The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins GilmanWiki says: Charlotte Perkins Gilman (/ˈɡɪlmən/; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis.
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PRIORITY: VERY HIGH - A MUST-DO. This story works with most of the potential question areas, is crammed full of metaphors and can be easily analysed from different perspectives, enabling you to show off your skills.
POSSIBLE ESSAY PAIRINGS WITH:
POSSIBLE ESSAY PAIRINGS WITH:
- Games at Twilight (change, isolation, unbreakable cycle, conflict, gender roles, oppression);
- Lim's Journey (innocence lost, change, isolation, gender, age/youth, oppression);
- Five Twenty (role of women, oppression, colours and objects as symbols - esp flowers, isolation, change)
- Secrets (memory, changes, relationships, isolation)
- The Lemon Orchard (oppression, isolation, imagery and objects as symbolic elements, darkness and light)
- An Englishman's Home (change, settings as symbols, outsiders, hierarchy in society)
Plot Synopsis from Schmooop
Really stuck? In addition to your notes, and the enquiry questions below, click on the dfferent analysis sections from Schmoop. Remember that your ideas are better but it's a decent place to get started.
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In 1887, Charlotte Perkins Gilman went to see a specialist in the hope of curing her recurring nervous breakdowns. The specialist recommended a "rest cure," which consisted of lying in bed all day and engaging in intellectual activity for only two hours a day. After three months, Gilman says, she was "near the borderline of utter mental ruin." (See "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper")
In due time, Gilman disregarded the specialist’s advice and wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" to demonstrate the kind of madness produced by the popular "rest cure." It was published in 1891 in New England Magazine . For the first decade of its life, "The Yellow Wallpaper" was read as a piece of horror fiction firmly situated in the Gothic genre. Since the 1960s, however, it has been anthologized as a piece of the women’s movement illustrating 19th century attitudes towards women’s physical and mental health. (See our discussion of "Genre" for more on this.) According to Gilman, the short story was never intended as a Gothic horror, but rather as a cautionary tale about what supposed "rest cures" could do to the mental stability of patients. In her own words, Gilman wrote: "It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked." She sent a copy to the physician who had recommended a rest cure, and he subsequently changed his medical practices. Why Should I Care? Remember when you were a kid and you were being maybe a little obnoxious and your parents sent you to your room or gave you a timeout? Remember when you had to sit still or stay inside, when all your friends were playing and you weren't allowed to join them, the time seemed to streeeetch on forever? Maybe your mind started to waver and wander, and perhaps you started to imagine, we don't know—something along the lines of the wallpaper in your room coming alive? There's a reason people in movies freak out in solitary confinement: Having nothing to do for hours on end makes you a little nuts. The thing is, Charlotte Perkins Gilman is counting on the fact that you, the reader, have at some time in your life been sent to bed without supper or been stuck inside when you wanted to go out. She's counting on the fact that you know something about claustrophobia or resentment so that you can sympathize with the narrator of this short story in her slow trajectory towards madness. Gilman doesn't want to create some clinical study of insanity here; she wants you to feel every crawling inch of craziness. She knows you've got an imagination, that you can guess, from your experiences of a couple of hours of tedium, what a whole summer of solitary confinement would be like—and we're gambling that she's right. It's tough to read this story without wondering if, under similar circumstances circumstances, you yourself might start crawling out of the yellow wallpaper. Maybe the specific injustices Gilman fights in this story—issues like men's excessive power over their wives and doctors' excessive power over their patients—seem like they belong more to the 1890s than to the current millennium. But we still read "The Yellow Wallpaper" even so, because the story's language is powerful enough to reach out of the page and make you feel like maybe you're cracking up. Gilman relies on the reader's own enduring (and often ugly) human feelings to give you a deeply disturbing snapshot of what you might be like after something as simple as a summer inside—and that snapshot is no pretty picture. |
Personal enquiry study: Ideas to explore 1) Find examples of the narrative style at the beginning of the story and then contrast with examples as she develops: consider paragraph/sentence length and construction, techniques, language. 2) Collate the quotes where the narrator is surpressed by John or the patriarchy. What do you notice? Collate the quotes where the narrator is challenging or criticising John or the patriarchy. What do you notice? 3) What do you notice about the way that John talks to her and how he addresses her? What about the way the narrator talks to John or how she addresses him? What does this tells us about their relationship or the societal relationship between men and women? Find examples and discuss what is implied. 4) How does this contrast with the end of the story in terms of how she addresses him? |
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5) Initially (and potentially throughout), the story seems to have supernatural or gothic elements. Find examples. How do they convey an unsettling atmosphere? How are they potentially misleading?
6) Explore the symbolism of the immovable bed and the place of women in society
7) How does the reader see development/changes in the persona's attitudes and actions? What techniques are used to convey these and how does the reader therefore respond? Symbolically, what can these changes represent?
8) Look for language of imprisonment and consider the larger societal metaphor implied by Gilman.
9) Where does Gilman give the reader disturbing narrative clues? At first, these are enigmas which as the story becomes clearer, become narrative reveals. Find them, commenting on how they are revisited and how Gilman makes them particularly disturbing. How and when is the final, definitive reveal(s) made and to what effect? What different implications can you consider? What overall metaphor can be conveyed?
10) Consider the 'sub-pattern' and the main pattern. How are these two elements described (these change over time, which itself is important)? What is important about the prefix 'sub' and how can you develop your findings about the patterns into overarching metaphors about society? Explore the importance of the changes under different lighting conditions and what these can signify in terms of how women are represented in society. Explore how Gilman shows how the persona begins to identify with the sub-pattern and why/when this becomes particularly disturbing/symbolic.
11) Find examples of anaphora and comment on how Gilman uses this recurring technique to convey the persona and Gilman's main concerns. As a tip, consider how anaphora is a technique of repeated patterning...
12) Consider the manipulative nature of Gilman's use of a diary entry (first person LIMITED narrative). How does she use this to control the reactions and expectations of the reader? How/when is this particularly effective? How can the reader's judgements (or prejudices) show a parallel to Gilman's own concerns?
13) Overall. what do you consider to be the most symbolic moments. Explore them in terms of techniques, powerful language and symbolism. Can you consider them from alternative viewpoints and how does it change the story as a result?
14) Look at the ending of the story. What do you notice about the balance of power? What is particularly shocking in terms of a) the character and b) the reader? Explore the meaning of the idea of being 'put back' in the wallpaper by John/male society. What is the symbolism of the fact that she creeps OVER him?
15) The Yellow Wallpaper is typically seen as a feminist allegory and a psychological horror story because of the experiences of Gilman herself. However, if taken as a supernatural horror story, are there elements which are more disturbing or does the story lose its narrative power?
6) Explore the symbolism of the immovable bed and the place of women in society
7) How does the reader see development/changes in the persona's attitudes and actions? What techniques are used to convey these and how does the reader therefore respond? Symbolically, what can these changes represent?
8) Look for language of imprisonment and consider the larger societal metaphor implied by Gilman.
9) Where does Gilman give the reader disturbing narrative clues? At first, these are enigmas which as the story becomes clearer, become narrative reveals. Find them, commenting on how they are revisited and how Gilman makes them particularly disturbing. How and when is the final, definitive reveal(s) made and to what effect? What different implications can you consider? What overall metaphor can be conveyed?
10) Consider the 'sub-pattern' and the main pattern. How are these two elements described (these change over time, which itself is important)? What is important about the prefix 'sub' and how can you develop your findings about the patterns into overarching metaphors about society? Explore the importance of the changes under different lighting conditions and what these can signify in terms of how women are represented in society. Explore how Gilman shows how the persona begins to identify with the sub-pattern and why/when this becomes particularly disturbing/symbolic.
11) Find examples of anaphora and comment on how Gilman uses this recurring technique to convey the persona and Gilman's main concerns. As a tip, consider how anaphora is a technique of repeated patterning...
12) Consider the manipulative nature of Gilman's use of a diary entry (first person LIMITED narrative). How does she use this to control the reactions and expectations of the reader? How/when is this particularly effective? How can the reader's judgements (or prejudices) show a parallel to Gilman's own concerns?
13) Overall. what do you consider to be the most symbolic moments. Explore them in terms of techniques, powerful language and symbolism. Can you consider them from alternative viewpoints and how does it change the story as a result?
14) Look at the ending of the story. What do you notice about the balance of power? What is particularly shocking in terms of a) the character and b) the reader? Explore the meaning of the idea of being 'put back' in the wallpaper by John/male society. What is the symbolism of the fact that she creeps OVER him?
15) The Yellow Wallpaper is typically seen as a feminist allegory and a psychological horror story because of the experiences of Gilman herself. However, if taken as a supernatural horror story, are there elements which are more disturbing or does the story lose its narrative power?