The story centers around ninety year-old Hagar Shipley, an aging woman living with

her son and his wife. Hagar is forgetful, spiteful, remorseful by turns, but always

evincing an indomitable spirit. Born and raised on the prairies of Manitoba, Hagar is

of the pioneer generation. Her father was one of the early settlers of the town, the

fictional Manawaka, and she has inherited his stubborn Scottish resolve and temper

which have dogged her all her life.

Laurence skillfully reveals Hagar's past through a series of flashbacks, and the reader is

taken on a tour of this woman's life as she struggles with her present failing condition

(she suffers from mild dementia, like a child at times in her manner, and she is diagnosed

with what appears to be cancer-her precise disease is never mentioned in book) and her

angers and resentments about the past. In her memories Hagar sees her childhood and her

relationships with friends and family in that small prairie town. She remembers her

stubborn streak and her marriage that flew in the face of all her father had hoped

for her. She remembers those times when she could not "live and let live," but instead

repetitiously to aid the development of Hagar's character and the main themes. The Stone

She is strong, independent, proud and never shows her true emotions. These are

over her body, destiny or her future. Her fate is already pre-determined for her and she

corsets and strip them off me, and have her see my blue-veined swollen flesh..."

flower. Her inner responses are natural and wild; however, externally she acts rationally

incontinent wetness of the infirm. Trickling, they taunt down my face. I dismiss them,

being found at Shadow Point, she was brought to a hospital where she was to die. As she

provided them with a well of water. The Hagar in The Stone Angel is very similar to the

story. Many parallels are made between Margaret Laurence's Hagar and the biblical

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3417
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)