ipl-logo

Miss Strangeworth Character Analysis

610 Words3 Pages

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. Miss Strangeworth sometimes “[finds] herself thinking that the town belonged to her” (Jackson,1941, …show more content…

Whether she means to be deceptive or not “[she] always used a dull stub of pencil when she wrote her letters, and she always printed them in a childish block print”(Jackson,1941, p.169) making it impossible to know who it came from. To further obscure her identity “...Miss Strangeworth used a pad of various coloured paper ...everyone in town bought...and used it for odd, informal notes…”(Jackson,1941, p.169). To deliver these letters, “[Miss Strangeworth] timed her evening walks so that she could reach the post office just as darkness was starting to dim the outlines of the trees and the shapes of people's faces”(Jackson,1941, p.172). Miss Strangeworth seems to be a sweet old lady but in reality, she writes nasty letters and judges everyone, perhaps because of her love for …show more content…

She has several prominent routines, such as buying her tea on Tuesdays and always going for afternoon and evening walks.These routines lead one to believe that she may even have obsessive compulsive traits, in the story the author mentions that “[s]he was fond of doing things exactly right”(Jackson,1941, p.169). Immediately after every meal “...her plate and cup and saucer [are] washed and dried and put back where they [belong], and her silverware [is] put back in the mahogany silver chest…”(Jackson,1941, p.171) because “Miss Strangeworth never delayed when things had to be done”(Jackson,1941, p.169). Her perfectionism leads her to burn her letters immediately when she makes a mistake or “when the letters [are] not spaced nicely on the page” (Jackson,1941, p.169). These tendencies could be one of the reasons for her horrible letters. 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

Show More
Related
275 Words | 2 Pages

Last night, on September 12th, by 1337 Elington drive, Ms.Adela Strangeworth’s roses were supposedly vandalized by an unknown towns person. There has been speculation as to why a towns person vandalized Ms.Adela Strangeworth’s roses. Townspeople have recently called out Ms. Strangeworth for harassment in the form of letters that she sent them anonymously, and townsperson angered by Ms.Strangeworth’s letters most likely ruined her flowers. The roses were allegedly cut down with a knife or a similar sharp object and damaged by a lot of force. A few hours after Ms.Adela Strangeworth reported the incident, most townspeople were aloof about the matter, while others were sympathetic.

Read More
211 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth has lost her sanity and she is evil in some ways. She tells people everything they do wrong in the town that she believes is hers. She knows everyone in town, “I’ve watched my town grow” Jackson states (Jackson 188). She is old enough to have knowledge about everyone in the town, and she hasn’t left this town in her whole life. She also isn’t very humble.

Read More
114 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
167 Words | 1 Pages

Miss strangeworth tried stopping the evil going on in “her town” by giving criticism to things/ people that she didn’t approve of and or didn’t like that she didn’t feel was perfect. Miss

Read More
691 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
726 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
612 Words | 3 Pages

The novel tells a despondent tale of a woman convicted of adultery who must live out her shame condemned from society by the embroidered scarlet “A” she is commanded to wear while perpetually haunted by her estranged husband who is on a self proclaimed undertaking to find her lover. Through the text, the reader is hastened through a multitude of feelings for the few main characters they meet. Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth are a set of character foils through their opposing physical descriptions, contrasting mental states, and their driving motivations throughout the novel. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are made clear contrasting characters early on in the novel through their blatantly conflicting physical descriptions. Dimmesdale is introduced early on in the third chapter and is described as “ A person of very striking aspect with a white, lofty, and impending brow, large, brown, melancholy eyes, and mouth… expressing both nervous sensibility and a vast power of self restraint”

Read More
781 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

Dickens uses juxtaposition to compare Lucie and Madame Defarge to show the archetype of the gender ideal. Dickens uses juxtaposition at least three times to show how similar and different these two women are. The first example where Dickens compares Lucie and Madame Defarge is on page 270-271, “La Force! Lucie, my child, if ever you were brave and serviceable in your life- and you were always both- you will compose yourself now, to do exactly as I bid you; for more depends upon it than you can think, or I can say. [...]you cannot possibly stir out.

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

Mary Tilford is a quick-witted, deceitful fourteen year-old girl. Her introduction depicted how manipulative she was with people’s emotions and how lying was second-natured to her. For instance, Mary explained how she was late for sewing class because she was outside picking flowers for Mrs. Mortar. Mrs. Mortar was flattered and praised Mary for her thoughtfulness until Karen Wright stated she saw those exact flowers in the garbage that morning. Even when Mary’s lies are exposed, she attempted to avoid confrontations by making an excuse.

Read More
1808 Words | 8 Pages

Eventually, Miss Strangeworth’s handwritten critiques of the townspeople become public. One evening, a teenage boy observes Miss Strangeworth delivering her notes at the post office. One of the letters fell onto the ground without Miss Strangeworth noticing. Instead of placing the letter into the mailbox, the boy delivers this message to the addressee, informing the recipient it came from Miss Strangeworth. The

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

On page 366, Fanny says, “that I don’t think there’s something mighty strange about you, Charlie. Them changed. I don’t know. You used to be a good, dependable, ordinary man-- not too bright maybe, but honest. Who knows what you done to yourself to get so smart all of a sudden.

Read More
709 Words | 3 Pages

He places her in the nursery of the colonial mansion, despite her requests to be placed otherwise, “I don 't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs... but John would not hear of it” (Gilman, 2). The narrator’s husband dictates all aspects of her life to the point where she internalizes her husband 's authority, accepting his dominance over her, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad,” (Gilman, 2). Even though the narrator knows what she needs is to be active surrounded by people instead of cooped up alone in a house out in the countryside, she abruptly stops her train of thought as she remembers John’s instructions to not think about her condition.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Miss Brill is lonely, has a completely messed up mind, and tries to hide her true self by trying to live other people’s lives. Miss Brill views each person at the garden differently. The people who are mostly like her are the ones she judges the most, “Miss Brill had often noticed-there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they’d just come from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards!” (Mansfield 185).

Read More
900 Words | 4 Pages

“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.

Read More

More about Miss Strangeworth Character Analysis

Open Document