238:
sense of guilt for her lack of attention and care devoted toward Emily, thus causing the various problems her daughter faces. Meanwhile, while recounting the past, she falls back on the act of ironing and other endless chores for her defense, suggesting that, though guilty for her shortcomings as a mother, she can do nothing about it due to her never-ending cycle of domestic duties.
261:
Biographers Mickey
Pearlman and Abby H. P. Werlock declare the story to be "the most overtly autobiographical fiction Olsen has ever published..." Though "I Stand Here Ironing" comes the closest to autobiography of all her stories, the author-narrator is not a perfect equivalent to the character she
241:
On the domestic task of ironing clothing as a metaphor, Olsen offered this comparison: "written and rewritten and rewritten on the ironing board late at night...The very timbre, rhythm of the piece, the back and forth movement as the iron itself moves." Indeed, Olsen once, in "a slip of the tongue"
237:
As the narrator irons her daughter (Emily)'s dress, she is also "ironing out" her daughter's path and problems. The act of ironing signifies smoothness and thus her hope for Emily to have a smooth life; though she is prevented from taking steps to achieve this goal. The word "tormented" suggests her
137:
extended periods, as well as to a country convalescent home for children of indigent parents. These episodes are painful to the mother and particularly the daughter. The mother fervently hopes that her daughter, now an adult, will surmount her difficult childhood and achieve a measure of happiness.
136:
Her narrative concentrates on recollections of raising Emily under these difficult circumstances. The hardships the young single mother endured to find work necessitated frequent absences from her daughter during her infancy and throughout her childhood. Emily was sent to her father's relatives for
273:
years. Olsen enumerated the factors influencing the composition of the story, while she was still raising her younger daughters: "T]he writing time available to me; what is happening in my work and family life, and in the larger environment, in society."
185:
in 1954, Olsen submitted an early draft of "I Stand Here
Ironing." Foff was so impressed by the story that he encouraged Olsen—who was often preoccupied with providing for her young children—to cease attending his class and begin writing independently.
252:"Part of what Olsen shows in her writing is that to varying degrees, women wield power even in patriarchal society and are, therefore, partially responsible for shaping and misshaping the lives within that society."—Literary critic Mara Faulkner in
164:
Emily's mother — A mother who is filled with regrets and worries about her daughter. She worked hard to support her family and take care of them, but in retrospect, she realizes there are many things she would have done differently if she
128:
The narrator is a working-class woman in her early forties who has four children, all daughters. At 19-year-of-age she had given birth to her first child, after which her husband abandoned them, coinciding with the onset of the
285:
threat of nuclear annihilation, from which Olsen grasped "the contrast between nurturing care and incomprehensible destruction," a dilemma which Frye terms "the anguish of parental responsibility in an unsupportive society."
171:
Susan — the second child, golden and curly haired, chubby, quick, articulate and sure. By the time Susan was born, her mother had remarried and gained enough experience to show more affection than when Emily was
447:
400:
197:
Pearlman and
Werlock add: "espite the fact that she still had domestic responsibilities, she was able to spend three days a week writing—and then had to return to work where she took jobs at
125:
confessional narrative. Presented as an "interior monologue" or an "imagined dialogue," the work incorporates autobiographical elements from Olsen's early adulthood to her middle-age.
193:
carried her writing with her on the bus, at work, at night, during and after housework: no wonder, she says, the "first work I considered publishable began: 'I stand here ironing.'"
146:
Emily — A shy nineteen-year-old girl. She is the oldest of five children. Emily had a very difficult childhood, but has recently developed a talent for comedic acting. She is
439:
392:
113:
Along with "Tell Me a Riddle" (1960), "I Stand Here
Ironing" is by far the most reprinted and anthologized of Olsen's fictional work.
278:
467:
Pearlman and
Werlock, 1991 p. 28: Foff "had nothing more to teach her..." And: Olsen: "I loved , and am deeply indebted to him..."
262:
presents. Literary critic Joanne S. Frye warns that such a parallel is "false and distracting...decidedly not the real issue."
341:
751:
277:
According to literary critic Joanne S. Frye, the composition of "I Stand Here
Ironing" was in part prompted by the 1945
189:
Biographers Mickey
Pearlman and Abby H. P. Werlock describe Olsen's circumstances while writing "I Stand Here Ironing":
726:
674:
638:
618:
528:
Frye, 1995 p. 21: Ellipsis in original by Frye, interview with Olsen And p. 32: See section on
Metaphor and Metonymy
746:
182:
93:
in 1956 under the title "Help Her to
Believe." The story was republished in 1957 as "I Stand Here Ironing" in
609:
582:
Pearlman and
Werlock, 1991 p. 38: On Olsen's perennial theme of loss, of " of opportunity in 'Ironing'..."
741:
688:
213:
95:
591:
Frye, 1995 p. 23 And p. 36: The story "as part of a larger understanding of the need for social change."
504:
265:
The story was informed by Olsen's inability to write fiction while a teen-age single mother during the
701:
107:
147:
652:
233:
I stand here ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the iron.
8:
209:
89:
722:
718:
705:
670:
634:
630:
614:
347:
337:
266:
130:
102:
665:
198:
735:
351:
212:
in 1956 under the title "Help Her to Believe." In 1957, the work appeared in
154:
will soon destroy everything; so there is no point in caring about anything.
694:
80:
31:
709:
331:
623:
151:
27:
320:
Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 6: "...anthologized more than 90 times..."
229:
One of the story's central metaphors is established in the opening line:
689:
https://literariness.org/2020/06/22/analysis-of-tillie-olsens-stories/
122:
282:
270:
202:
158:
679:
Mambrol, Nasrullah. 2020. "Analysis of Tillie Olsen's Stories."
564:
Frye, 1995 p. 20: minor ellipsis for brevity, meaning unaltered.
440:""I Stand Here Ironing": Motherhood as Experience and Metaphor"
393:""I Stand Here Ironing": Motherhood as Experience and Metaphor"
150:
about life and the world, despite her youth. She believes the
208:
The story was first published in the Pacific Spectator and
168:
Emily's stepfather — called away to fight in World War II.
157:
Emily's father — deserted the family so as to not "share
254:
Protest & Possibility in the Writing of Tillie Olsen
606:
Protest and Possibility in the Writing of Tillie Olsen.
181:While attending a course taught by Arthur Foff at
161:with them" less than one year after Emily's birth.
733:
714:Pearlman, Mickey and Werlick, Abby H. P.. 1991.
242:referred her story as "I Stand Here Writing."
643:
302:Frye, 1995 p. 217-218: Selected Bibliography
648:. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
628:Tillie Olsen: A Study of the Short Fiction.
497:
429:Faulkner, 1993 pp. 116-119: Plot summary
659:to Tell Me a Riddle in Tell Me Riddle,
734:
329:
116:
494:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 29-30
311:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 29-30
219:
13:
444:login.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au
397:login.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au
14:
763:
485:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 121
476:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 121
555:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 30
373:Pearlman and Werlock, 1991 p. 30
100:The work was first collected in
585:
576:
567:
558:
549:
540:
531:
522:
488:
479:
470:
461:
450:from the original on 2014-11-17
432:
423:
403:from the original on 2014-11-17
279:Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
16:Short story by Tillie Olsen
414:
385:
376:
367:
358:
323:
314:
305:
296:
183:San Francisco State University
1:
681:Literary Theory and Criticism
613:, Charlotteville and London.
289:
176:
140:
610:University Press of Virginia
505:"Important Quotes Explained"
7:
691:Retrieved 19 November 2023.
644:Kelly, Joseph, ed. (2001).
420:Mambrol, 2020: Plot summary
224:
216:as "I Stand Here Ironing."
214:Best American Short Stories
96:Best American Short Stories
10:
768:
752:Jewish American literature
702:J. B. Lippincott & Co.
646:The Seagull Reader Stories
598:
108:J. B. Lippincott & Co.
66:
58:
53:
45:
37:
26:
21:
245:
121:The story is told in a
83:that first appeared in
747:American short stories
604:Faulkner, Mara. 1993.
330:Olsen, Tillie (1956).
258:
235:
210:Stanford Short Stories
195:
90:Stanford Short Stories
77:"I Stand Here Ironing"
22:"I Stand Here Ironing"
546:Faulkner, 1993 p. 104
250:
231:
191:
133:in the early 1930s.
79:is a short story by
281:and the subsequent
203:Western Agency girl
742:1961 short stories
336:. New York: Dell.
719:Twayne Publishers
699:Tell Me A Riddle.
631:Twayne Publishers
343:978-0-440-38573-8
117:Plot introduction
85:Pacific Spectator
74:
73:
62:Pacific Spectator
759:
721:, Boston, Mass.
704:, Philadelphia.
649:
592:
589:
583:
580:
574:
573:Frye, 1995 p. 21
571:
565:
562:
556:
553:
547:
544:
538:
537:Frye, 1995 p. 23
535:
529:
526:
520:
519:
517:
515:
501:
495:
492:
486:
483:
477:
474:
468:
465:
459:
458:
456:
455:
436:
430:
427:
421:
418:
412:
411:
409:
408:
389:
383:
380:
374:
371:
365:
364:Frye, 1995 p. 20
362:
356:
355:
333:Tell me a riddle
327:
321:
318:
312:
309:
303:
300:
267:Great Depression
220:Literary Devices
131:Great Depression
103:Tell Me a Riddle
67:Publication date
19:
18:
767:
766:
762:
761:
760:
758:
757:
756:
732:
731:
624:Frye, Joanne S.
601:
596:
595:
590:
586:
581:
577:
572:
568:
563:
559:
554:
550:
545:
541:
536:
532:
527:
523:
513:
511:
503:
502:
498:
493:
489:
484:
480:
475:
471:
466:
462:
453:
451:
438:
437:
433:
428:
424:
419:
415:
406:
404:
391:
390:
386:
381:
377:
372:
368:
363:
359:
344:
328:
324:
319:
315:
310:
306:
301:
297:
292:
259:
248:
227:
222:
179:
143:
119:
17:
12:
11:
5:
765:
755:
754:
749:
744:
730:
729:
712:
692:
677:
650:
641:
621:
600:
597:
594:
593:
584:
575:
566:
557:
548:
539:
530:
521:
496:
487:
478:
469:
460:
431:
422:
413:
384:
375:
366:
357:
342:
322:
313:
304:
294:
293:
291:
288:
249:
247:
244:
226:
223:
221:
218:
178:
175:
174:
173:
169:
166:
162:
155:
142:
139:
118:
115:
72:
71:
68:
64:
63:
60:
56:
55:
51:
50:
47:
43:
42:
39:
35:
34:
24:
23:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
764:
753:
750:
748:
745:
743:
740:
739:
737:
728:
727:0-8057-7632-X
724:
720:
717:
716:Tillie Olsen.
713:
711:
707:
703:
700:
696:
695:Olsen, Tillie
693:
690:
686:
682:
678:
676:
675:0-385-29010-1
672:
668:
667:
663:published by
662:
658:
654:
653:Leonard, John
651:
647:
642:
640:
639:0-8057-0863-4
636:
632:
629:
625:
622:
620:
619:0-8139-1417-5
616:
612:
611:
607:
603:
602:
588:
579:
570:
561:
552:
543:
534:
525:
510:
506:
500:
491:
482:
473:
464:
449:
445:
441:
435:
426:
417:
402:
398:
394:
388:
379:
370:
361:
353:
349:
345:
339:
335:
334:
326:
317:
308:
299:
295:
287:
284:
280:
275:
272:
268:
263:
257:
255:
243:
239:
234:
230:
217:
215:
211:
206:
204:
200:
194:
190:
187:
184:
170:
167:
163:
160:
156:
153:
149:
145:
144:
138:
134:
132:
126:
124:
114:
111:
109:
106:published by
105:
104:
99:
97:
92:
91:
86:
82:
78:
69:
65:
61:
57:
52:
48:
44:
41:United States
40:
36:
33:
29:
25:
20:
715:
698:
685:Literariness
684:
680:
669:, New York.
664:
660:
657:Introduction
656:
645:
633:, New York.
627:
608:
605:
587:
578:
569:
560:
551:
542:
533:
524:
512:. Retrieved
508:
499:
490:
481:
472:
463:
452:. Retrieved
443:
434:
425:
416:
405:. Retrieved
396:
387:
382:Mambrol,2020
378:
369:
360:
332:
325:
316:
307:
298:
276:
269:through the
264:
260:
253:
251:
240:
236:
232:
228:
207:
196:
192:
188:
180:
135:
127:
123:first-person
120:
112:
101:
94:
88:
84:
81:Tillie Olsen
76:
75:
59:Published in
32:Tillie Olsen
661:Delta Books
514:25 February
152:atomic bomb
54:Publication
28:Short story
736:Categories
509:Sparknotes
454:2020-09-25
407:2020-09-25
290:References
199:Kelly girl
177:Background
141:Characters
710:748997729
352:748997729
110:in 1961.
697:. 1961.
655:. 1994.
626:. 1995.
448:Archived
401:Archived
283:Cold War
271:post war
225:Metaphor
46:Language
599:Sources
256:(1993)
159:poverty
148:cynical
49:English
38:Country
725:
708:
673:
637:
617:
350:
340:
165:could.
246:Theme
172:born.
723:ISBN
706:OCLC
671:ISBN
666:Dell
635:ISBN
615:ISBN
516:2021
348:OCLC
338:ISBN
201:and
87:and
70:1956
205:."
30:by
738::
687:.
683:,
507:.
446:.
442:.
399:.
395:.
346:.
518:.
457:.
410:.
354:.
98:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.