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>.