Read our detailed study guide on the short story I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen. Our study guide covers I Stand Here Ironing summary, themes, characters, and literary analysis.
I Stand Here Ironing Summary
The story begins when the narrator speaks to an unidentified person while ironing. That person claims Emily needs assistance. She asks the unidentified person regarding her nineteen-year-old daughter Emily who has asked her to discuss Emily.
There, the narrator starts ruminating about the childhood of Emily and her part as a mother she performs. She expresses that she has no special insight into her daughter’s life
Emily is the oldest and beautiful among the children though she always had a fear of being ugly. Then the narrator describes how Emily’s father abandoned them because of poverty. Then, the narrator recalls the worsening situation of her household which forces her to do a job. She reflects on her memories of how she had to run back home to feed Emily, who always cried for her presence.
The narrator, on the other hand, couldn’t manage work and care for Emily. Therefore, she sent her to her father’s relatives. However, Emily was again handed over to her mother when she was two years old.
At that time Emily was in poor health that becomes the cause of guilt and sadness if the narrator. The narrator placed Emily in daycare though she knows Emily does not like it. But she was supposed to work for hours due to which she had opted for this option.
Likewise, the narrator describes how Emily avoids going to school though she never explicitly rebels. In the same manner, the narrator seems to recollect the anxious, serious, and ill childhood of Emily. The clocks in particular frightened Emily.
During that time, Emily becomes qualmish. In order to protect her, the narrator and her new husband decided to send her to a convalescent home for eight months. But instead of getting better, she becomes more doleful there.
Similarly, when Emily returns, she gets distant from her family and starts worrying about the school and her appearance. In the meanwhile, the narrator gives birth to another daughter named Susan. The narrator’s other daughter; Susan, is comparatively beautiful and cheerful.
Moreover, the narrator is fearful of the relationship between these two sisters. Emily resents her stepsister and is always in conflict with her. On this, the narrator feels guilty for not being able to maintain the sisterhood between them.
Further, the narrator depicts how Emily looks after her three more step-siblings when the narrator is busy working and doing household chores. At that point, the narrator again expresses her worry for Emily thinking domestic life made Emily’s life burdensome. Due to the narrator’s job and busy schedule she is not being able to express her love for Emily.
However, in the end, the narrator exhibits the transformation of Emily into a successful comedian. She performs at her high school and some other events as well. On this, the narrator becomes worried that she wouldn’t be able to provide resources to polish her talent.
At that time, Emily enters the room being cheerful and in a talkative mood where the narrator is ironing. On seeing this narrator wonders why anyone would worry for Emily if she is happy. While Emily cracks a joke about dying in an atom bomb and goes to her bed.
However, the narrator seems flustered about the complicated reality of her daughter’s personality. However, she consoles herself by saying she will “never total it all”. The narrator also expresses optimism about her daughter that if she doesn’t use her full potential even still she will have a better future unlike her mother.
Background of the Story
“I stand here ironing” is a short story written by an American writer Tillie Lerner Olsen. This story was published along with other short stories in her collection Tell Me a Riddle in 1961.
This story is written after the Second World War and in the time of great depression. Besides, it also recounts the burgeoning feminist movement in America as a result of women’s subjugation. Moreover, Olsen criticizes the 1950s chores of American society. As well as, the story emphasizes the economic disturbance of those times.
The story revolves around a teenage girl, Emily, who spent a sick and neglected childhood. Her mother couldn’t give her the best attention due to constant labors. Also, they are abandoned by the male authority of the home. Due to this, Emily got a complex personality.
Themes in I Stand Here Ironing
Domestic Life, Labor, and Poverty
This story gives the conventional idea of American families of the 1950s. In those times, husbands do the job and earn while wives were just supposed to upbring the child properly. However, this story doesn’t depict the conventional structure rather it is presented in the tattered form.
Parents got split when Emily was born. Father left the and in this way, they were exposed to the outer world. Whole responsibility fell on the shoulders of Emily’s mother. Due to which she couldn’t provide Emily the best care.
Female Identity
In the story, feminity is both an asset and a liability. Despite getting forlorn by the male authority of the house, the narrator didn’t get weak. She did the labor to provide sustenance to her family. Though in doing so, her oldest daughter got bereft of the best care she needed.
Moreover, society’s expectations from women are also represented on the other side. Both of the sisters resent each other. Consequently, conflicts also rise. They both object to each other on the ground of beauty. This mirrors how women were considered the symbol of objectification.
However, the narrator and Emily nevertheless of female gender find the resilience in their works. Emily copes up with being a perfect comedian.
Time
In the story, at one hand time tyrannizes while on the other hand, it is generative as well. At first, time shows tranny over the narrator and Emily. The narrator was imposing to make the hardest choices of her life. At one time, she does labor while the other time she runs back to home to feed her infant. In order to provide protection and make ends meet, the narrator kept aside her motherly feelings and sent Emily towards relatives.
Similarly, Emily also in her childhood got neglected. Though that was the time when she needed her mother the most. But she was deprived of that and spent a miserable childhood with sufferings and ailments.
However, in the end, both of the characters find resilience and hence time proved generative over that point. Emily finds a way to deal with her tensions. Same is the case with the narrator for whom the time also becomes generative, as the family becomes quite stable.
Obedience and Self-expression
Emily and the narrator both spent their lives according to the societal norms. Emily does not rebel against anything though she silently expresses her concern.
On the other hand, the narrator also lives up with the standard of society. She tried to become a good mother and a homemaker. She doesn’t complain about her husband for what he did to them. Rather she took all responsibilities on her shoulders.
Guilt and Responsibility
The narrator in the story gets overburdened with the responsibilities. At the same time, she is looking after the child and doing her work. Eventually, she sent her child to the relatives as she no longer took the responsibilities.
She sacrifices her motherly feelings and opted to do the labor to provide support to her family. However, after some time, she is overwhelmed by guilt for abandoning her in the age when she needed her the most.
Throughout the story, readers may feel how guilt is following the narrator. Whenever she recollects The childhood of Emily she is engulfed by guilt for not being able to present for her daughter. She blames herself for the miserable state of Emily.
Characters
The Narrator
The narrator in the story is the mother of five children, who belong to the working class. Her husband left her due to the grim poverty. Consequently, she did several works to make ends meet.
Readers may find the whole story narrated through her, sometimes by recalling her past. Given that, she stood ironing the clothes throughout the whole story. By this readers may come to know about the unbalanced relationship between them.
After getting deserted by her first husband, she remarried to another person named Bill. Moreover, the narrator reveals her guilt and sadness for her inadequate care towards Emily.
Emily
Emily is the oldest daughter of the narrator in the story. When the story opens up her age is nineteen. Though the narrator describes both her childhood and teenage. The narrator receives a call presumably from Emily’s school side, telling her about the disturbed and struggling attitude of Emily.
Moreover, Emily had a neglected childhood, suffering from poverty, and ailment. Father left her and mother was engaged in works due to which Emily got bereft of many things. Besides she was sent away to her father’s relative in order to look after. However, she got I’ll over there.
Similarly, she seems to be resentful from her stepsister Susan. There are always conflicts between them.
Additionally, at the end of the story, one can see that she finds her resilience in being a comedian. Also, she gives a hand to her mother in taking care of her younger siblings.
Susan
She is the younger sister of Emily and the second child of the narrator. Comparatively, she is more confident, clever, and beautiful than Emily. Also, Emily resents her.
The narrator describes Susan had an easy childhood. Unlike her elder sister, she didn’t struggle socially and academically.
Ronnie
He is the youngest child of the narrator and youngest brother of Emily and Susan. He represents the stable and thriving position of the family. Despite being the youngest child he didn’t bother very much.
Literary Analysis
“I stand here ironing” is a short story written by an American writer Tillie Lerner Olsen. This story was published along with other short stories in her collection Tell Me a Riddle in 1961.
The lingering effects of war are depicted in the story. Moreover, the narrator talks about the time of great depression. She is of the view that perhaps the cause of her daughter’s complex personality is living in the time of great depression.
Similar to this, the story also highlights the repercussions of the Second World War. Speaking of which economic crisis is explicit in the story. The narrator gets abandoned by her husband and after that, she is supposed to take all the responsibilities on her shoulders. Given that, she also has to feed her infant on time. However, she couldn’t provide her the best care.
Through this Olsen exhibits the perturbed condition of American society. Most importantly, highlighting the impacts of war and great depression on the generation of those times i-e, Emily.
On the other hand, one can see the budding movement of feminism. Particularly, when the narrator got exposure to working outside by doing labors in order to live up. This also throws light on the sufferings of women as well. The narrator tries to put herself to the expectations of society accordingly. She manages her domestic duties and also does work.
Moreover, the narrator has mentioned work progress administration WPA to tell how they provide labor works to the suffering families in lieu of giving them welfare. After the war in the time of depression, many of the single mothers raised their children without any financial aid and social services.
Furthermore, readers may find both characters using different personas. Emily develops the persona of a good student and good daughter before society however; inside she was a broken person. She seems to be in conflict with her younger sister Susan due to her confidence and beauty. Likewise, the narrator develops the persona of a good mother whereas she couldn’t provide the best motherly care to her daughter Emily.
Additionally, readers may find optimism and the element of resilience in both characters. Emily copes up with her haunting past by transforming herself into a perfect comedian. On the other side, the narrator finds resilience in time. With the passage of time, her domestic life and working life both get balanced. However, she still gets hurt by the guilt of not being able to provide good care to her daughter Emily.
In the end, she shows optimism regarding her daughter’s messy life. She expresses that Emily will get a better future.
Significance of the Title
The title signifies the chores and flaws of the narrator. Though, she stands there ironing the clothes of her daughter to make it smooth and unwrinkled. However, she failed to press away the flaws in her daughter’s life which made her into a complicated personality.
This also represents how she preferred domestic responsibilities over the care of her daughter. She overlooks her even her ailment and tries to make ends meet. The Narrator regrets this attitude later on.
Setting
The time period of Olsen’s story seems to be set in the 1950s. However, the overall story is set in a working-class family of America. Olsen has represented the characters with an ordinary touch such as the narrator stands before the iron stands.
Symbolism
Olsen has used the following symbols in the story:
The Iron
Readers can see the narrator holding the iron throughout the story. On one side it demonstrates the power of the narrator. On the other side, it provides glimpses of the narrator’s messy domestic life. Like the iron, she tries to overcome the problems of her domestic life. Her whole life spent in this struggle and iron symbolizes this in its to and fro motion to flatten the wrinkles over clothes.
Moreover, iron represents the responsibilities of the narrator towards her home and children. It shows how she manages both her work and household things. Yet it also depicts the imprisonment of the narrator.
Clocks
Clocks symbolize both the social norms and the sufferings of Emily and the narrator. Both of them tried to shape themselves according to society. Emily tries to be a good daughter and student nevertheless of the chaos inside her. Similarly, the narrator tries to become a conventional woman, who does the best to maintain her domestic life.
On the other hand, both of them suffer from time. Emily’s childhood was spent in neglect, poverty, and ailment. In the same manner, the narrator’s young age passed with the burdens of responsibilities for which she even sacrificed her motherly feelings for Emily.
However, with the passage of time, things get resolved and both of them find their way of resilience.
Imagery
Olsen has visualized the appearance of Emily after enduring the torments. Her misery got visible on her face. However, the girls of her age comparatively thrive and seem beautiful. However, her personality strikes in contrast. The narrator says “She was dark and thin and foreign-looking in a world where the prestige went to blondeness and curly hair and dimples, she was slow where glibness was prized”.
In the same manner, Olsen used concrete imagery of “iron”. It does not just give the literal meaning rather it denotes the shaping of Emily’s life by the narrator. The role played by the narrator in Emily’s life is expressed via iron. In particular, when the narrator says “I stand here Ironing, and what you asked me moves tormented back and forth with the Iron”.
Tone & Genre
The story is told through the defective tone and is written in realistic fiction.
Point of View
Olsen has told this story via third-person narration.
Literary Devices
Olsen has used certain literary devices to provide the specific meaning to the readers
Allusion
Olsen has used certain allusions in the story to make the meaning explicit to the readers. Firstly, readers may come across the allusion of “pre-relief,” “pre-WPA” which signifies the Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal.
Secondly, Olsen portrays the repercussions of World War Second via applying certain allusions. The narrator says “She is a child of her age, of depression, of war, of fear”.
Thirdly, Emily used the word “atom-dead” in a humorous way which depicts the atomic bomb used brutally in the Second World War.
Metaphor
Readers may find Olsen draws a comparison between Emily and the dress lying for ironing. The narrator says “she is more than this dress on the ironing board, helpless, before the iron.” This mirrors the hope of the narrator that Emily’s life will be better. Also, it tells about the miserable life in which Emily seems shackled by the norms of society.