Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman Whole text of story is here: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

Key facts Short story/novella about a woman’s descent into madness… or is it? Published 1892 Unreliable narrator; quite an unsettling story 1 minute 3 key facts

Brief summary Narrated in the first person, the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband (John) has rented an old mansion for the summer. Forgoing other rooms in the house, the couple moves into the upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment, the unnamed woman is forbidden from working, and is encouraged to eat well and get plenty of air, so she can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency", a diagnosis common to women during that period. 3 minutes Briefly introduce plot

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009 /jan/09/women Critical commentary https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009 /jan/09/women 5 minutes Use as intro to key themes: madness, subjugation of women. Paras 1-4; second half also interesting

Background Though many details are changed, the story is semi-autobiographical, drawing on Gilman’s own health crisis and particularly her fraught relationship with Dr Silas Weir Mitchell – who carved a reputation for treating nervous exhaustion following his experiences as a Civil War doctor – and who was brought in to treat her in 1886. Gilman was treated with the “rest cure”, devised by Mitchell, as is the protagonist of the story; like an infant, she was dosed, fed at regular intervals and above all ordered to rest. Mitchell instructed Gilman to live as domestic a life as possible “and never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as you live”. In Gilman’s own words, he drove her to “mental agony” before she rejected his treatment and began once again to write… 3 minutes Biographical/social background to set the scene http://theconversation.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-a-19th-century-short-story-of-nervous-exhaustion-and-the-perils-of-womens-rest-cures-92302

Critical interpretation Although the autobiographical aspects of “The Yellow Wallpaper” are compelling, it is the symbolism and the underlying feminist connotations that lead best to discussion. First is John, the narrator’s husband. He could be viewed as the patriarchy itself, as Beverly Hume says, with his dismissal of all but the tangible and his constant condescension to his wife, but some critics have viewed this character as near-caricature (478). Many of the passages concerning the husband can be interpreted as containing sarcasm, a great many contain irony, and several border on parody (Johnson 528). It is true that the husband’s language is exaggerated at times, but dismissing the husband’s character as caricature seems extreme. He is instead the natural complement to the narrator’s madness and uncontrolled fancy: the character of John is control and “sanity” as defined by Victorian culture and is therefore the narrator’s opposite. Greg Johnson notes that John exhibits a near-obsession with “reason,” even as his wife grows mad. Critical view – if time, to illuminate possible themes and arguments http://www.lonestar.edu/yellow-wallpaper.htm

Medicine in literature Identity Links well with: Possible aspects: Madness Feminist writing Gothic/horror Victorian context Suspense 1st person narratives Medicine in literature Identity Links well with: Rebecca (Gothic/women) The Turn of the Screw (Gothic/madness) Jane Eyre (madness, gender) The Woman in Black (genre) Northanger Abbey (contrast) 3 minutes Possible themes/concepts to explore and compare

It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate! Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it. Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted? John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures. John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)—perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing. So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do? I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition. I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house. The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them. There were greenhouses, too, but they are all broken now. TIME CHECK 15 minutes 15 minutes left to analyse opening of novel in light of brief introduction Comments could include: Use of the first person and whether the narrator seems unreliable at this point Use of setting to create atmosphere (link to genre) and reflect narrator’s state of mind Key themes established? The relationship with John – all speech reported… Short paragraphs and disjointed style, parenthesis etc. “one expects that in marriage” – gender, love, power. What do women expect? Why no wallpaper yet, given the title…