# Nell Willing — The Homemaker character guide

> Nell Willing in The Homemaker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Nell, Ellen O'Hern

**First appearance:** 0000-part-i-i

## Snapshot

Nell Willing is the young woman whose presence in the Willing household quietly tests what a wife and mother is supposed to be.

## Who they are

Nell moves through the orbit of the Willing family, a young woman whose place in that household makes her a natural point of comparison for the women around her. She is bound up with the Willings' domestic arrangements and the expectations that come with being a wife in a home where competence and cheerfulness are assumed rather than examined. Her presence matters because she throws into relief the unspoken rules the novel's other women are already straining against, long before anyone names them.

## Relationships

### [Jerome Willing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/jerome_willing)

_family_

Jerome and Nell are married, and their relationship is stable and affectionate, providing a contrast to the Knapps' turmoil.

### [Jerome Willing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/jerome_willing)

_family_

Jerome and Nell are married, and their relationship is stable and affectionate, providing a contrast to the Knapps' turmoil.

### [Jerome Willing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/jerome_willing)

_family_

Jerome and Nell are married, and their relationship is stable and affectionate, providing a contrast to the Knapps' turmoil.

## In the story

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-ii-vii)

Works on advertising proofs, engages in business discussion with Jerome, and suggests visiting the Knapps after the accident.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-ii-viii)

Nell accompanies Jerome to the Knapp home after the accident, expressing sympathy and discussing Evangeline's character and household with her husband.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-ii-ix)

Takes an interest in Evangeline's progress, discusses her with Jerome, and observes Miss Flynn's behavior.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/chapters/part-iv-xviii)

Participates in the meeting with Evangeline, emphasizing the store as their 'Life Work' and the importance of modern methods.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters/nell_willing
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_homemaker_se/characters