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A victim of domestic life (A Review on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's THE YELLOW WALLPAPER)
Rosa Jamali
Barred in the house, in this story, Charlottes Gilman Perkins portrays a woman who has lost her strength in a nervous breakdown. She has lost her mental health for she has been forbidden from the things she would love to do. She is passing a period of depression after a child delivery but it seems that she is not very interested in motherhood. A woman who has been locked up by the forces of society A victim of domestic life (A Review on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's THE YELLOW WALLPAPER)
Rosa Jamali
Barred in the house, in this story, Charlottes Gilman Perkins portrays a woman who has lost her strength in a nervous breakdown. She has lost her mental health for she has been forbidden from the things she would love to do. She is passing a period of depression after a child delivery but it seems that she is not very interested in motherhood. A woman who has been locked up by the forces of society (either in the role of husband or psychiatrist) can never live a happy life. She is cynical of traditional beliefs. She cannot put them in words for the words she is able to use are not crystal clear. She feels like a dyslexic. Her words fluctuate between delirium and dream; taking interior dialogue as the only way of communication with the outside world.
"John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage."
She has to stay in a room like a prisoner. She has been named lunatic and treated like a psychopath. She is banned from writing, socializing and excursions outdoor. She's been prescribed to calm down in an isolated room far from the madding crowds.
“ "I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition."
The story is narrated in the first speaker point of view. There are lots of interior and dramatic monologues in the story. The woman talks to herself a lot. They have been accommodated in a holiday resort like a mansion. The woman has some visions about the place in which she is currently living, though it's been overshadowed seriously by a sense of lethargy, useless and inefficient.
"I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house."
The character of the husband as an oppressor and agent of society to lock the woman in the house needs to be criticized. The husband looks quite kind. According to the norms of society, he looks like a perfect husband. He has a good job and he supports his wife financially in addition to that he cares a lot about his wife's mental illness. Nevertheless, the wife has no desire and fancy on what the man wants. This reminds me of some classical novels like Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina; in both stories, the woman is not understood by society and commits suicide…
The woman has given birth to a child recently and suffers from depression. Apparently, the cure from her sickness is staying at home and taking a rest, not taking part in the society, not writing and not doing anything artistic. She is supposed to learn how to play the role of a good mother and wife. The story is narrated in a creepy tone, quite suspicious to the facts; doubtful about social values for this used to be the way a woman had to get along with the folks and family in the 18th or 19th century.
The portrait of a housewife is the embodiment of a passive woman. There's no dynamic role defined for the main female character. She is defined as a material, an object who meets the expectations of a traditional society, an object of sexual desire for her husband and the one who can give birth to a baby; nothing else and nothing more in the boundaries she is defined as a woman. Simone de Beauvoir in the book THE SECOND SEX says: "One is not born, but rather becomes a woman." She discusses the influence of society in shaping thought. This "The object to our gaze" is defined by the society; a woman is a sexual object and cannot go any further as a being to explore the unknown territories. Simone de Beauvoir discusses that biologically women are not meant to act as handicapped, this maltreatment of them in the society as a second class gives the notion of being disadvantaged physically. In a hostile environment a society defines the binary oppositions in a way that one is
privileged and the other is underprivileged for a woman is treated as an inferior and a man is valued as a superior. This is the belief which gives impetus to deconstruction in feminism; giving a second thought to sexual differences and politics of identity.
Ellen Showalter classifies three stages of women's literature; women's literature undergoes three stages as feminine, feminist and female. A woman like Charlotte Gilman Perkins is just writing the first stage for at this stage a woman doesn't write genuine female literature but she employs some traces of feminine literature. Gilman's contemporaries usually talk about their rights as suffragettes. Most of women in this historical context become women rights activists. They rather talk about social issues than their emotional differences in applying the language; here in this stage, the poetics of female literature is not defined yet. The linguistic patterns are not formed yet. Poetics of female literature talks about a kind of discourse of which women have a tendency to use like some say women use detailed descriptive phrases or plenty of prepositions, they use ironies and metaphors extensively, they challenge the patriarchal forms of language to perform a new competency and parole. They apply female slangs, folklore and unofficial literature. Women writers are generous with punctuation and they usually have repetitive motifs, refrains or catchphrases. For instance, here we can see some traces of smooth and female like descriptions. Above that, the story has been narrated in a slow-moving pace which could be taken as a feminine feature.
"Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast and her crawling shakes it all over….And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads."
The language of narrating the story is quite feminine. The author pays a lot of attention to the details and descriptions. The author has a feminine tone and rhythm while telling the story; showing rather than telling; expressing some vague images of illusion and sickness.
The story of this locked woman confined to a room reminds me of some classic novels like Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester who is the representation of a patriarchal society imprisons her sick wife in a room. The
wife suffers from a serious mental condition. There are some layers of intertextuality between this story and Jane Eyre.
"The Madwoman in the Attic" as titled in the novel has been registered by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar for an analytical study of the representation of women in Victorian literature. In this book, the binary opposition of angle/monster is a set category usually defined by men. Being angelic or diabolic is what literature has pursued in female characters so far. The authors mention that if literature wants to be a true representation of real-life should deconstruct this black and white photo. Later writers came over this stereotypical role of women in 18th-century literature.
If we consider the woman as the protagonist and John as the antagonist, the good thing about characterization is that in this story the characters are natural beings with their own flaws and shortcomings. They haven't been depicted as typical characters; the way they talk is believable. John is obviously a domineering man but the woman doesn't feel good when she is dominated by her husband. Perhaps the husband wants her to take some medicine and rest. The husband wants to kill her creativity. The woman destroys the painting which is the picture of a shadowed woman on the wall, she is angry with herself but she wants to save the woman on the wall.
"There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern, the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!"
The narrator speaks about some obsessions, she wants to write a diary but she has been derived from it so writing could play the role of therapy in patients like her. French Psychologist Jacque Lacan analyses the role of lack and desire in his seminal term" the object little" while the patient writes she feels relaxed. Maybe this object is "the yellow wallpaper" which is a displacement of her desire; that's the desire of a free life without the boundaries of society.
‘ "It is stripped off - the paper - in great patches . . . The color is repellent . . . In the places where it isn’t faded and where the sun is just so -, I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about…" ’.
The color yellow which is used in mental hospitals enormously is what we see in the room. The descriptive phrases suggest that everything around the house is quite dull and gloomy. Peeling the yellow wallpaper means that she can make herself free this way. In the eyes of society, this woman is called peculiar, weird and eccentric but one who knows this type of character can identify the woman as artistic, imaginative, creative and talented.
“ It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight."
Here the "death derive" takes the place of" sex drive". The woman suffers from a lack of libido for the husband is not her favourite type. The husband is a realistic, practical, down to earth guy whereas the wife looks like a daydreamer.
Unfortunately, in the environment, she's living she cannot educate herself to create something of considerable value. Virginia Woolf in the book "A Room of One's Own" mentions that a woman cannot use her talent unless she could make herself financially independent. Lots of women are like Shakespeare's sister; naturally talented but never had an opportunity to use their talents and create a piece of valuable writing. She knows that if she doesn't write it, she falls into the state of madness.
"I did write for a while in spite of them, but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition …I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad…"
The story ends in a sort of ambiguity, this kind of ambiguity can create different interpretations in the readers' mind. Whether the woman dies or falls unconscious, she creeps and faints, and that's the reader who should decide about the end of the story. ...more
Rosa Jamali
Barred in the house, in this story, Charlottes Gilman Perkins portrays a woman who has lost her strength in a nervous breakdown. She has lost her mental health for she has been forbidden from the things she would love to do. She is passing a period of depression after a child delivery but it seems that she is not very interested in motherhood. A woman who has been locked up by the forces of society A victim of domestic life (A Review on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's THE YELLOW WALLPAPER)
Rosa Jamali
Barred in the house, in this story, Charlottes Gilman Perkins portrays a woman who has lost her strength in a nervous breakdown. She has lost her mental health for she has been forbidden from the things she would love to do. She is passing a period of depression after a child delivery but it seems that she is not very interested in motherhood. A woman who has been locked up by the forces of society (either in the role of husband or psychiatrist) can never live a happy life. She is cynical of traditional beliefs. She cannot put them in words for the words she is able to use are not crystal clear. She feels like a dyslexic. Her words fluctuate between delirium and dream; taking interior dialogue as the only way of communication with the outside world.
"John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage."
She has to stay in a room like a prisoner. She has been named lunatic and treated like a psychopath. She is banned from writing, socializing and excursions outdoor. She's been prescribed to calm down in an isolated room far from the madding crowds.
“ "I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition."
The story is narrated in the first speaker point of view. There are lots of interior and dramatic monologues in the story. The woman talks to herself a lot. They have been accommodated in a holiday resort like a mansion. The woman has some visions about the place in which she is currently living, though it's been overshadowed seriously by a sense of lethargy, useless and inefficient.
"I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house."
The character of the husband as an oppressor and agent of society to lock the woman in the house needs to be criticized. The husband looks quite kind. According to the norms of society, he looks like a perfect husband. He has a good job and he supports his wife financially in addition to that he cares a lot about his wife's mental illness. Nevertheless, the wife has no desire and fancy on what the man wants. This reminds me of some classical novels like Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina; in both stories, the woman is not understood by society and commits suicide…
The woman has given birth to a child recently and suffers from depression. Apparently, the cure from her sickness is staying at home and taking a rest, not taking part in the society, not writing and not doing anything artistic. She is supposed to learn how to play the role of a good mother and wife. The story is narrated in a creepy tone, quite suspicious to the facts; doubtful about social values for this used to be the way a woman had to get along with the folks and family in the 18th or 19th century.
The portrait of a housewife is the embodiment of a passive woman. There's no dynamic role defined for the main female character. She is defined as a material, an object who meets the expectations of a traditional society, an object of sexual desire for her husband and the one who can give birth to a baby; nothing else and nothing more in the boundaries she is defined as a woman. Simone de Beauvoir in the book THE SECOND SEX says: "One is not born, but rather becomes a woman." She discusses the influence of society in shaping thought. This "The object to our gaze" is defined by the society; a woman is a sexual object and cannot go any further as a being to explore the unknown territories. Simone de Beauvoir discusses that biologically women are not meant to act as handicapped, this maltreatment of them in the society as a second class gives the notion of being disadvantaged physically. In a hostile environment a society defines the binary oppositions in a way that one is
privileged and the other is underprivileged for a woman is treated as an inferior and a man is valued as a superior. This is the belief which gives impetus to deconstruction in feminism; giving a second thought to sexual differences and politics of identity.
Ellen Showalter classifies three stages of women's literature; women's literature undergoes three stages as feminine, feminist and female. A woman like Charlotte Gilman Perkins is just writing the first stage for at this stage a woman doesn't write genuine female literature but she employs some traces of feminine literature. Gilman's contemporaries usually talk about their rights as suffragettes. Most of women in this historical context become women rights activists. They rather talk about social issues than their emotional differences in applying the language; here in this stage, the poetics of female literature is not defined yet. The linguistic patterns are not formed yet. Poetics of female literature talks about a kind of discourse of which women have a tendency to use like some say women use detailed descriptive phrases or plenty of prepositions, they use ironies and metaphors extensively, they challenge the patriarchal forms of language to perform a new competency and parole. They apply female slangs, folklore and unofficial literature. Women writers are generous with punctuation and they usually have repetitive motifs, refrains or catchphrases. For instance, here we can see some traces of smooth and female like descriptions. Above that, the story has been narrated in a slow-moving pace which could be taken as a feminine feature.
"Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast and her crawling shakes it all over….And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads."
The language of narrating the story is quite feminine. The author pays a lot of attention to the details and descriptions. The author has a feminine tone and rhythm while telling the story; showing rather than telling; expressing some vague images of illusion and sickness.
The story of this locked woman confined to a room reminds me of some classic novels like Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester who is the representation of a patriarchal society imprisons her sick wife in a room. The
wife suffers from a serious mental condition. There are some layers of intertextuality between this story and Jane Eyre.
"The Madwoman in the Attic" as titled in the novel has been registered by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar for an analytical study of the representation of women in Victorian literature. In this book, the binary opposition of angle/monster is a set category usually defined by men. Being angelic or diabolic is what literature has pursued in female characters so far. The authors mention that if literature wants to be a true representation of real-life should deconstruct this black and white photo. Later writers came over this stereotypical role of women in 18th-century literature.
If we consider the woman as the protagonist and John as the antagonist, the good thing about characterization is that in this story the characters are natural beings with their own flaws and shortcomings. They haven't been depicted as typical characters; the way they talk is believable. John is obviously a domineering man but the woman doesn't feel good when she is dominated by her husband. Perhaps the husband wants her to take some medicine and rest. The husband wants to kill her creativity. The woman destroys the painting which is the picture of a shadowed woman on the wall, she is angry with herself but she wants to save the woman on the wall.
"There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern, the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!"
The narrator speaks about some obsessions, she wants to write a diary but she has been derived from it so writing could play the role of therapy in patients like her. French Psychologist Jacque Lacan analyses the role of lack and desire in his seminal term" the object little" while the patient writes she feels relaxed. Maybe this object is "the yellow wallpaper" which is a displacement of her desire; that's the desire of a free life without the boundaries of society.
‘ "It is stripped off - the paper - in great patches . . . The color is repellent . . . In the places where it isn’t faded and where the sun is just so -, I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about…" ’.
The color yellow which is used in mental hospitals enormously is what we see in the room. The descriptive phrases suggest that everything around the house is quite dull and gloomy. Peeling the yellow wallpaper means that she can make herself free this way. In the eyes of society, this woman is called peculiar, weird and eccentric but one who knows this type of character can identify the woman as artistic, imaginative, creative and talented.
“ It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight."
Here the "death derive" takes the place of" sex drive". The woman suffers from a lack of libido for the husband is not her favourite type. The husband is a realistic, practical, down to earth guy whereas the wife looks like a daydreamer.
Unfortunately, in the environment, she's living she cannot educate herself to create something of considerable value. Virginia Woolf in the book "A Room of One's Own" mentions that a woman cannot use her talent unless she could make herself financially independent. Lots of women are like Shakespeare's sister; naturally talented but never had an opportunity to use their talents and create a piece of valuable writing. She knows that if she doesn't write it, she falls into the state of madness.
"I did write for a while in spite of them, but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition …I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad…"
The story ends in a sort of ambiguity, this kind of ambiguity can create different interpretations in the readers' mind. Whether the woman dies or falls unconscious, she creeps and faints, and that's the reader who should decide about the end of the story. ...more
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