://www.traverse.net/people/dot/jewett_fields.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.traverse.net/people/dot/jewett_fields.html</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn5>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref5"
name="_ftn5" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang=EN-GB> <a
href="http://www.milkin.edu/aci/crow/chronology/jewettbio.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.milkin.edu/aci/crow/chronology/jewettbio.html</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn6>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref6"
name="_ftn6" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang=EN-GB> <a
href="http://www.bookrags.com/guides/whiteheron/hist.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.bookrags.com/guides/whiteheron/hist.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn7>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref7"
name="_ftn7" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[7]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang=EN-GB> <a
href="http://www.enotes.com/white-heron"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>http://www.enotes.com/white-heron</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn8>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref8"
name="_ftn8" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>[8]</span></span></span></span></a><span lang=EN-GB> <a
href="http://www.enotes.com/white-heron"><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'>http://www.enotes.com/white-heron</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn9>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9"
title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[9]</span></span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt'> Fragments from �A White Heron� are
quoted from Baym (2003: 1587-1594).</span></p>
</div>
<div id=ftn10>
<p class=MsoFootnoteText style='text-align:justify'><a href="#_ftnref10"
name="_ftn10" title=""><span class=MsoFootnoteReference><span
class=MsoFootnoteReference><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[10]</span></span></span></a><span
lang=EN-GB> <a href="http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/glossary_i.htm"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://www.wwnorton.com/introlit/glossary_i.htm</span></a>.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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