Discuss the life and works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and also

Discuss the life and works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and also write the summary of the essay entitled “THE YELLOW WALLPAPER”.

Ans.

LIFE AND WORKS

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was an American social activist as well as a writer of fiction. Poetry and non-fiction. She was a versatile genius and was equally competent as a writer of fiction, Poetry and non fiction. She possessed a very good understanding of human psychology, particularly of women and has portrayed the practical problems of women only be cause she had herself faced a number of ups and downs in her own life. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut in the family of Frederick Beecher Gilman in 1860 but her childhood was not happy and peaceful because of the circumstances in her family. Her mother was deserted when she was just a child and her deserted mother had to undergo untold problems in bringing her up. She had to face even more difficulties in her married life. She went through an unpleasant marriage with Charles Stetson. This had a dangerous psychological influence on her and she became a patient of depression. She had to be treated for a long time but she did not recover completely and there was only very slight improvement. Her poor health did not effect her spirits and she continued writing and working as a lecturer. Once, in a fit, she committed suicide in 1935. Her work Women and Economics got a great applause. She founded a magazine The Forerunner. Charlotte had a second marriage with her cousin, George Gilman in 1990. He was with her till died.

Summary of the Essay

The Yellow Wallpaper is constituted by a series of entries made in a journal by a woman who is confined to a room to rest after giving birth to a child. She is the chief narrator. Her husband is a doctor and loves her and he has taken this step so that she may recover at the earliest. She is not allowed to leave the room, or read or write. Dr. John has taken a big palatial building on rent for her but she has to keep herself confined only to one room. Its walls are covered with yellow wallpaper which is torn and destroyed from place to place and perhaps it has been empty for a long time. It seems to be a haunted room and there was something uncommon. She wonders why this house remained inhabited for such a long time but nobody pays any attention to her. Her brother, also, a physician of great popularity like her husband, had asked her in the same way. Bored from the emptiness and loneliness of her life, she begins to write her diary, but that too secretly because her husband would not allow her. This building was about three miles from the village and was surrounded with a very beautiful garden. In this nervousness, she sometimes becomes angry, though she knows that the doctor loves her very much.

The room where she was kept, was very old and there were patches all around over the walls. The yellow colour was also quite uninteresting. The wall paper was torn, perhaps the children had done this mischief. She had been living there for two weeks. the doctor was out for serious cases and there was not much difficulty for her to write. The floor was scratched. John’s sister came there to look after her but when she was out, the woman could write her diary quite easily. Every body carefully looked after her, and there was nothing for her to do and they leave her alone for most of the time. Slowly, in spite of being very ardent and broken, she began to like that wall paper. It seemed to her to change its colour from time to time-morning, noon. evening and night. Under that paper, she felt there were the figures of many women trying to peep out of it. At night, she continued looking at it and realized that some figure was trying to come out or it. The doctor was aware of her restlessness there but he consoled her that they have to stay there only for three weeks more. He told that there was nothing dangerous for her.

The lines and pattern of the paper on the wall was very curious. She found that with the change in the light, the paper also changed its colour. In the moonlight, it seems like bars but the reflection in the day was confusing. She felt that even the doctor himself looked at that paper for a long time. It seemed as it the paper left its colour and reflection on everything that it touched. She was now better and peaceful and the doctor was happy that she was recovering so quickly. She realized that the smell from the paper was also peculiar and it spread all over the house. But it was not bad in any way, though in damp weather, it was certainly awful. She noticed that the face seen behind that paper seemed to be moving as if they were crawling. They had so many heads and all of them moved. She felt that everyone of them was at her window but they did not creep in the day. Sometimes they were seen outside and she also felt an urge to creep like them. She did not like that anybody should see her creeping so she closed her room. If John saw her, he would be particularly extremely angry. She now instinctively began to remove the paper as much as she could. The doctor, at night, though that she was sleeping but actually she was not, Jennie wanted to sleep with her but she refused.

Though everybody thought that she was alone in the room, but in fact she was not alone. As soon as the moonlight spread, she felt that poor woman like thing began to crawl. She at once got up, shook her and tried to help her. Both of them seemed to be shaking and pulling the paper. Before morning, a lot of wall paper had been torn away. The next morning, they were ready to move away from the room and all the things would be slowly removed. Jennie laughed to see this condition of the room and thought that it was her anger for the yellow wall paper. Although she tried to take her out, but she stayed, saying that she was quite comfortable. She sent Jennie and the servants by telling that she would sleep and nobody should disturb her, not even for dinner. She locked the room and threw the key down on the front path. She did not like that any body should come there before the arrival of John. She now found a rope and decided that if that woman came out of that papered wall, she would tie her up. In her anger, she bit off a little piece at one corner but hurt her teeth. She tore all the paper to the height she could reach from the floor and felt as it that woman behind the paper was crying.