Alice Ware: The Transforming Housewife

Alice Ware, the wife of Theron Ware is a transforming character that negatively digresses from a well-spoken and lighthearted housewife to an uninvolved introvert woman. From her original sacrifices after moving to Octavius to her “relationship” with Levi Gorringe we see converted woman.

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From the book: The Damnation of Theron Ware or Illumination.

Alice’s Transformation

• At the beginning of the book Alice was a spirited, independent daughter of a wealthy farmer

• Alice received an education at a town seminary, which was unusual for women at this time.

• For many years Alice and Theron were happy together. Theron describes Alice the first time he saw her, “The bright eyed, frank-faced, serenely self-reliant girl, who now, less than four years thereafter, could be heard washing dishes out in the parsonage kitchen” (Frederic, 16).

• Alice had to adjust to the rules of Octavius by removing her flowers from her bonnet, and agreeing to not get milk on Sundays. Agreeing to the rules of the conservative town was the beginning of Alice’s change from a self-reliant woman to a dependent woman.

Theron starts to notice little things about Alice that are changing. Examples are the following:

• Alice became less interested in what Theron had to say. Theron said that she “she gave his jokes only a dutiful half-smile” (Frederic, 34).

• Alice didn’t like the church and what it has done to both her and Theron; she thought, “the church in Octavius might best be described by the word sulky” (Frederic, 105).

• She began to act suspicious in Theron’s eyes about her relationship with Levi Gorringe. Alice was getting plants for her garden from Levi and hesitated to tell Theron where they came from.

The reader sees a huge transformation from the Alice at the beginning of the novel to the Alice at the end

• Alice begins to feel neglected and unwanted by Theron as soon as he meets Celia, and her misery is apparent at the moving service where she bonds with the sinners of the town at the altar.

• Alice seems to agree to Ware's treatment of her without protesting. She makes sure to keep a distant manner from him because she can see that something has changed.

• When both Theron and Alice were at the Methodist camp in the woods, Theron could barely stand to be with her, and she gives no obvious praise to the sermons he gave.

• With a sudden change in plans Theron leaves for New York. Alice abandons Octavius and stays with her husband. She decides to continue to be devoted to Theron. But in the end it seems obvious that this time in her life has taken its toll on her, and she has a hard time being the way she was before her time in Octavius.

Looking at Alice through a critical eye

Crowley, John. "The Nude and the Madonna in The Damnation of Theron Ware." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and Bibliography 45(1973): 379-389.

• This article suggests that Theron was originally attracted to Alice because of her mind and heart. Theron valued her opinions and her intellectual ideas. Theron was not attracted to her sexually like he was to Celia. He could only see her as a motherly figure not a sexual woman. The reason that he begins to drift away from her was that he could not see her as a sexual being. I began to think that there were other reasons and views on why Alice and Theron began to have problems in their marriage. This article also looks at the other woman characters in the novel and how they all relate. It is important to understand the characteristics that they share and how Theron views them.

Oehischlaegaer, Fritz. "Passion, Authority, and Faith in The Damnation of Theron Ware." American Literature 58(1986): 238-255.

• This article discussed the idea of Alice changing when she moved to Octavius. It began when she was forced to remove the flowers on her bonnet when she arrived there. This article discusses that this was the moment when Alice changed, and when Theron drifted from her and moved toward Celia.

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