Charlotte Gilman The Giant Wisteria Analysis

Charlotte Gilman’s “The Giant Wisteria” was an important work in regards to women, not only in literature but every day life. The short story starts off with a woman conversing with her mother about wanting her child. The mother tells her to be quiet so her father does not overhear her. This implied, in my eyes, the child must have been born out of wedlock. It shows that even then people did not want to accept children or look at children differently when they are born outside of a marriage. This above is significant not only for women back then, but for women today as well. This text makes the reader make this connection of the child being born out of wedlock because when the father overhears he says she is “shameless” (Gilman 1). When children are born without married parents, people tend to judge them. Back then it was seemed as something of great disgrace, not so much in society today. Yet, many people still believe in the nuclear family, and …show more content…
I was appalled because the mother seemed to have no sympathy for her daughter. Her daughter makes the connection that they are both mothers however, the mother stays quiet in regards to saving the daughter from her father’s wrath. She went with what her husband was saying. The reason I believed this passage to be the most crucial in the story, is because it sets the tone for the rest of the story. The readers are aware of the tenison. As well, there is a prevalent theme in the stories read in class, they all tend to want to lock up the women as if they are crazy. They lock women away like they are animals and then are surprised when the woman goes mad. The explanation lies with her being in solitary confinement. It reminds me of being imprisoned, when people are put in solitary confinement they go mad, you have no human contact. Without any interaction with other humans one will go mad, therefore it is interesting that this was the form of punishment for