I thought Perkins Gillman was writing to affect change by showing the domestic roadblocks that women had to get around to achieve things in their life. As we discussed in class, the wallpaper was used to show our narrator's domestic hurdle, albeit one she couldn't cross, and she fell into a spiral of mental illness instead. Women were thought of as dainty and fragile, and our narrator is even referred to as "little girl" by her own husband (p. 360). I think the author was showing that if women cant overcome their domestic barriers (the wallpaper), things will only get worse for society (much like how Jane/the narrator became mentally ill/suicidal).
We also saw something similar to this in many of our other stories, such as Alcott's A Whisper in the Dark. Sybil and her mother are locked away for no real reason aside from convenience to the men in their lives. This is only possible because women were considered to be somewhat mentally unstable and able to turn insane spontaneously.
I think both Perkins Gillman and Alcott were writing to show how reprehensible it was that women were treated as intellectual midgets in comparison to men.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I like how you used the yellow wallpaper as a symbol for the obstacles women were faced with in the nineteenth century. I also agree that this story emphasized the fact that women are belittled by men. Good Job!
I also compared The Yellow Wallpaper to A Whisper in the Dark. I felt as if they were equally comparable on the level of women's rights in that they were both locked away against their will.
I find it interesting that you found such a comparison between The Yellow Wallpaper and A Whisper in the Dark. I, honestly, did not even think about this connection. You definitely did a great job comparing the ideas of both writers and showing how similar the two works really are.
Post a Comment