awakening of miss prim questions.doc/12-8-15/Jane Easterly
Discussion Questions for The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera
1. Did you like the characters? Did you find them believable?
2. What did you think of the plot line development? How credible did the author make the plot?
Did the plot take turns you did not expect, or did you find it predictable?
3. At one point the Man in the Wing Chair says in regards to novels:
I think it’s pretty easy to identify what’s aimed at women; just check the sex of the
author. It’s strange that men mostly write for both sexes, but women write for women.
With a few honorable exceptions, of course. (p. 167)
Later he adds:
Nowadays women’s writing has lost its capacity to make us change our gaze, look at
things in a different way. When I read a novel by a woman I get the impression that the
author is doing nothing more than looking at herself. (p. 170)
What are your thoughts on these statements? Do you agree or disagree?
4. The residents of San Ireneo have some interesting ideas on the education of children.
For example, the Man in the Wing Chair does not want his librarian to have any
degrees, and a member of the selection panel for the local schoolteacher says:
Eugenia Mott is a simple, extremely simple teacher because what San Ireneo wants
for its children is exactly that: a teacher without intellectual aspirations. ... If they hired a
teacher bursting with theories on education, sociology, child psychology, and all those
other modern sciences, they’d be letting the fox into the henhouse. (pp. 93-94)
What are your thoughts on these statements? Do you agree or disagree?
5. The local Feminist League considers it one of their duties to find Miss Prim a husband.
(See pp. 56-57.) What are your thoughts on “feminism” as practiced in San Ireneo?
6. The Man in the Wing Chair has very developed ideas on what children should read
and when. His list does not include books like Little Women. When Miss Prim suggests
that there are gaps in the girls’ literary education, the Man in the Wing Chair disagrees.
(See pp. 154-155.) What are your thoughts on his opinion? Do you agree or disagree?
7. When is this book set? Can you tell? Is this important?
8. Has anyone had any experiences that relate to places or experiences in the book?
9. Any comments about the way the book ended?
10. Are there any questions you would like to ask, or other comments you would like to make?