The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Perkins)

 About the Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer,  advocate for social reform, and eugenicist. She was a utopian feminist and served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. She has been inducted into the “National Women’s Hall of Fame.” Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” which she wrote after a severe bout of postpartum psychosis. 

Introduction: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins is about working of woman’s psyche which was not at all a matter to be considered and treated in Perkins’ period. The story, of course, has a contemporary relevance for it contains the theme of feminism and working of women’s psyche.

Discussion:

Plot: “The Yellow Wallpaper” is written as a series of diary entries from the perspective of a woman who is suffering from post-partum depression. The narrator begins by describing the large, ornate home that she and her husband, John, have rented for the summer. John is an extremely practical man, a physician, and their move into the country is partially motivated by his desire to expose his suffering wife to its clean air and calm life so that she can recover from what he sees as a slight hysterical tendency.

The narrator complains that her husband will not listen to her worries about her condition, and treats her like a child. She also suspects that there is something strange and mysterious about the house, which has been empty for some time, but John dismisses her concerns as a silly fantasy. As part of her cure, the narrator is forbidden from pursuing any activity other than domestic work, so as not to tax her mind. She particularly misses the intellectual act of writing and conversation, and this account is written in a diary that she hides from her husband. They move into the room at the top of the house, which the narrator supposes is a former nursery since it has barred windows and peeling yellow wallpaper.

This repellent yellow wallpaper becomes a major force in the story, as the narrator grows obsessed with deciphering its seemingly incomprehensible, illogical patterns. She continues to hide the diary from John, and grows more and more convinced that the wallpaper contains a malevolent force that threatens the whole home. From her room, she can see a shaded lane, the bay, and an overgrown garden. When she can escape the attention of her husband and Jennie, his sister, she continues her study of the wallpaper and begins to imagine she can see a mysterious figure hiding behind the top pattern. She tries to convince her husband that they should leave the house, but he insists that she is improving and sees indulging her concerns as encouraging a dangerous, fanciful nature, when what is required is self-control.

The narrator’s depression and fatigue continue to worsen. Her fascination with the wallpaper takes over her life. In a series of increasingly short diary entries, she describes her progress in uncovering the secrets of its pattern, as she grows increasingly paranoid about the intentions of Jennie and John. She believes that the figure is a creeping woman, trapped behind the bars of the top pattern, and becomes determined to free her, and to keep the secret of her existence from her husband and his sister. She surprises Jennie examining a scratched groove on the wall, and doesn’t believe her excuse that she had been looking for the source of the yellow stains on the narrator’s clothes. She begins to keep secrets even from her diary, and makes an initial, nighttime attempt to remove the wallpaper on the eve of their departure. Later, when all the furniture has been removed from the room except for the gnawed and heavy bedstand, she locks the door and throws the key down onto the front drive, and then proceeds to tear and tear at the parts of the wallpaper she can reach.

Here, at the story’s climax, the perspective shifts as the narrator’s mental breakdown becomes complete, and in her madness she is convinced that she is the woman who was trapped behind the wallpaper. She begins to creep around the room in an endless circle, smudging the wallpaper in a straight groove. John breaks into the room and discovers her, and faints at the sight. She continues to creep endlessly around the room, forced to go over his prone body.

Themes:

Mental Illness and its Treatment:

Reading the series of diary entries that make up the story, the reader understands that the narrator has slowly descended into madness which is visible by her mounting paranoia and obsession with the mysterious figure pattern in the yellow wallpaper.  As the portrayal of a woman’s gradual mental breakdown, the story offers the reader a window into the perception and treatment of mental illness in the late nineteenth century.

Gender Roles and Domestic Life:

Alongside its exploration of mental illness, “The Yellow Wallpaper” offers a critique of traditional gender roles as they were defined during the late nineteenth century. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a prominent feminist, who rejected the trappings of traditional domestic life and published extensively about the role of women in society, and saw the gender roles of the time as horribly stifling. 

Outward Appearance vs. Inner Life:

Another major theme in the story lies in the contradiction between outward appearance and inner life. The story gives the reader a glimpse into its writer’s inner life. This, in turn, allows us to watch as the narrator’s husband misinterprets her condition while she begins to consciously deceive both him and his sister, Jennie.

Self-Expression, Miscommunication, and Misunderstanding:

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is the simple story of a woman who is unable fully to express herself, or to find someone who will listen. The narrator senses that the act of writing, which she has been forbidden to do, is exactly what she needs to feel better. In fact, writings, according to her is self-expression. Since she is unable to communicate with her husband, this diary becomes a secret outlet for her.

Conclusion:

Thus. “The Yellow Wallpaper” centres around the mental, emotional, and physical harm caused by the limited role women were allowed to play in society and their own family during the Victorian era. The narrator is not allowed for self-expression, autonomy or a voice in her marriage and so she becomes mentally ill and emotionally shattered. This self-expressed semi-autobiography clearly indicates that women must be given freedom for their self-expression.  

As You Like It (William Shakespeare)

 Introduction:

“As You Like It” by William Shakespeare is a pastoral comedy with major themes of love, gender, sexuality, and injustice. Duke Frederick usurps the dukedom from his brother, the rightful Duke Senior, and banishes him. Several of the characters seek refuge in the Forest of Arden where they learn of love and forgiveness in nature.

Plot:

Orlando and Oliver are brothers who are fighting bitterly over their inheritance. Oliver is the older brother so after the death of their father, he assumes control of the wealth and the household. Oliver convinces Charles who is Duke Frederick’s champion wrestler that Orlando is unworthy, setting Charles up to badly hurt or kill Orlando in their match.

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Arden, Duke Senior has fled there to escape his brother Duke Frederick, who usurped the throne. His daughter Rosalind is still allowed at Frederick’s court because she is best friends with his daughter Celia. Rosalind confesses her attraction to Orlando after the match. Frederick returns after the match and accuses Rosalind of conspiring against him for her father, and throws her out of court. Celia and Rosalind decide to move to Arden together in disguise: Celia is “Aliena” and Rosalind is a man named “Ganymede” They also bring Frederick’s jester Touchstone with them. They purchase a cottage with some sheep and settle down to a quiet life. They befriend a shepherd named Silvius who is in love with a woman named Phoebe. At the same time, Orlando learns of a plot against his life by his brother Oliver, so he and Adam also set out to live in Arden.

Frederick is furious at his daughter’s departure, so he orders Oliver to find Orlando Orlando runs into Ganymede one day and confesses he is lovesick over a girl named Rosalind, not realizing that Rosalind is Ganymede in guise. She pledges to help him get over his lovesickness if he comes to woo her each morning. Ganymede runs into Oliver, who reveals that Orlando saved him from a poisonous snake and a lioness. Meanwhile, Oliver and Aliena stumble across each other and fall in love instantly, and Touchstone falls for a goat herder named Audrey. Later, Rosalind, still disguised as Ganymede, secures a promise from Phoebe that she will marry Silvius. She also gets Duke Frederick to agree that his daughter could marry Oliver if she were around to do so. The two girls take off their disguises, and the four couples: Orlando and Rosalind, Celia and Oliver, Silvius and Phoebe, and Touchstone and Audrey, wed in the end. Frederick announces that on his way to attack Duke Senior, he met a holy man that made him reevaluate his life. He puts down his arms against his brother and returns the throne to him.

Themes:

Gender Fluidity

In “As You Like It” a woman disguises herself as a man in order to keep herself safe and manipulate those around her: when Rosalind retreats into the forest, she becomes Ganymede, and gets closer to Orlando through her use of disguise. This cross-dressing suggests that gender is fluid

Love

As with most Shakespearean comedies, a central theme of “ As You Like It” is love and desire. The play presents a number of romantic pursuits throughout its five acts, culminating with four marriages at the very end. Furthermore, Phoebe, for instance, marries Silvius simply because she has promised to do so, suggesting that their relationship is born of duty rather than emotional connection.

Foolishness

The play's often ironic representation of love reveals its deeper investment in the nature of foolishness and folly. Many characters are presented as absurd or ridiculous, including Orlando and his Petrarchan conception of courting. Notably, the character who speaks most wisely about this foolish behavior is Touchstone. 

Change and Transformation

“As You Like It” appears to have some sort of transformative power over the characters. When characters enter the Forest of Arden, they experience major changes – some physical, like the transformation of Rosalind into Ganymede, and others psychological, like Lover and Duke Frederick, who dispel with their malicious behavior.

Family and Inheritance

“As You Like It” features two notable representations of sibling relationships: the first is between Orlando and his oldest brother, Oliver, and the second between Duke Frederick and Duke Senor. In fact, the only "healthy" familial relationship that seems to exist in the play is between cousins Rosalind and Celia.

Conclusion:

“As You Like It” is a romantic comedy in its treatment of some sweet songs that add special charm and melodious atmosphere in the play. A romantic comedy is a play in which the romantic elements are mingled with comic elements. Thus, Love is a central theme in “As You Like It”. Throughout the play, several types of love are experienced, including love at first sight between Orlando and Rosalind, Phoebe and Ganymede, and Oliver and Celia.