The Walking Woman And The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

1052 Words3 Pages

Several texts, including but not limited to, Queen Elizabeth’s On Monsieur’s Departure, Mary Austins’ The Walking Woman, and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman explore the betterment of women writers and their texts in society. Betterment, another word for progression, in this case means where women started at the beginning of their texts and where they stand at the conclusion. However, progress does not happen overnight. Instead, it took a great deal of motivation for changes to occur. The three texts mentioned continue to expose the progress women had truly made overall during the time in which their pieces happened to be written. Thus, the creative component of the overall project coming into play. A mask acts as a portrayal …show more content…

A full face mask decorated exists to validate the progress made by all three women while also representing the creative component of this project. It adds to women’s literature by marking said progress. There is a clear visual of where they started at the beginning, where they were in the middle, and then where they stood at the finish line. The left side which is pink goes to show the messier side of these women’s lives. Negative words were placed on this side because they acted as a response to how they were treated on a daily basis. One word that respectively represents Queen Elizabeth in this instance is emotion. For example, line one proclaims, “I grieve and dare not show my discontent (page 67).” Queen Elizabeth seemed to have all these emotions but did not quite understand how to best express them. Whereas, the right side of the mask is meant to look more beautiful than the left. To articulate the beauty of the right side, positive words were typed out and then placed onto the mask. Some of the words included in this section are power, strength, etc. In particular, power is placed in the middle to represent both sides. It can be negative in a way because the women seemed to lack it in the beginning of their pieces. On the other hand, power is also positive because it was something they acquired. With this in mind, the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper …show more content…

It takes a certain amount of will or determination to make such changes. The cultural pressure held over women to do certain tasks such as becoming a mother or getting married became quite overwhelming. This held them back from expressing themselves in a well-suited fashion. Overall, these three texts showed how women progressed in their own literature which had been written in different time periods. It allowed them each to rise to their full potential. The creative component is a full face mask meant to express something people tend to hide themselves behind. All three women at some point in their literature went through some form of battle. At the end of the battle or the end of their texts, they were stronger. They were not known just as creatures, but instead they had the strength and confidence they so desperately longed

Open Document