The Nun’s Fret Not at Their Convents Room was a poem written during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial was a time that restructured and reshaped the economic landscape of Great Britain. The people went from doing more physical jobs and getting dirty to doing machines that helped them get their jobs more done quicker and easier. Now that people that have more jobs and have more freedom they seem to forget their responsibility that they have. At this time period Wordsworth wanted to change people’s situation of having too much freedom and not using that freedom to be more productive.  There are three types of workers that Wordsworth discussed about in this poem to show this thought: Nun’s, Hermits, and Students. By looking at some the metaphors in the poem, Nuns fret Not at Their Convents Room, uses descriptions of workers from the Industrial Revolution to illustrate how one can make their lives positive or negative through contentment of their lives and situations.  

The first example Wordsworth uses is a Nun. Nuns are women that do God’s work, but usually everyone thinks they just sit around and pray all day and their not worried about anything at all. Wordsworth begin the poem, “Nun’s fret not at their convent’s narrow room” (1). The author is making his point that a nun does not complain that their room is way too small or too bare. They have chosen the life in which they live because that is what they chose and they are happy about it. Many people during Industrial Revolution wanted more possessions because of all the new inventions being created. New machines like a clothes washer and dryer, and cars were now in existence and people wanted them during that time period. Therefore, the thought of choosing a life like a nun where they have nothing and want nothing seems odd. Wordsworth uses this to show that even those with nothing can be happy with what they have.

The second example Wordsworth used was a hermit. Hermits are people that stay inside and like to be by themselves. They are often called “anti-social” or isolated from other people. In the poem Wordsworth wrote, “and hermits contented with their cells”. Hermits are anti-social but they are okay with that because that is the life that is most comfortable for them and wanted to choose. This type of behavior is unusual to a lot of people.  To be excluded from the environment is not common because most people do not like being alone. This example also continues the theme of being satisfied with what you have. The creature, the hermit, has a very small living space in the sand but that is where it goes to be safe from enemies and to lay its eggs. It is their comfort zone. 

Last thing Wordsworth use is students. Students are people who go to class and learn every day and they go home and do nothing after that. Wordsworth uses a quote, “And students with their pensive citadels; Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom, sit blithe ad happy; bees that soar for bloom”. In each of these cases, the person in that position is satisfied with what they do. The students are happy with having to focus on studying all day. The maid and weaver seem proud of the work they must do.  Overall, they are content with the life and lifestyle they have chosen. None of the examples seem to want more than what they have. Instead, they take pride in their role and seek nothing more.

In conclusion, the author showed examples of Nun’s, Hermits, and Students. They played in a big role in proving the point that Wordsworth was trying to show in the poem. In each of these examples, the workers were content with their role and all that was given to them. This is the life that they chose. Everyone has an option on what they want to do in their lives and they can choose to be happy with that or not. Wordsworth touched on this by saying, “Pleased if some Souls (for such their needs must be) Who have felt the weight of too much liberty.”  When you have the weight of too much freedom it can affect the outcomes of people’s life. Oftentimes, when someone has a lot of freedom, it can make the person forget their responsibility and that can result to consequences they may not want to deal with. When a person becomes more free they attend to do things they are not supposed to do.  At times, when freedom is all that people want, it is not enough and people will want more. This is seen often when people have the liberty to buy. A working smartphone is not enough , they want the newest one out there. Wordsworth attempts to show the reader that they can be happy with what they have. In fact, it seems as though he is annoyed that they choose to be unhappy. Wordsworth discussed all of the workers because he was trying to explain that when a person has more freedom people will start not wanting to work for them. Wordsworth points out that working more and having less of freedom is okay because when people start working for things that they want then people will start appreciating a lot more in the Industrial time period.