Extremely detailed document outlining the contextual elements, themes, characters and quotes used to write both The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Perfect for coursework comparisons, or gaining in depth detail into the novels separately.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Written in 1890
Gothic short story
End of Victorian period
Early readers may not have considered the feminist tone of the story –
instead would have considered it a piece of gothic literature
Stream of consciousness narrative style
Early feminist work
Gilman aims to portray the detrimental effects of the rest treatment
Autobiographical
Depiction of a woman lacking both privacy and intellectual autonomy
Written for the purpose of denouncing Weir Mitchell’s rest cure
Context
Gilman was involved in first-wave feminism
Lecturer for social reform
Suffered from postpartum depression in real life – inspired the writing of the
yellow wallpaper
Was in a lesbian relationship
Attitude towards women in late Victorian England
Often viewed as childish and weak/fragile
Discouraged from any kind of independence
Often forced to obey their husband’s opinions in most aspects of life;
including financially, socially and medically
Women's health was typically misunderstood and unresearched
They believed rest would cure melancholia and hysteria – when the isolation
this caused would likely worsen the depression
, Weir Mitchell and the rest treatment
Was inspired to introduce the rest treatment after its success on front-line
soldiers
‘Massage was a tonic of extraordinary value’
‘Combination of seclusion, massage and electricity’
Rest cure was designed for ‘the business man exhausted from too much
work, and the society woman exhausted from too much play’ - Gilman’s
autobiography
Gilman - ‘a physician who so nearly drove me mad’
Gilman’s the Forerunner
Fight against ‘yellow journalism’ that sought to exaggerate the news
It was Gilman’s attempt to cultivate intellectual journalism
She sought to expose patriarchal ideology and create a female reading
community
The yellow wallpaper’s symbolic strength may be drawn from the imagery
and iconography of yellow journalism
Her feelings towards the ever growing sensationalism of the newspapers
may be reflected in her description and symbolism in the yellow wallPAPER
1906 poem by Gilman entitled ‘the yellow reporter’ - gives a harsh
denunciation of ‘yellow journalism’
Characters
The unnamed narrator – an upper-class woman likely suffering from post-
natal depression
John – her husband – an esteemed physician – makes all of the narrator’s
decisions – he cares but is ultimately patronising – symbolism for patriarchal
society – has a focus on the narrator’s physical symptoms and ignores the
mental/psychological symptoms
Jennie – John's sister – works as a housemaid – has seemingly genuine
concern for the narrator – is content with her domestic role – a foil to the
narrator and makes her feel jealous of her domestic abilities and therefore
guilty and inferior as a woman
Themes
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