Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Google Images

“The Yellow Wallpaper”

By:John Howard

Life

Born July 3, 1860 A famous sociologist, novelist, and

author of short stories A utopian feminist Best known work is “The Yellow

Wallpaper”

Google Images

Early Life

Born in Hartford, Connecticut She taught herself to read Spent a lot of time with Harriet

Beecher Stowe She read and studied by herself in

the public libraries

Adulthood

She suffered from post-partum depression

She moved to California to participate in feminist organizations

Married her first cousin Diagnosed with breast cancer Committed suicide on August 17,

1935

Career

Active in social reform in Pasadena Represented California in the

Suffrage Convention Gained popularity when she lectured

on Nationalism In 18900 she wrote fifteen essays,

novellas, poems, and short stories One of the most forgotten feminist

“The Yellow Wallpaper”

Set in a country house A series of journal entries Women suffers from postpartum

depression Written to change peoples minds

about the role of women in society A response to when a doctor tried to

cure her of her depression

Summary

An unknown protagonist Husband is a physician Husband prescribes the “rest cure” Forbids her from writing She links her nervousness to the

wallpaper She studies the wallpaper

throughout the day

Summary

Protagonist begins to see a women in the wall

Tries to rescue her and creeps around the room

Becomes hopelessly insane Protagonist crawls over John and

continues creeping around the room

Historical Backround

First published in the “New England Magazine” in January 1892

“The Atlantic Monthly” rejected the story

Considered a psychological horror

Social Context

Written in a time of strict moral control of women

Women confined to a home to perform domestic tasks

Women had to be modest and pure Women shouldn’t read fiction or

write

Feminist Interpretation

See the end as freedom from a bad marriage

The women in the wallpaper shows the protagonist the way

Themes

The subordination of women in marriage

Importance of self-expression The “resting cure”

Motifs

The journal Irony

Works Cited

"Charlotte Perkins Gilman." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman>.

Jean, Shawn St. "Hanging "The Yellow Wall-Paper": Feminism and Textual Studies." JSTOR. Duke University. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3178750?seq=3&Search=yes&searchText=perkins&searchText=wallpaper&searchText=charlotte&searchText=yellow&searchText=feminism&searchText=gilman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dfeminism%2B%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dthe%2Byellow%2Bwallpaper%26f1%3Dall%26c2%3DAN D%26q2%3Dcharlotte%2Bperkins%2Bgilman%26f2%3Dall% 26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26ar%3Don%26sd%3D%26ed% 3D%26la%3D%26jo%3D%26dc.Language%2526amp%253BLi terature%3DLanguage%2B%2526amp%253B%2BLiterature%26Search%3DSearch&prevSearch=&item=11&ttl=81&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null>.

Works Cited

Knight, Denise D. "Gale - Enter Product Login." GaleNet. Charles Scribner's Son. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None>.

Lanser, Susan S. "Feminist Criticism, "The Yellow Wallpaper," and the Politics of Color in America."Jstor. Feminist Studies Inc., 1989. Web. 17 May 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177938?seq=2>.

Works Cited

Schilling, Beate. ""The Yellow Wallpaper": A Rediscovered "Realistic" Story." JSTOR. University of Illinois Press. Web. 17 May 2011.

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/27747979>.