Little Selves by Blanche Colton Williams
Blanche Colton Williams’s study of “Little Selves” examines the story’s construction through quoted remarks by Miss Lerner, who describes reshaping remembered material about “old Margaret” into a dramatic dying woman’s return to childhood scenes. Williams highlights the influence of Stevenson’s phrase about childhood, the selection and alteration of biographical details, the rapid drafting process, and the origin of the title. The analysis classifies the tale as a blend of an “evoked ghost” story and memory narrative, then directs readers to assess whether theme, characterization, or plot supplies its chief merit. It focuses on a tearful sentence as a dramatic climax, the withheld death, Margaret’s reconstructed life, Anna’s plot function, and the relation between the story’s two national settings.
By Blanche Colton Williams · First published 1919 · Genre: Literary Criticism, Literary Analysis, Literary Essay · 880 words
First lines
STARTING POINT AND STRUCTURAL PROCESSES. "You were right," Miss Lerner says, "about my knowing ‘the prototype of old Margaret. ' And every one of her storied recollections is a real one, told for the most part in her own words. She still insists so stoutly on the reality of the ‘little old man with the high hat,' the bewitched churn, the fairies' chairs and tables, that one ends by believing in them, too. So you see the material came ready to my hand. All I had to do was to vivify it, and cast it in the most dramatic form possible.
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Genres
- Literary Criticism — Williams evaluates the narrative’s merits and asks readers to judge the relative force of theme, plot, and characterization.
- Literary Analysis — The section closely examines composition, structural choices, climax, characters, and setting in the work under study.
- Literary Essay — It combines explanatory commentary with quoted authorial reflections and guided interpretive prompts.
- Non-Fiction — The text is a reader-oriented critical study rather than the narrative it discusses.
Tags
Blanche Colton Williams · Little Selves · Miss Lerner · constructive process · remembered material · childhood memory · theme versus plot · dramatic climax · withheld death · character story · Margaret · Anna
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Little Selves is listed on Textopian as an essay by Blanche Colton Williams, dated 1919 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Essay
- Author: Blanche Colton Williams
- Date: 1919 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Literary Criticism, Literary Analysis, Literary Essay, Non-Fiction
- Length: 880 words
- Structure: 1 section, 14 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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