Journal:
Why might “women's literature” be a separate
study of literature? What is unique about the
feminine experience in American culture? How
is it different from the experience of men?
Consider developments in historical, social,
and gender perceptions that make women's
voices worth studying.
What does “women’s liberation” mean to you?
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
-born in 1860
-largely self-educated
-attended a design school from age 18-20
-illustrated greeting cards
-married in 1884, and gave birth to a
daughter in 1885
-later divorced and remarried in 1900
-published 186 short stories, including The
Yellow Wallpaper, which appeared in
1892
-wrote throughout her life on women’s
issues, advocated women’s right to
vote, argued against Darwin’s writings
and other scientific theories that
described the female mind as
functioning differently from the male
mind
“Female Hysteria”
the diagnosis for 25% of women
during the 1800s when they had
an ailment with no explainable
cause. It had 75 possible
symptoms and was found
mostly in middle class white
women
Cures:
-“rest” cure
-“cold water” treatment
(pictured)
-Marriage and childbirth
-tonics and potions
Greek word for uterus= hystera
Symptoms of a Victorian “hysterical
episode”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fatigue
Sleeplessness
Irritability
Loss of appetite
Loss of energy
Anxiety
Extremely emotional (cries a lot)
Why would
someone be
depressed,
wearing an
outfit like
this?
Silas Weir Mitchell was a prominent
nerve specialist who promoted the
“rest cure” to treat hysteria:
- six to eight weeks of bed rest.
- patient is forbidden to sit sew, write,
draw, read, or do other “work.”
- a great deal of bland food
- isolation (no visitors)
- no excitement
Dr. Mitchell prescribed Charlotte
his “rest cure” when she
turned to him concerning her
severe bouts of depression
following the birth of her
daughter.
Charlotte tried to follow the
doctor’s directions for several
months, but her depression
worsened, to the point of
developing suicidal
tendencies. Her depression
lifted when she eventually
divorced her husband and
took her daughter to live
elsewhere.
Victorian Era Women and
The “Feminine Ideal”
Families experienced a major
change during this time period.
Pre-Industrial
Revolution
After Industrial
Revolution
most work done in home by
men and women-people
made what they needed
at home (food, clothing,
etc.)
work travels outside the
home-new industries and
companies where men
could work as lawyers,
clerks, factory managers,
physicians, etc.
Educational opportunities
for women become more
widespread
Advanced education
(college) not widely
available to women
How does the Industrial Revolution affect
women’s place in society?
• More women in the workforce-women were
earning income, but expected to turn wages
over to parents/husbands
• Backlash against women working-seen as
“unfeminine” (This applies mostly to the world
of middle- and upper-class white women.)
• “Feminine Ideal” emerges
Feminine Ideal
•
•
•
•
Piety
Purity
Submissiveness
Domesticity
The "true" woman was that
female at home, "the
Valiant Woman of the
Bible, in whom the heart
of her husband rejoiced
and whose price was
above rubies" (Welter,
41).
Advice to young women:
"sit not with another in a place that is too
narrow; read not out of the same book; let
not your eagerness to see anything induce
you to place your head close to another
person's."
~Mrs. Eliza Farrar, The Young Woman's Friend
"There is more to be learned about pouring
out tea and coffee than most young ladies
are willing to believe."
~Godey's Ladies Book
• Feminist Criticism
• There are a number of different models
that can be applied when reading a novel,
poem, or other literary work. In fact, these
different models are used by professional
critics in order to determine, or pull from a
work, the meaning. One very common
model or theory is the Feminist one, a
term that is not so foreign in today's day
and age as it was when Mary Shelley
wrote her classic "Frankenstein" which has
now been examined through a Feminist
perspective numerous times.
Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the
ways in which literature (and other cultural
productions) reinforce or undermine the
economic, political, social, and
psychological oppression of women". This
school of theory looks at how aspects of
our culture are inherently patriarchal (male
dominated).
• Though a number of different approaches
exist in feminist criticism, there exist some
areas of commonality. This list is
excerpted from Tyson:
1.) Women are oppressed by patriarchy
economically, politically, socially, and
psychologically; patriarchal ideology is the
primary means by which they are kept so
2.) In every domain where patriarchy reigns,
woman is other: she is marginalized,
defined only by her difference from male
norms and values
• All of western (Anglo-European)
civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal
ideology, for example, in the biblical
portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and
death in the world
• While biology determines our sex (male or
female), culture determines our gender
(masculine or feminine)
• All feminist activity, including feminist
theory and literary criticism, has as its
ultimate goal to change the world by
prompting gender equality
• Gender issues play a part in every aspect
of human production and experience,
including the production and experience of
literature, whether we are consciously
aware of these issues or not
The Yellow Wallpaper Vocabulary
DEFINE:
Importunities
Inanimate
Atrocious
Patent
Derision
Perseverance
Felicity
Querulous
Impertinence
Undulating
Importunities
To be persistent by urging; demands
being made repeatedly or insistently
Atrocious
Appallingly bad
Derision
Contempt and mockery; to scorn, ridicule,
and disrespect
Felicity
Happiness or bliss
Impertinence
Improper boldness; rudeness
Inanimate
Not alive; lifeless
Patent
(adjective)
Obvious or apparent
Perseverance
Determination and persistence
Querulous
Inclined to complaining
Undulating
Moving with wave-like motion