Happy Monday friends! I hope you packed light and got some party clothes, cause this Monday we going back to North American literature:
So today we are in The United States and we will explore:
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), was a prominent American feminist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform.
She was a utopian feminist and served as a role model for future
generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and
lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story The Yellow Wallpaper which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis. The Yellow Wallpaper was initially met with a mixed reception, however, Positive reviewers describe it as impressive because it is the most
suggestive and graphic account of why women who live monotonous lives
are susceptible to mental illness.
Description:
First published in
1892, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is written as the secret journal of a woman
who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is
sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband
and doctor forbid it, prescribing instead complete passivity. In the
involuntary confinement of her bedroom, the hero creates a reality of
her own beyond the hypnotic pattern of the faded yellow wallpaper--a
pattern that has come to symbolize her own imprisonment. Narrated with
superb psychological and dramatic precision, "The Yellow Wallpaper"
stands out not only for the imaginative authenticity with which it
depicts one woman’s descent into insanity, but also for the power of its
testimony to the importance of freedom and self-empowerment for women.
If you would like to read this short story, you can find it here (The Yellow Wallpaper)
If you would like to read this short story, you can find it here (The Yellow Wallpaper)
Thoughts:
I became aware of this short story, when I was in France. In one of my literature classes, a professor gave this short story as an assignment and after reading I completely fell in love with it. It's so haunting I think, so full of regret and anxiety. I actually wrote my Bachelor thesis on this short story, and it will always play a special role in my heart.
Why do I like it so? Because it straight up tells us how women were seen during the Victorian period. As simple, fragile creatures who are too weak to go and live life and are only here to be pretty and carry children. This story gives us a young woman, who after having baby suffers from depression, and instead of being outside in fresh air, being around people and doing activities, she is locked up in a room with yellow wallpaper in it that causes her to go mad.
In my thesis I argued that she was neglected and simply leaving her to rest was the equivalent of curing her depression. I truly recommend to read this book, to truly realize what a loud voice we have know and that we should use it!
See you next Monday!
