The Stone Angel: Characteristics of Hagar Shipley

             Margaret Lawrence's character in "Stone Angel", Hagar Shipley, has numerous characteristics that remain dominant throughout the novel. Among them are pride and stubborness and a desire for strength and independence. As well, Hagar also has qualities such as intelligence, neatness and a belief in the importance of manners that continue throughout her life. All of these traits shape and mold the story of Hagar's life.
             Hagar's pride and stubborness are consistently influential throughout her life. As she states near the end of the novel, "Pride was my wilderness, and the demon that led me there was fear." Often these characteristics cause her anguish; her excessive pride prevented her from opening up to Bram, her husband; "I prided myself upon keeping my pride intact, like some maidenhead." Her stubborness is expressed in situations such as her repeated refusal to go to a nursing home, and in her hanging on to her life as at the end when she thinks her daughter-in-law and her son "don't care whether I live or die. Well, I won't." Pride and stubborness are potently present throughout Hagar's life, and have a profound impact on its outcomes.
             Strength and independence are also consistent throughout Hagar's life. They are thought to be valuable characteristics by her. She remembers with affection her father telling her, "You take after me...You've got backbone, I'll give you that." She models herself after her father and their Scottish ancestors, as she finds herself repeating her father's advice to her son, John; "Not everyone can start with money. Many a man's pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, as your grandfather Currie did. And you will, too." Both leaving Bram and much later trying to escape her son and daughter-in-law's desire to put her in a nursing home by going to Shadow Point, are examples of her craving for independence. This remains with her to the very end of her life, as she reaches for the water from the nur...

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The Stone Angel: Characteristics of Hagar Shipley. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:05, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/81036.html