Monthly Archives: February 2013

The Cottagette And Women and Economics

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Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction “Women and Economics”? 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 “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.”She 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 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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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 “it is not true, always, my dear, that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” 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.

“The Cottagette” as a feminist text.

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“The Cottagette” 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 1900’s 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 “Lois 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 kitchen”(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 woman’s perspective that enjoys what she does.  Also another reason why this can be viewed as a feminist text is when Gilman writes “The Cottagette” I loved unreservedly. It was so little and new and clean, smelling only of its fresh planed boards—they hadn’t even stained”(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 it’s what most men don’t 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

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flamboyant: 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.

Blogging on Tuesday for Wednesday’s class

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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.

  • In class we looked at a selection from “Women and Economics” about housework. Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction “Women and Economics”? Explain your stance.
  • We began discussing the issue of narrator reliability. Consider narrator reliability in “The Cottagette” or “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or compare the two. Include examples by quoting from the text to show what informs your sense of reliability.
  • “The Yellow Wall-Paper” was once believed to have been out of print from 1920 until feminist scholars re-discovered it in the 1970s. Here are two possible topics to consider based on this statement:
  • How do you read “The Yellow Wall-Paper” or “The Cottagette” as a feminist text? What does that mean?
  • According to one examination of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and its publication history, the story did remain in print in between its reprint in 1920 and its feminist re-discovery in the 1970s–in horror story collections. In what ways do you see “The Yellow Wall-Paper” as a horror story? Include specific references to the text to support your claims.
  • What connections do you see among the stories assigned from the start of the semester and either or both of Gilman’s stories? Are there trends you can identify? Or contrasting situations/characters/styles that are worth noting in their difference? Be specific!

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 you’re writing (it shouldn’t be able to apply to everyone’s post and can certainly be longer than one word), choose appropriate categories and tags (or add if you want a tag that isn’t there already), write at least 300 words, proofread, and publish! If there are links or media you want to include, please do.

Commenters–get ready! Everyone who isn’t writing a blog post will need to comment by 10:00am Wednesday, so make sure you’re ready to comment on your classmates’ work with 100-150 words of insights and reactions to share with the class.

“The Cottagette”: solutions to “who will do the housework” dilemma

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In the short story “The Cottagette” 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 she’d 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 “who-will-do-the-housework” 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 “cottagette”, and takes note that it lacks a kitchen area. But this doesn’t seem to be a problem for her, or the other people living with and near her: “You 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 meals” (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 isn’t 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. “’Of course the things taste good—but so do my things! I’m a good cook myself” (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.

Flamboyant

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Flamboyant; adjective; strikingly bold or brilliant.

From “The Yellow Wallpaper” by C.P. Gillman. “One of the most sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.” (second page)

In this passage, the narrator is describing the wallpaper that she encountered in the nursery room, where she was going to be sleeping in. She didnt like the aspect of the wallpaper, nor the design. To her, it was strikingly brilliant in a negative way, not a good brilliant.

Blasphemy

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Blasphemy; noun; irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.

From “Young Goodman Brown” “On he flew, among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter, as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him.” (p 53)

I now understand that Goodman Brown was cursing something sacred at the moment. Before, he was challenging all the demons and wizards to come forth, and was then cursing at something, maybe god himself.

Narration–a few more terms

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A narrative is heterodiegetic if the narrator is not a protagonist or if the narrator  exists in a different sphere than the protagonist. Third-person narratives are most commonly associated with this term, but other narratives can be, such as you-narratives, they-narratives, and one-narratives.

A homodiegetic narrative is equivalent to a first-person narrative. If the narrator is the main protagonist, such as in an autobiography, that is called an autodiegetic narrative. That style of narration is different from a peripheral first-person narrator, in which a first-person narrator is a minor character. First-person narrators, whether homodiegetic or autodiegetic, are inherently limited in their perspective and are potentially untrustworthy.

These definitions come from Monika Fludernik’s An Introduction to Narratology, 2009. These definitions draw on the work of Gerard Genette and Franz K. Stanzel.

Forsooth

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forsooth: (adv.) often used to imply contempt or doubt.

Used in “Young Goodman Brown”, paragraph 31; “‘Ah, forsooth, and it is your worship, indeed?’ cried the good dame.”

This word was actually pretty funny to me when I read it and I thought I was either reading early Shakespeare or the Bible; I don’t even think the Bible has the word “forsooth” in it. I’m glad I looked it up and now know the definition because maybe I can use it in a sentence just to throw someone off. In all seriousness however, it’s interesting to me that this word is an adverb, especially because we spoke about adverbs in class. It proves that  not all adverbs are noticeable or end with “-ly.”

Querulous

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Querulous– Adjective, habitually complaining, fretful,whining.

From ” The Yellow Wallpaper”  I don’t feel as if it was worth while to turn my hand over for anything, and I’m getting dreadfully fretful and querulous”. ( Page 4, paragraph 8)

Now i understand that the main character has been sick for a while and she has been whining trying to make herself feel better.

 

Peculiarity

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Peculiarity – noun; 1) the quality or state of being peculiar – adjective – different from the usual or normal

From the story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne “It was all as lonely as could be; and there is this peculiarity in such a solitude, that the traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that, with lonely footsteps, he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude.” (paragraph 8)

Now I understand that he know it’s going to be a lonely trip but something special is waiting ahead of him after he pass through this road.

 

the overuse of adjectives

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hi everyone I’m so sorry this is late. I’m a manager/supervisor at Stop and Shop and with this snow storm i was stuck at work all weekend because customers like to over-react.

I read the short story The Cottagette from The Forerunner, Volume 1 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

I for one had to read this short story twice to fully understand it. The first time when I read it my mind was spinning because of the amount of adjectives that she uses. The author really does an excellent job of painting an image through words. Her sense of imagery is amazing.

Some of  her uses of adjectives in  the story I really liked the way she worded certain things like ” The working basis of the establishment was an eccentric woman named Caswell, a sort of musical enthusiast , who had a summer school of music and the “higher things”. Malicious persons, not able to obtain accommodation there, called the place “High C” The one adjective i liked was “eccentric”.Eccentric refers to unusual or odd behavior that contrasted to what is considered normal behavior.

In one paragraph of the story she says “There was one big room and two little ones in the tiny thing, though from the outside you wouldn’t have believed it, it looked so small; but small as it was it harbored a miracle– a real bathroom with water piped from mountain springs. Our windows opened into the green shadiness, the soft brownness, the bird-inhabited quiet flower- starred woods. In this one half of a paragraph the author in my opinion uses way too many adjectives to describe the cottage  Her overuse of adjectives made my head spin. The author says that her windows opened to view the “green shadiness, the soft brownness, the bird-inhabited quiet flower- starred woods”. WHAT? Couldn’t she just say that when she looked out her window she saw the woods, filled with birds and flowers. That’s it. It was an unnecessary part of the story.

I understand imagery and i understand how important it is for fiction and literature. I just feel that for me there is a line and she crossed it. This short story was very boring and really didn’t have much of a story to it.

Prithee

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Prithee (Interjection): used to express a wish or request

From “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
“Ha! ha! ha!” shouted he, again and again; then composing himself, “Well, go on, Goodman Brown, go on; but prithee, don’t kill me with laughing!”  (Paragraph 24)

I now understand that he was being “requested” not to continue making comments that were humorous, by the response of “Don’t kill me with laughing!”.