Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Yellow Wallpaper
Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and answer the question: What does Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story The Yellow Wallpaper suggest about middle-class women's place and role(s) in this society?
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I feel in this story that the women in this society aren't considered as good as men because with the disease she is diagnosed with the story says it was mostly diagnosed to women. Also even if she was diagnosed with whatever, being locked in a room for the rent does not seem appropriate.
ReplyDeleteAlso the person keeping her locked away is man which maybe means nothing but still shows a little bit of male dominance.
Like the necklace, this story takes place a while ago so it was just how women were regarded even if they were higher class. Same thing with the women in "The Necklace".
I think that women that are middle class in that society were treated unfairly. The narrator is diagnosed with a sickness that causes her husband to keep her in a room alone most of the day. I think that middle-class women in those days were expected to work, and to serve the men. The husband's sister Jennie does the housekeeping in their place, and took over the work that apparently the narrator used to do before she became ill.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ethan when he said that it is sort of like "The Necklace" with the fact that women were neglected, and were not treated as equal to men. They were primarily there to be married, have children, and work in the house. Men, however, were the strong ones. They were meant to work, and keep the money coming to the house. They were the strong ones who didn't do any of the housework which was meant for women.
I agree with Molly, women in that society and time period were unfortunately used. They worked all day around the house. Making no income of their own and they had pretty boring lives. The wealthy women were not one bit luckier. They had no excitement and no thrill in their lives. It seems like a rather simple and boring life. I have to agree with Ethan and Molly about the aspect of the necklace being similar to this story. The narrator was quite neglected and she basically had to stay at home all day, doing nothing. The saddest thing is that in that time period and society women really had no say in what their lives were. They had no vote when it came to choosing a Husband. Because depending on your money and a few other things men basically picked the women. I think
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with molly and giulia, woman had basically no life. They lived as slaves and they had no say in anything that they did. This story seemed a little bit different because int that time period, woman had a very very small say, in this case she had none what so ever. I think it wasn't just because she was a woman, it was also because her husband was not the nicest guy in the world. He told her what to do, where she couldn't go (nowhere), and he just kept her locked up. I think this story was almost an exaggeration of what it was like then.
ReplyDeleteI think that the author is suggesting that the middle class women aren't as good as the men. They have to stay at home all day and have nothing much to do. They even have a servant so that the wife doesn't have to tend to the baby or do any chores. that just show that the women weren't allowed to do anything for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think that he is also suggesting that the women are weaker because all the husband wanted to do was make her rest more and more each day and eventually that got to her because she had so much time in the room with the wallpaper that she eventually sunk into madness. I agree with Ethan in saying that women weren't allowed to do as much and that they were forced to do what their husbands wanted them to do.
I also agree with Giulia and Molly. A good example of middle class women is the bblacks and the whites. The blacks were treated unfailarly and as if they were dirt. The whites had superior power. In this case the blacks represent the women and the whites represent the men. For an example in the story, the narator form the yellow wallpaper was saying she had a sicknes. The spouse just said that she was fine and that she didn't need to go and get it looked at. and she ends up dying.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Giulia and Molly, in that women of the middle-class lived an already planned out dull life. It was expected of women to find a man, create heirs, and rely on the husband. It's almost as if women weren't trusted enough to do anything for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis story also shows how little a woman's voice was in those days. From being locked in a room to not being allowed to have a doctor look at her, the narrator is just one example of many women who were treated like they were beneath men.
I think the author is trying to imply that women are almost less than men in society. The broken and fainted wallpaper is the symbol of different classes of women in our society. Throughout the story the woman talks about having the wall paper removed, but is never able to actually do it. I think that stands for trying to be able to chance your role in society but not being pretty, smart, or athletic enough. Since she wasn't able to move up in society or remove the wall paper in this case she ends up dying because she is not able to change into something she wants to be.
ReplyDeleteI think that in that time period women were extremely looked down upon. They were expected to work and serve men, just like what Molly said. In this story, the narrator is sick and has mental health issues that cause her to be held upstairs in a room for the whole summer. Her sister in-law takes over all of her household duties for her since she is confined to her room. This action of keeping her locked up and confined causes her to go even more insane. In my opinion, her husband is slightly to blame for this, since he was the one not listening to her, and keeping her locked up.
ReplyDeleteI definately agree with Molly that women were expected to be wives, mothers, and household workers. Those things were the things they we expected to do. That is about it, and while that is unfortunate, that was the way it was.
In this short story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman suggests that middle-class women do not play a large role in society. To begin with, John doesn't believe his wife when she says that she's ill, and convinces all of her friends and family that she has "temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency." That shows that John had all of the power in the family because he was the man and the physician, and even though his wife herself said she was sick, no one believed her.
ReplyDeleteAlso, John and his wife's brother tell the woman to just avoid work until she's recovered from her nervous depression. She says, "Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?" The woman does not agree with what is happening to her, but she feels she has no way to control her own life, so she just goes along with what her husband tells her to do with herself. She grows more and more anxious, and is shut away in the room with the ugly yellow wallpaper, until she starts seeing women "sneaking around." She goes slightly out of her mind, but still, her husband doesn't allow her to leave her room even if it's what she believes is good for her.
Though she writes in private, despite the fact that she's not supposed to "work" according to her husband, she feels too guilty to continue so she tries to do it sparingly. That also shows how middle-class women played a minimal role in society - she feels like she's sneaking around just by writing down some of her thoughts about what's going on. A women's place was to do what was asked of her by her husband, and otherwise to sit back quietly. This woman had very little choice in her own life.