"I Stand Here Ironing"

Analytical Essay # 118174

History > U.S. The 1930's - Great Depression
Literature > American

An analysis of the autobiographical aspects of Tillie Olsen's writing in her work "I Stand Here Ironing".

1,217 words () | 8 sources | APA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper shows how Tillie Olsen's work, "I Stand Here Ironing", is a depiction of the dysfunction that invaded the personal relationships of those who were victimized by the Great Depression. The paper discusses how Olsen's distant, dysfunctional relationship with her daughter was caused by the environmental conditions of the Great Depression, and the inequitable distribution of wealth in the capitalist society that Olsen so opposed.

From the Paper:

"Tillie Lerner Olsen (1913-2007) was an American writer whose short body of work is most commonly associated with the destitution and wasteland like conditions of the Great Depression in America, and the related political turmoil that arose from it. She was born to Russian Jewish immigrants, which would be related later in the sweatshop-type literature which marked her most famous story. Born in Wahoo, Nebraska she moved to Omaha as a young child. She dropped out of Omaha High School to join the work force, working as a domestic, waitress, and meat trimmer in menial jobs characteristic of the Great Depression. She also was a union organizer and political activist in the socialist party, and joined the American Community Party in the 1930's. She was even jailed for making excessive noise while organizing a worker's union."

Sample of Sources Used:

Walden, Daniel J. Twentieth-century American-Jewish fiction writers. Detroit: Gale, 1984
Dawahare, Anthony. (1998) "'That Joyous Certainty': History and Utopia in Tillie Olsen's Depression-Era Literature." Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 44, No. 3. Autumn, pp. 261-275.
Olsen, Tillie. (1961) Tell Me a Riddle. Delacorte New York. Retrieved October 29, 2008: http://home.nc.rr.com/jhartzog/istandhereironing.html
Frye, Joanne S. 'I Stand Here Ironing': Motherhood as experience and metaphor
'A Child of Anxious, Not Proud, Love': Mother and Daughter in Tillie Olsen's 'I Stand Here Ironing,' from Mother Puzzles: Daughter and Mothers in Contemporary American Literature, edited by Mickey Pearlman, Greenwood Press, 1989, pp. 35-9.