After reading yellow wallpaper I thought that Perkins Gillman wrote it to affect change in how women of the time were treated. Women had to overcome so many domestic hurdles to be successful and achieve good things in their lives. The yellow wallpaper served as a hurdle that the narrator had to try to pass. I feel that trying to overcome it and break free was what drove her to near insanity. At the time, women were thought of as being delicate and weak, and not really able to have concrete thoughts of their own. The narrator was handled and treated as if she were a child. I think that initally she was able to think for herself, but if our thoughts are inhibited by others and we're forced to believe that they don't really matter, sooner or later that will control our thoughts and we will be always depending on others for everything. I think the writer was trying to show that if women weren't given more freedom and respect and instead "trapped in wallpaper" that it would be very bad for women, and society overall.
I think that Alcott's A Whisper in the Dark, alluded to teaching the same message and trying to affect the same change. Both Sybill and her mother were institutionalized and thought to be insane for no real purpose or reason. I think that in a whisper in the dark and in the yellow wallpaper the women were locked up so that the men in their lives wouldn't really need to deal with them; they were locked up when they became an inconvience in their lives.
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You made a really good point about the oppression of women that is seen throughout this story. I like how you compared it to Sybill and her mother because it is a good comparison and demonstrates the feelings people had towards women during the 19th century. I agree with you that the wallpaper is used as a hurdle or obstacle for women to overcome.
ReplyDeleteI like how your term "domestic hurdles" i think that really describes what women were trying to overcome during that time.
ReplyDeleteA whisper in the dark is a great example of the same issue. A whisper in the Dark seemed almost more intense than the Yellow Wallpaper.
I liked that you linked this to the oppression of women. I agree because our narrator was being "held captive" (you could say) and it was definately an oppressive move by her husband. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI like how you directed your blog to describe how women of that time were treated for illnesses. I also think that how you described the yellow wallpaper metaphorically was very interesting. It makes perfect sense though and that idea made me think deeper about the whole story as well. Good post!
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