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Miss Adela Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

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One's mind would never think that little old Miss Adela Strangeworth would be the one sending horrible letters to the townspeople. Miss Strangeworth is the main character in the story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson. Adela Strangeworth is the old lady of Pleasant Street who loves her roses. Little did people know she was actually a condescending, mischievous, sneaky woman. At first Miss Strangeworth appears to be a flat character. She seemed to be an innocent lady who loved to keep her roses, just as the book says “Miss Strangeworth never gave away any of her roses...the roses belonged on Pleasant Street”(Jackson, 1941, p.163). As the story goes the truth about Miss Strangeworth unravels. Adela is really a round character. She is condescending in the way that she feels like she is in charge of the town. The roses give her a sense of seniority, along with the house her grandfather built. In the story it states that she doesn’t want anyone else to have her roses, (Jackson) “it bothered Miss Strangeworth to think of people wanting to carry them away” (1941, p.165). In this line it is easy to tell that she does not want her roses to go anywhere that they belong to just her. If others had her roses she wouldn’t have as much seniority in the town. …show more content…

She is quite fond of the letters she writes. A very simple line in this story was “She was pleased with the letter.” (Jackson, 1941, p.169) this line does not seem harsh in anyway at all, but this is what the letter read “Didn’t you ever see an idiot child before? Some people just shouldn’t have children should they?”(Jackson, 1941, p.169). Whether or not she knows that this hurts people she is being playful about it, dropping hints to people about things she feels they should

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This shows clearly in this quote “Martha,” she said, “you don’t look well.” This is when she calls out Mrs. Harper for not seeming well, in public (Jackson 75). This is why Miss Strangeworth is an inconsiderate perfectionistic personality.

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“But those with an evil heart, seem to have a talent for destroying anything beautiful which is about to bloom.” This quote relates to the text because Miss Strangeworth has an evil heart without knowing it and she destroyed good peoples feelings and in the end when her roses were destroyed, something beautiful of hers was destroyed. (Roses) The possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson explains that there is an evil everywhere, we can not stop it at all. Miss Strangeworth’s thought, actions and the setting plus the rising action and exposition demonstrate it.

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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.

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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.

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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

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As a matter of fact most frequently critics have looked at how prejudicial her mother’s philosophies have been for our character, and attributed to Editha Mowbray the “fallness” of her daughter. In her essay “The return of the prodigal daughter” Joanne Tong contemplates how “Mrs. Mowbray pays too little rather than too much attention to her daughter” (2004: 475) the outcome of which is a misunderstanding of her position in society with regards to the strict laws of etiquette and feminine ideology in eighteenth century England. Cecily E. Hill also blames Editha for Adeline and Glenmurray’s extramarital affair and their inevitable moral condemnation, and instead of accusing the lovers she sees Editha as the soul villain of the novel. Contrary to the typical concept of a mother who provides a safe education to Adeline, she experiments with dubious theories that ultimately foreground her daughter’s tragic

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The notion that she owns the town, trying to perfect it, and being deceptive while doing it are all traits that will get Miss Strangeworth in trouble. These traits are all things that lead to the downfall of Miss Strangeworth's roses. Trying to perfect other people is generally not taken well by others, they feel judged, as they are. This story shows why a book should never be judged by the cover, because there are often secrets hiding in the

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