Act 1, Section 2 Summary

Emily reminisces about the first time she parted from her father in 1847. She was sixteen and after graduating from Amherst Academy and entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Emily describes Mary Lyon, the woman who ran the school at that time. For Emily, Mary Lyon was a dragon of a lady, who had three classifications for her students. One group of students was classified as "professed Christians." The second group was classified as a group with hope. The final category, to which Emily belonged, was called the group without hope. Emily remembers when Mary Lyon tried to convert the group without hope.

All of the impenitent girls were invited to a meeting room. They were told to bring a Bible. There, Miss Lyon converted everyone but Emily. Emily explains that she desires to be good, and she does want to please her...