New Historicism and "I Stand Here Ironing" Tillie Olsen's short story "I Stand Here Ironing" appears to be a byproduct of an oppressed, single, working man - classy mother. Since many elements also contain feminist influences, it would make sense to take a feminist or post-feminist approach to critically analyze our history. However, due to Tillie Olsen's intriguing background, a neo-historicist approach to Olsen's “I Stand Here Ironing” would give a much deeper look into her life. With this approach, we can identify key connections between the author and the text. Which can help us understand the author better. To do this, there are a few things to consider about our author. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Starting from his early life, race, gender and status. From there, we can look at the time period and demographics of the author. This will provide us with information about his political, economic and intellectual education. So, we see how people reasoned during the author's lifetime, and the patterns and limitations involved in making sense. With all this information, we can decipher the autobiographical components of the story to make sense of it. One of the first things a new historicist would look at is the author's biography. Tillie Olsen is a white, mother, in America. She had been married twice and had been a single mother for quite some time. Her first husband left her shortly after the birth of her first child, making life extremely difficult to balance work and raising a child. This is very recognizable and almost identical to the Mother in our story; who is a single teenage mother facing the challenge of raising her son alone. This is the first autobiographical element, since our author's background corresponds to that of our main character, it can be said with certainty that these experiences lived by the Mother in "I Stand Here Ironing" are connectable not only to our author but also to others women in America. in the 20th century. Continuing with our author's life, we can take a look at information regarding his political, economic, and intellectual background to determine any connections to our story and the author. Olsen is working class, which could be a result of his lack of education, his Communist Party affiliation, or because he is descended from Russian immigrants. His parents came to America seeking political refuge, taking low-wage, blue-collar jobs because that was all they were qualified for. Olsen had to drop out of high school to help support his family during the Great Depression. Thus limiting her to low-income work and the stereotypical duties of a housewife. Although she was uneducated and busy being a mother, Olsen was still very political and strove to change the world. Also in this sense the mother in "I Stand Here Ironing" is quite similar to our author. She too is a working class, uneducated single mother who struggles to balance work and raising her children on her own. He thinks back to the decisions he's made in his life and wonders what he could have done differently to avoid them. Both the mother in our story and Olsen were abandoned by their husbands when their child was very young. Working class life is hard enough, but as a single mother it's next to impossible. The protagonist recalls an emotional moment that really shows how difficult times were: "In the clinic they convinced me to send her [first-born daughter] to a convalescent home in the countryside where "she will be able to havethe kind of food and care you can't handle for her, and you'll be free to focus on the new baby. “In this quote you can almost feel a tear come out as you read. Olsen uses this real emotion he felt when he was in that same situation to help tell the story. By making these connections with the autobiographical elements of our story, we can see that the two share the same issues, and it seems increasingly true that Olsen is alluding to her own life, which is like that of so many other women of the time. The last step of historical criticism is to research how people reasoned during our author's lifetime; as well as what patterns and constraints are involved in making sense. Olsen comes from a critical period in American chronology. Much of his life took place during war, depression and the equality movements of the 20th century. This was an influential period for America as many changes were taking place in the daily life of society. Two world wars forced the United States to change to win. The Great Depression followed nearly a decade after World War I. When unemployment soared, much of the American people were in poverty. However, the end of the recession would lead to World War II; and more and more women took jobs to help the war effort. Since the men were at war, the women still had to raise their children while working full-time jobs. The mother in “I Stand Here Ironing,” thinks about what life was like during the war years: “There was so little time left at night after the children were in bed. She struggled with books, was always eating (it was in those years that she developed her enormous appetite which is legendary in our family) and I was ironing, or preparing food for the next day, or writing V-Mails to Bill, or taking care of the child…”Tillie Olsen was one of those women, as she worked in a factory in the 1940s. This was the time when her life was filled with work and raising children, forcing her to put her writing on hold. She had found work as a secretary in the 1950s until her youngest daughter enrolled in school. Finally at that point he was able to start writing again. This was an influential period for Olsen, as these experiences changed who he was and what he stood for, effectively changing how and what he wrote about. Her days, just like many other American women; as a working class mother it showed her the inequality that women struggled with every day. This inspired her to join the feminist movement that was sweeping the nation. This feminist influence is evident in her work; as it accurately describes the challenges women faced during this period. Fighting against the American patriarchy that is still seen today, Olsen uses his story, "I Stand Here Ironing" as motivation for those who feel they have experienced the same challenges faced by our main character. Olsen mentions many symptoms of inequality that our main character faces on a daily basis. Considering that the entire story takes place inside the working class home where our main character is constantly ironing, Olsen transports the reader into the real mind of a fictional mother, suffering from the hardships of a patriarchal America. In this way, she was able to publicize the reality of what America was doing to its women. This is why she has been identified as “Champion of the re-emerging feminist movement”. This movement would later lead to changes that focused on women's distinctive needs. Equality was important to Olsen, who firmly believed that women deserved the same opportunities that men had.