University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks Dissertations and Theses @ UNI Student Work 2014 Solitary Anita Ellen Schuck University of Northern Iowa Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Copyright ©2014 Anita Ellen Schuck Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Schuck, Anita Ellen, "Solitary" (2014). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 126. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/126 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses @ UNI by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Copyright by ANITA SCHUCK 2014 All Rights Reserved SOLITARY An Abstract of a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Anita Ellen Schuck University of Northern Iowa May 2014 ABSTRACT This novella explores the themes of isolation and captivity. Millie Canfield feels isolated and held captive by her family. She dreams of freedom and beauty, only to see her attempts to achieve it repeatedly undone. She flees from family to marriage, only to experience isolation and captivity in a different form. She wants to be rescued, but she is oblivious to outside attempts to help. Millie also holds herself captive, torn between her perceived wants and obligations. She feels isolated, but she has isolated herself. When she at last achieves a measure of freedom, it is more a case of outlasting her prison than of actually escaping.