Understated Expectations In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'My Poor Aunt'

It is the year 2017 and it has been reported that the female staff of the white house have been instructed to “Dress like women” (Leaper 1). What exactly is meant by this particular comment is yet known only by speculation but this sense of understated expectation has been one of which women have fought against for centuries. It has been a battle hard fought and the large portion of its success is owed to the beginning warriors who were not the aggressive protestors or violent reformers one might expect to fight a cause so vexatious, so blatantly inequitable as inequality for women’s rights. The turn of the century was a time of discovery and the birth of a new age (Mays pg. 650). Leaps and bounds were and in science and new developments, however, …show more content…
Gilman in her writing inspired women to break away from marriage expectations and dependence on men by displaying the example in her fictional characters. In “My Poor Aunt” she does this by Kate’s desire for something more than what society has set for her and by her complete disregard for marriage, at least of the sort her mother and Aunt are presenting, one of obligation and financial need. When Kate says, “I know more of life than you seem to suppose, Mr. Jameson, and I know that there is nothing more wicked and more base—more cowardly, too, under its cloak of respectability— than a loveless marriage!” (163) then states, “I utter refuse to marry this man, and , what is more I refuse to stay longer in this condition of childish dependence! I claim my right as an individual, and leave this house tomorrow to earn my own living, even if it be as a maid-of-all-work!”(163) she stands as a glowing symbol of what all women in similar situations can aspire to be. This also shows Gilman’s advocacy for individuality. As such, Gilman’s characters always pursue “whatever work or avocation gives meaning and depth to [their] life outside the familial sphere”(Cane 5). For Kate, this was her passion for writing, which she does make a priority and indeed pursue, even to Nebraska. However in Gilman’s writings on must be careful not to misconstrue her to be against marriage, so long as it is not at the expense of one’s own desires and individuality. In her opinion “a young woman should be allowed to have her career, a happy marriage and children. But children are not improved in proportion to their mother’s immolation….they need Genius” (Cane 6). Gilman is much of the mind woman should marry if a met mets their standards, and only then. If they do not,