demur : verb :To voice opposition; Law To enter a demurrer.
from the story ” The Cottagette “, i demurred  a little, it was monday, Mrs. Fowler thought it was cheaper to have a woman come and wash, and we did, but it certainly made more work.
i now understand that the author was showing reluctance to Ford Mathews  request, “one day he came around early and asked me to go up hugh’s peak with him”.
Erroneous: Adjective:Â containing or characterized error.
From Women and Economics Chapter XIV “Our assumption that only married people and their immediate relatives have any right to live in comfort and health is erroneous.”
I now understand what she meant in saying this which is basically our assumptions about peoples right to live in comfort and good health was wrong.
I wonât say âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ by Gilman fits in the category of typical horror stories, which fascinates or shocks the readers by introducing them to supernatural powers, bloodshed, or scary scenes. But this story shares some properties with the horror collections. There are incidents in the story where author has created weird and scary situations in a fascinating manner.
The story is about the author herself who suffers from physiological disorder and her struggle during the phase with her own imaginary scary activities. When the author starts narrating the story, it feels like as if she is going to narrate a horror story. In the second paragraph of the story she start saying âA colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house,â The author leads the story with the description of the house which she and her husband have rented for summer. Describing the house as old and haunted she is conveying message to the readers that the house carries some unusual environment. Again to support her statement that there is something wrong with the house she adds âElse, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?â In this way Gilman creates a horror story type scenario and presents a dark scary image in front of the readers. As the story moves on, the author gets disturb by the wallpaper in a room and she starts seeing unusual activities âThere is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stares at you upside down.â Here using the words like broken neck and bulbous eyes, author is presenting a disturbed image to the readers like in horror stories. Like the unusual activities intensifies in the horror stories, Gilmanâs fear intensifies and she starts seeing a character, a woman creeping on the wall and haunting her âIt creeps all over the house. I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs.â No one except Gilman witness the woman and the activities. Only she is being haunted by the woman figure. Till the end of the story the imaginary woman character keeps haunting the author for the freedom. And finally she gets rid of the fear by peeling off the wall paper. Looking at these points I would definitely say that âThe Yellow Wall Paperâ has the taste of a horror story.
Does the short story âThe Cottagetteâ present a solution to the issues raised in Gilmanâs non-fiction âWomen and Economicsâ? Explain your stance.
I do believe that “The Cottagette” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents a solution to the issues raised in “Woman and Economics” also by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Some of the issues that she raises are that women are the only species that depend on men for survival. She doesn’t believe that women are any lower than man and they need to get rights and be equal. She argues that women need to change how people view them and what society expects from them.
The solution from “The Cottagette” changes the idea that woman have about marriage and what they believe all men want. If all men were like Malda’s husband and not expect women to be their cooks and house maids then the idea of marrying just for that wouldn’t exist. He says “It is not true, always, my dear,” said he, “that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach; at least its not the only way.” ( last paragraph)
Gilman argues that women take on too much of a role in the marriage, more than the men, and do not get enough credit which created an image for women as unpaid workers. Some women believe that it is their duty to serve for their husband and only get married for that reason. Lois says âWhat they care for most after all is domesticity. Of Course theyâll fall in love with anything; but what they want to marry is a homemaker.âShe gave her that advice to make her house more homey and have a real kitchen and cook for her husband thinking he wanted that but he wanted the opposite. Malda’s husband only wanted her to continue her hobbies and what she wanted to fulfill her dreams.
The “Cottagette” portrays what female roles were like during the 1900’s, for example when Malda expresses her rational thoughts about Ford Mathews, Lois States “What they care for most after all is domesticity. Of Course they’ll fall in love with anything; but what they want to marry is a homemaker.” This statement is eye opening for Malda because through out the story we can distinguish how Malda is trying very hard to cook and be a homemaker, it amuses me how a women was comfortable with settling to simply be a homemaker. Gilman shows the stereotypical concept that the role of a women in marriage is to be a homemaker. She explains it is not the only thing women are adequate at but women are also resourceful. Ford Matthews states in the story âit is not true, always, my dear, that the way to a manâs heart is through his stomach.â This acknowledgement displays that it doesn’t always have to be “bread and butter” to fulfill a guys needs. Later on in the story we come to realize that Ford Matthews doesn’t just want Malda to be a homemaker, he inspires Malda to do what shes good at and she confesses it. She states “i dont want to cook–i want to draw.” Ford asked Malda to marry him but he had a condition which was, Malda had to give up cooking and continue to do what she loves to do which is draw as he would take on the role of cooking which shows true love and equality in a marriage.
âThe Cottagetteâ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, can be looked at as a feminist text because of the year it was written and the tone of the story. By the early 1900âs women were fighting for their equality of rights. In either a relationship or marriage women had to be housewives and do all the household duties while their other halves worked. They stayed home all day either taking care of the children, doing  laundry, cooking, cleaning the typical role of the women was rarely questioned until women started to speak out saying they are able to do more than what society wanted them to do.
The reason why I can consider this a feminist text because Gilman says âLois likes to do housework, but it spoils her hands for practicing⊠I always work best in the morning; but of course housework has to be done in the morning to; it is astonishing how much work there is in the littlest kitchenâ(page 5, paragraph 5). Here it clearly says that Lois likes what she has to do on a daily basis and you see this first hand on a womanâs perspective that enjoys what she does. Also another reason why this can be viewed as a feminist text is when Gilman writes âThe Cottagetteâ I loved unreservedly. It was so little and new and clean, smelling only of its fresh planed boardsâthey hadnât even stainedâ(page 1, paragraph 9). It shows that she appreciates the little things in life.
The Cottagette is a symbol throughout the story which I believe represents all housewives, who have a little place in the house to call their own which is the kitchen. Where they are in control of what takes places in there and itâs what most men donât interfere with, which is to keep the house in order. Gilman molds Lois, as the inspiration to most women who take pride in what they do.
flamboyant:Â Tending to attract attention because of their exuberance, confidence, and stylishness.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper (1899), Page 2, Line 27
” One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin”
that design of the art seen stood out in a negative way, what the artist was trying to portray wasn’t seen that way.
If you were asked to blog by 5:00 on Tuesday so that everyone can comment on your posts by 10:00am Wednesday, what do you plan to blog about? Here are some ideas, but I hope others will reply here with other ideas.
These are just a few ideas that you might consider. For your post, choose one of these, or venture off on your own topic, using any of these as a guide to make sure your topic is as focused. Use the texts to guide you, consider that your audience will have read the same materials but might not have thought about them as much as you have or in the same way that you did, and enjoy sharing your ideas. On the nitty-gritty end of things, remember to include a title that reflects what youâre writing (it shouldnât be able to apply to everyoneâs post and can certainly be longer than one word), choose appropriate categories and tags (or add if you want a tag that isnât there already), write at least 300 words, proofread, and publish! If there are links or media you want to include, please do.
Commentersâget ready! Everyone who isnât writing a blog post will need to comment by 10:00am Wednesday, so make sure youâre ready to comment on your classmates’ work with 100-150 words of insights and reactions to share with the class.
In the short story âThe Cottagetteâ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist Malda recounts her brief transformation from an embroidery artist to a housewife, done in an attempt to win the heart of a man sheâd fallen in love with. The story itself serves as a critique of 19th century conventions, most notably, that a woman would not be able to find love or marry if she did not offer herself as a housewife to he prospective husband. There are two main solutions to this whole âwho-will-do-the-houseworkâ problem that arises when the possibility of a woman not doing all the domestic work comes up:
At the very beginning of the story, Malda descries the âcottagetteâ, and takes note that it lacks a kitchen area. But this doesnât seem to be a problem for her, or the other people living with and near her: âYou had to go quite a way through the meadow⊠to reach the town-connecting road below. But in the woods was a little path, clear and wide, by which we went to mealsâ (Gilman); this shows that she and the others living in the cottagette with her have no need for a kitchen or to do any of the cooking themselves, because they hired someone else to do it for them. This leaves them with more time to peruse their own artistic interests, such as music (or embroidery, in the case of Malda).
While this works for the characters in the story, this type of living isnât financially feasible for everyone. To that, the story offers an alternative route: for both spouses to share the housework, as opposed to leaving the all of it to the wives. ââOf course the things taste goodâbut so do my things! Iâm a good cook myselfâ (Gilman) says Ford, the man with which Malda has fallen in love. This, more than anything else, shows that he truly does care for her, and wants a partner in marriage as opposed to a live-in-maid. It also serves as a solution to those who cant afford to hire others to do their housework.
The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.
