Facts For "the Yellow Wallpaper" Analysis

Front 1

Born July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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Her father frequently left the family for long periods of time

Back 2

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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Often spent time with her great aunts Catharine Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Harriet Beecher Stower

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

Front 4

Married Charles W. Stetson in 1884 at 24. He was a local artist

Back 4

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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After her daughter’s birth she divorced her husband, moved to California, and left her daughter with Charles

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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In California she turned to writing to earn money. She wrote many feminist poems and short stories

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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She believed only economical independence would bring true freedom for women

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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Believed men and women should share responsibility of housework and that from an early age girls should be taught to be independent thinkers

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

Front 9

In 1900 Gilman married George Houghton Gilman, her first cousin

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http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/cgilman.html

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman was the intellectual leader of women’s movement from 1890s to 1920s

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She was a socialist but not a Marxist

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She was a deist with no interest in afterlife and viewed God as an impersonal working power

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She viewed economic independence for women of primary importance and suffrage as secondary importance

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She believed mankind has been degraded to a state of sexual over indulgence

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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Advocated that sex differences were over emphasized

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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Coined term “He who does not eat cannot work.” She believed if people needs were satisfied they would work because they wanted to

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She thought homes should be a private place for rest alone. No cooperative livings in every person should own their own home. She believed cooking, cleaning, and child rearing should be left to professionals

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 18

She wanted children to be treated as rational human beings with a good deal of freedom and that they should be dressed to allow movement and physical activity

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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Her early interests were sensible dress and shoes for women, and physical fitness. Opened first women’s gym in providence

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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She was always fairly consistent in her beliefs and remained generally positive in her outlook

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 21

In her later years she became interested in Freud, birth control, and immigrants. She hated Freud, thought birth control was good because it gave freedom to women, but was bad that it promoted sex for pleasure and not just baby-making, and did not like immigrants because they were a threat to “true Americans.”

Back 21

http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 22

Her father gave her the talent of speaking and preaching

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 23

Her childhood was characterized by poverty and continually moving

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 24

Her father left when she was an infant, sent little money, and visited rarely

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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Her schooling was scarce with only 4 years of school between the ages of 7 and 15

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 26

Met Charles Walter Stetson in 1882. Struggles for months on whether marrying him was wrong because he would get in the way of her work. She did marry him though in 1884

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 27

She had serious depression and idleness when she was in Providence and with her family, so she left in 1887

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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In 1892 her story “The Yellow Wallpaper” was published in New England Magazine

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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In 1895 she went to stay in Jane Addams Hull House to get away from media pressure and her lonely life

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

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In 1935 she felt she was no longer well or useful so she killed herself with chloroform

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 31

Charlotte’s mother was married to a second cousin and Charlotte married a first cousin

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http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00019

Front 32

She wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to convince Dr. S. Weir Mitchell to change his treatment of hysteria

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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The purpose of the story is not to drive people crazy but to keep them from going crazy

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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When “The Yellow Wallpaper” first came out people thought it was to make fun of women being crazy not point out the problems with social roles

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

Front 35

A lot of inbreeding making the family suffer from mental disorders, but they were revolutionary thinkers and writers

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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She was afraid of marriage because her whole world would have to be centered around her husband and child, leaving no room for her own work

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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Had what is now known as Post-Pardum Depression. At the time all women emotional problems were just known as hysteria

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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Dr. S. Weir Mitchell gave her a 4 step process to cure her hysteria, 1) extend bed-rest 2) isolation from family and familiar surroundings 3) over-feeding to create new energy 4) massages and electricity for muscle excitation

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

Front 39

Basically it was a treatment to get women to be submissive

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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Also she was told to never touch a pen or brush for the rest of her life

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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She tried this treatment for a few months and almost went insane

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http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

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She divorced her husband who then married her best friend. She left her child with them so she could tour and lecture

Back 42

http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm

Front 43

Charlotte’s letter to Dr. Mitchell about her symptoms was totally disregarded

Back 43

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v069/69.2thrailkill.html

Front 44

According to Gilman the real reason for the story was to reach Dr. Mitchell and show him the error of his own ways

Back 44

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v069/69.2thrailkill.html

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People at the time of the writing did not even recognize the feminist undertones

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http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v069/69.2thrailkill.html

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Put her on a “cure” to basically make her submissive

Back 46

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v069/69.2thrailkill.html