Johnsy

The narrator introduces Johnsy in terms of some key background details, and her character will be more completely fleshed out through her interactions with Sue. She is from California, with "blood thinned" (198) by its warm climate, fresh air and open spaces that have rendered her, in the narrator's unscientific judgment, unsuited to New York's wet, frigid weather and close quarters. She is defined further through the role she plays within the dynamic of her relationship with Sue, whom she had met six months earlier in May, whose common interests in fashion, art and good food made them close friends with shared goals who would decide to move to Greenwich Village and pursue their lives' callings.

That Johnsy is independent and free-thinking is evident through her lifestyle and career choices, and her dream of visiting Italy to paint reflects her modern priorities to commit herself to her art and...