Freeman, Mary E. Wilkins

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
31 October 1852 - 13 March 1930

American writer (sometimes known as "Mary E. Wilkins" or "Mary Wilkins"), born on Halloween in 1852. Freeman is often regarded (read "devalued") even today as a New England regionalist, perhaps because so much of her work was staunchly realist in its depiction of life in decaying New England hill towns. Her reputation went into decline for much of the mid-C20, for her "feminine" subjects were often dismissed by critics as simply unimportant in the context of larger world events. More recent scholarship has argued convincingly for the importance of Freeman's work, which often does feature spinster heroines or — especially in some of her more well-known ghost stories — abandoned children (this "forlorn child" theme is widely thought to be Freeman's working out of her own feelings regarding the death, at age seventeen, of her sister). Freeman's ghost stories have only recently begun to attract appreciative critical attention, and there remains considerable opportunity for further investigation of these works, which in their combination of pragmatism and supernaturalism are very much in the tradition, going back to Charles Brockden Brown, of an "Americanized" Gothic. More particularly, these stories are powerfully illustrative of the claim that many female writers of the time used the ghost story as a means of examining, indirectly, many of the social, personal, and economic pressures which often silenced or devalued women and their concerns.

A few of Freeman's ghost stories are still anthologized, perhaps most notably "Luella Miller" and "The Wind in the Rose-Bush."

Sites:
Mary Wilkins Freeman
Links to some non-supernaturalist etexts. [Donna M. Campbell, Washington State U]
Brief biographical note
At the Randolph Historical Society website, Freeman having been born in Randolph, Massachusetts, although her family lived there only a few years.
Biographical note
[Antiques Digest]
Brief biographical note
[John W. Cousins, A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910]

click the cover image for more info from Amazon.com
Freeman overview
A teaching guide, actually, and quite useful for students as well as teachers.... [Leah Glasser, Mount Holyoke]
Biographical note
Related to the above site, associated with the Heath Anthology of American Literature.
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: Perspectives in American Literature
Select bibliography and biographical note. [Paul Reubens, Cal State Stanislaus]
Brief biographical note
[American Passages]
Biographical note
Emphasizes family and interpersonal relationships in Freeman's life ("a woman-centered woman") and work. [Susan Koppelman; glbtq]
Brief biographical note
[Wikipedia]
Brief biographical note
[Encyclopedia Britannica]
Bibliography
[FantasticFiction]


Etexts:
The six texts linked immediately below constitute the entire volume The Wind in the Rose-Bush and Other Stories of the Supernatural, published in 1903. This collection has also become available as a Project Gutenberg etext. The illustrations are by Peter Newell.

"The Wind in the Rose-Bush" [1902] (41K) [Gaslight]
One of Freeman's "forlorn child" ghost stories.
Illustration
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click the cover image for more info from Amazon.com
"The Shadows on the Wall" (35K) a LitGothic etext
Illustrations
This story is also available as part of Stories by Modern American Authors, a Project Gutenberg etext (756K). The individual tales in this volume are not available as separate files, so you'll need to use your browser's search function to locate it.
"Luella Miller" (32K) a LitGothic etext
Illustration
"The Southwest Chamber" (60K) a LitGothic etext
Illustration
Brief discussion of this story.
"The Vacant Lot" (34K) a LitGothic etext
Illustrations
"The Lost Ghost" (40K) a LitGothic etext
Generally regarded as the most horrific of the "forlorn child" stories, due largely to its "in your face" supernaturalism and the (related) theme of child abuse.
Illustration

Other Freeman texts:
"A Far-Away Melody" [1883] (20K) a LitGothic etext
More of Freeman's spinsters and their (accurate) premonitions...
"The Little Maid at the Door" [1892] (40K) a LitGothic etext
Freeman's most well-known play is Giles Corey, Yeoman, set during the Salem witch trials. This short story is a supernaturalist look at the emotional and moral complexities of that troubled episode in American history.
Howard Pyle's illustration for this story
"A Symphony in Lavender" [1883] (20K) a LitGothic etext
A story of premonitory dreams; the tale's deliberately genteel surface is in marked contrast to its powerful sexual subtext.
"The Hall Bedroom" [1905] (40K) a LitGothic etext
Another story of dreams and human psychology, repression and denial and fantasy.
"A Gentle Ghost" [1889] (33K) a LitGothic etext
A masterful—if perhaps a touch sentimental by contemporary standards—handling of the "explained supernatural" trope. This tale is the least horrific of Freeman's "forlorn child" stories.
"The Twelfth Guest" [1893] (43K) a LitGothic etext
One of Freeman's contributions to that stalwart Victorian tradition of the Christmas ghost story, this story is appropriately symbolic and deals lightly with the Gothic element.


Essays and Reviews:
Brief discussion of Freeman as a mystery writer
[A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection, Michael E. Grost]

Review of Mary Wilkins Freeman: A Study of the Short Fiction by Mary R. Reichardt (Twayne, 1997) and A Mary Wilkins Freeman Reader (U Nebraska, 1997), edited by Reichart.
Reviewer: Robert M. Luscher (U Nebraska - Kearney). [FindArticles.com]
"Mary E. Wilkins Freeman."