The Yellow Wall Paper

Choose three quotations from “The Yellow Wall-Paper” that present the married couple’s relationship, and explain what you understand about John as a character, and about the protagonist as a narrator for the way she depicts John.

I found that John was not a very good husband to her, he did not really concern about her condition. John seemed to be putting off her feelings. I felt as if her delusional state of mind was getting worse because they kept her in the room. IN my opinion john and his sister were actually  torturing her. In her mind John was a great loving husband, but I think in reality he treated her like a child, most times he was brushing off her dilemma. he  John referred to her as a child and a little “goose” he belittled her as a competent adult.

The narrator had a different outlook on John than I did, in my opinion John and his decision making on behalf of her, were a great part of why she could not get better. Despite John being a successful physician , he seemed to be avoiding that his wife’s mental health was deteriorating, through out the story it seemed that John was negligent. John was  he was evaluating her sickness  by her physical apreace, skin color eating habbits etc.. instead of her mental illness which was not getting any better as the reading proceeded. I can say that she loved her husband and she believed he cared for her, but he disregarded and her condition and contributed to her getting worse because he never removed her form the room were she was being haunted, in fact he made her stay there.

Erroneous

Erroneous

adjective

wrong; incorrect.

“Our assumption that only married people and their immediate relatives have any right to live in comfort and health is erroneous.”

Paragraph 7 in Women and Economics.

Now that I understand this word, I understand that Gilman believes this isn’t the only way people are capable of living in comfort.

 

Women and Economics.

In the selection from Women and Economics, Gilman makes an argument about housework. What is it? Does the short story “The Cottagette” present a solution to the issues raised in Gilman’s non-fiction Women and Economics? Explain your stance.

“Women and Economics,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman states that housework and the whole foundation of marriage keeps people from being in their natural state. It insists marriage isn’t necessary and it shouldn’t dictate the way we live our lives. Housework isn’t needed to make a solid foundation between individuals whether it be two or more. Yes, the Cottagette does present a solution to the issues in Woman and Economics because it proves housework isn’t necessary and in the story Ford is willing to accept Malda whether she cooks or not. He wants her to be herself without sacrificing her talents in order to meet his basic needs. 

Utopia or Dystopia?

uto¡pia

noun \yu̇-ˈtō-pē-ə\

: an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect

: a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

dys¡to¡pia

Noun \(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ə\

: an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly

: an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives

“All about up here were the lovely small things I needed; and not only
these, but the lovely big things that make one feel so strong and able
to do beautiful work.” “The Cottagette,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is definitely a utopian story. The narrator, Malda, describes her new home as a “fairy land of sun and shadow.” At first she is very content with her living conditions but soon her utopia starts to disintegrate when she tries to impress a man that has caught her attention. She begins taking her friend’s advice to pursue this man by cooking for him which takes up most of her time. Although she is good at it, she has no interest in it. In the end of the story, Ford encourages her to give up her cooking and to instead continue embroidering which makes her very happy. He asks her to marry him and I assume this was the final touch she needed for her new home.

“The Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is my favorite reading so far. The narrator is a distressed woman who is obviously unsatisfied with her surroundings and her domestic life. Her husband is not very supportive of her and tries to convince her otherwise every time she voices an opinion of her own about matters pertaining to their new home or anything that has to do with her inner feelings . In order to escape her reality she buries herself in her secret diary in which she writes about her fixation with the yellow wallpaper in the home which she describes as “menacing.” “There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day.It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!” I believe she sees herself in the wallpaper and so she is basically figuring herself out through it. As the story goes on she seems more and more miserable with her life and soon drives herself into insanity with the help of her oblivious husband. In the end of the story, she tries to set the trapped woman in the wallpaper free by biting and scratching it off and her husband finds her in this state and I believe by then it is far too late for her. This story is definitely dystopian because the main character is completely dehumanized by the end.