SOURCE: “‘A White Heron’ as a Nun-such,” in “A White Heron” and the Question of Minor Literature, University of Wisconsin Press, 1984, pp. 73–117.

In the excerpt below, Renza discusses the pros and cons of a radical feminist reading of “A White Heron.” Furthermore, he explores the father-daughter relationship and the psychosexual imagery evident in the story.

They shut me up in Prose— As when a little Girl They put me in the Closet Because they liked me “still”— 

Still! Could themself have peeped— And seen my Brain—go round— They might as wise have lodged a Bird For Treason—in the Pound— 

Himself has but to will And easy as a Star Abolish his Captivity— And laugh—No more have I— 

—Emily Dickinson

This is my birthday and I am always nine years old.

—Sarah Orne Jewett (circa 1897)

A child draws the outline of a body

She draws what...