“The Yellow Wall-paper”

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

American feminist, writer, and sociologist

Involved in social reform during first wave feminism, especially the suffrage movement

Gilman called herself a humanist and believed the domestic environment oppressed women through the patriarchal beliefs upheld by society

Her works have a feminist bent/ agenda

Most famous for “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Herland

Free Write:

What was your initial reaction to the text?

How do you interpret this short story?

Characters

Who are the main characters in the short story?

Who is our protagonist?

Who is our antagonist?

Is it easy to divide the characters into these categories?

Perspective

Whose perspective do we get in the story?

What does this character tell us about the other characters?

Does their point of view change?

Reliability

Is the narrator reliable? Why or why not?

Why might we even ask this question?

Hint: Take a close look at the text. Is there a shift from the beginning to the end of the story?

Setting

How is the setting described?

Where is the house?

What does the room look like?

Who describes it? Does this matter?

Reflection

What image are you left with at the end?

Just what do you think happened?

Has your initial interpretation or reaction changed? If so, how?

Exploring Context

1890-1920

Gender analysis

How is gender portrayed in the text?

What is John like?

How does he treat the narrator?

Is this a loving marriage? Why or why not?

How are other women portrayed besides the narrator?

The Married Woman

How is motherhood portrayed in the text?

When do we find out that the narrator has children?

How does she seem to feel about the children?

Does her response seem normal to you? Why or why not?

What is her husband’s relationship with the children like by comparison? Does this seem normal? Why or why not?

A few words from Gilman

“Another deep-seated feeling is that, while development is the general rule, yet the production of the best men and women requires "the maternal sacrifice," i. e. that the mother shall be sacrificed to her children, and incidentally to her husband. If the sacrifice is necessary, well and good; but how if it is not?”

- Charlotte Perkins Gilman to the Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, January 1897

Medical Treatment

Why does the couple go to the house in the first place?

Why can’t the narrator go outside?

What does John say she needs?

How does John know what he is talking about?

How is medical treatment portrayed in the short story?

Medical Treatment

“At the same time, medical treatments and legal procedures that responded to any of the dysfunctions of married life directly and indirectly increased men’s domination of women. The ‘rest cure,’ psychoanalysis, and other medical practices […] became common ways to treat women suffering from the illnesses and depressions that may have resulted in part from their feelings of purposelessness and inactivity” (351).

The “Rest Cure”Silas Weir Mitchel

Influential American neurologist

Inventor of the rest cure commonly prescribed for women

Treatment of 6-8 weeks in bed with no family or friends

Regular diet of fatty milk based liquid

Patients were prohibited from talking, reading, writing, and sewing

The point was to remove the patient from a potentially toxic social environment

Commonly prescribed for anorexia and baby blues

Further research

documentary about "baby blues”

What are some real life applications for this text?

What makes this story a Gothic tale?

What tropes are used?