A New England Nun by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

Marriage is often viewed as an expected aspect of life that is necessary in order to be a whole and happy person. Louisa, of Mary E. Wilkin Freeman's 'A New England Nun', goes against this custom. When presented with the opportunity to marry, she rejects it. To her, a solitary life of domestic activities translates into happiness and contentment, while a married life is unfavorable and would actually make her unhappy due to the absence …

…on simple household activities in which she took much joy, and could only be happy around her house with her belongings and familiar rituals. A shift in her life that would keep her from her activities and require her to live with someone so unlike her and her femininity, like marriage, would only make her unhappy. It is for these reasons that she declines to marry, and happily returns to her docile and simple life.