“The Yellow Wallpaper”“The Yellow Wallpaper”

Charlotte Perkins-GilmanCharlotte Perkins-Gilman

• Published story in 1899; overlooked because women were not expected as writers

• Women basically wrote about “the domestic sphere” which was not seen as important in the patriarchal (male-dominated) society

• When it was written, in literature: • Women = Emotion• Men = Reason

• Story rediscovered by the feminist criticism in the 1970-80s

• Feminist criticism challenged “the literary canon” (which was made up of [dead] white males)

• Primary critics were males

The Roots of the Story• Written after Perkins-Gilman was treated

by Dr. Weir for female “hysteria” with the “rest cure”

• No knowledge/understanding of postpartum depression (Reason/logic says babies are happy, not depressing)

• “Rest Cure” = all domestic activities/rest; no/limited intellectual activities; anything involving thinking was prohibited

• For Perkins-Gilman, this was especially cruel because she was a writer

Basic Plot of the Story• Setting:

– Late 1800s/Early 1900s– Science > Imagination– Abandoned mansion with bars

on the windows, shackles on the walls, and bolts on the bed legs

• Characters of Upper Middle Class– 1st Person Narrator—Jane

(wife/mother)– John (husband/doctor)

Look for the Symbolism of…

• Jane • Husband• Journal• Room

• Wallpaper• Color Yellow• Rope• Illness