ENG 1120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Symbolic
22 Aug 2016
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The building (house: sense of haunting (the creeping woman, visions of the unknown. The wallpaper: her relationship with it (how she experiences & describes it) changes. Had a lot to do with modernity: increase in modern conveniences, breaking down of two spheres (private sphere & social sphere) Pressures of modern life made women susceptible to hysteria. Told to just lay down and stay isolated because it is likely to make you hysterical if you socialize. Become mouthy, start talking out of turn, etc: physicians were linking this to a hysterical disorder. Resting cure can actually make the hysteria worse. Have but two ours intellectual life a day. And never touch a pen, brush pr pencil, as long as you live . I could not read nor write nor pain nor sew nor talk nor listen to talking, nor anything. I lay on that lounge and wept all day. The tears ran down into my ears on either side.
