“The yellow wallpaper” was published in 1892 as part of Charlotte Perkins Gilman work. Its prominence is great because of its theme which sought to liberate women who at the time were dominated by their male counterparts. In the 1800’s women never enjoyed the privileges they do in the contemporary world but were greatly dominated by the patriarch society. By late 1800’s women had slowly and determinedly started to fight for their position, this was through literature and seeking positions that were previously looked at as a man’s privilege. It is their purposeful strive that has led to the current gains enjoyed by the modern woman. In this particular work “The yellow paper” Gilman explores gender roles in marriage and family, the difference in woman vs. children and insubordination. “The yellow paper” utilizes epistolary style of writing; it is compiled from a series of journal entries compiled by a woman who has been subjected to a house rest by a physician who happens to be the husband. The story begins when the woman and the husband moves in to an epic house for the summer. From the very first day the woman has reservations on the new home, terming it as a “colonial mansion” and wondered why it was so cheap and why it had stayed so long without being tenanted (Gilman 1). She held that the low cost and failure to get rented only meant there was something wrong with the house, but she could not point to what it was. Her conclusion, it was a queer house. Her reservations on the house did little to change her husband’s stand on what she had to do and where she had to stay. This is because according to the husband she was suffering from postpartum psychosis after she gave birth to their child. Her husband believes the cure to this... ... middle of paper ... ...ted Bernstock, Shari. The Private self: theory and practice of women's autobiographical writings. New York: UNC Press Books, 1988. Print. Boles, Janet K. and Diane Long Hoeveler. Historical dictionary of feminism. New York: Scarecrow Press, 2004. Print. Delap, Lucy. The feminist avant-garde: transatlantic encounters of the early twentieth century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins and Catherine Golden. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The yellow wallpaper: a source book and critical edition. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Forgotten Books, 1973. Print. Kahle, Antje. First Wave of Feminism in Politics and Literature. New York: GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print. Rudd, Jill and Val Gough. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: optimist reformer. New York: University of Iowa, 1999. Print.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman’s gradual descent into insanity, after the birth of her child. The story was written in 1892 after the author herself suffered from a nervous breakdown, soon after the birth of her daughter in 1885. Gilman did spend a month in a sanitarium with the urging of her physician husband. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story about herself, during the timeframe of when Gilman was in the asylum.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature 's Ancestral House: Another Look At 'The Yellow Wallpaper '." Women 's Studies 12.2 (1986): 113. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, is a first-person narrative written in the style of a journal. It takes place during the nineteenth century and depicts the narrator’s time in a temporary home her husband has taken her to in hopes of providing a place to rest and recover from her “nervous depression”. Throughout the story, the narrator’s “nervous condition” worsens. She begins to obsess over the yellow wallpaper in her room to the point of insanity. She imagines a woman trapped within the patterns of the paper and spends her time watching and trying to free her. Gilman uses various literary elements throughout this piece, such as irony and symbolism, to portray it’s central themes of restrictive social norms
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Yuval-Davis. Who's Afraid of Feminism? Ed. Ann Oakley and Juliet Mitchell. New York: The New Press, 1997.
Kessler, Carol Parley. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1860 -1935." Modem American Women Writers. Ed. Elaine Showalter, et al. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1991. 155 -169.
When looking at two nineteenth century works of change for two females in an American society, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Stephen Crane come to mind. A feminist socialist and a realist novelist capture moments that make their readers rethink life and the world surrounding. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published in 1892, about a white middle-class woman who was confined to an upstairs room by her husband and doctor, the room’s wallpaper imprisons her and as well as liberates herself when she tears the wallpaper off at the end of the story. On the other hand, Crane’s 1893 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the realist account of a New York girl and her trials of growing up with an alcoholic mother and slum life world. The imagery in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets uses color in unconventional ways by embedding color in their narratives to symbolize the opposite of their common meanings, allowing these colors to represent unique associations; to support their thematic concerns of emotional, mental and societal challenges throughout their stories; offering their reader's the opportunity to question the conventionality of both gender and social systems.
hooks, bell. "Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression." Feminist Theory Reader. Ed. Caroline McCann and Seung-Kyung Kim. New York: Routledge. 2003, 50-57.
Beasley, Chris. What Is Feminism: An Introduction to Feminist Theory. London: Thousand Oaks, Calif., 1999. Print.
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
3. General Scope & Content: Scott’s work provides and expansive summary and demonstration of feminist and gender studies in history. Scott describes the evolution of the discipline
In a female oppressive story about a woman driven from postpartum depression to insanity, Charlotte Gilman uses great elements of literature in her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Her use of feminism and realism demonstrates how woman's thoughts and opinions were considered in the early 1900?s.
Moran, Mickey. “1930s, America- Feminist Void?” Loyno. Department of History, 1988. Web. 11 May. 2014.
Abrams 1604 - 1606. Peterson, Linda H. "What Is Feminist Criticism?" Wuthering Heights. Ed. Linda H. Peterson, Ph.D. Boston: Bedford Books, 1992.
Haslanger, Sally, Tuana Nancy and O'Connor, Peg, "Topics in Feminism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Web. 21 Mar. 2014