The Yellow Wallpaper

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Social Context: Gilmans Biography

Born in 1860 to Frederick Beecher Perkins and Mary

Fitch Westcott

Father was a writer who abandoned the family soon after

Gilmans birth
Mother (after the fathers abandonment) refused
physical/emotional affection so as to toughen up her
daughter, though she would show this affection at night, when
Gilman was supposedly sleeping

Social Context: Gilmans Biography

Marriage
Walter Stetson (1884)
It was during their marriage (after the birth of their daughter,
Katharine) that Gilman was prescribed the rest cure that led her
to write The Yellow Wallpaper.
They separated in 1888 and divorced in 1894.

Houghton Gilman (1900)

He was Gilmans cousin.
They had a much happier marriage than Gilman had had
previously.

Social Context: Gilmans Biography

Death
Gilman committed suicide after her second husband died and
after being diagnosed with inoperable breast cancer.

In 1994, Gilman was inducted into the National

Womens Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York

(CPGS).

Social Context: 19th-Century Feminism

1848: The Womens Rights Movement began in

Seneca Falls, New York, and was led by Elizabeth

Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.
1850s: women protested against the denial of basic
economic freedoms to women
Civil War: focused primarily on the right to vote
1869: formation of the National Woman Suffrage
Association (NWSA) and the American Woman
Suffrage Association (AWSA)

Social Context: 19th-Century Feminism

1880s: Momentum stalled the NWSA and AWSA

made little headway with either gender.

Late 1880s-early 1890s: the turning point
Females began volunteering in large numbers
Extended the scope of female influence beyond the home
The time period during which the story was written

Critical Approaches: A Review

Biographical criticism

Gender criticism

Historical criticism

Cultural criticism/

cultural studies

Psychological criticism

Applying the Critical Approaches

Choose two of the following critical approaches:

psychological, cultural, biographical, historical.

For each of your chosen critical approaches, provide

four details from the story that are made meaningful

through the chosen critical approach. Explicitly explain
why these details are significant in light of the critical
approach. (For example: Gilman ultimately challenges
traditional gender roles by reversing masculine and feminine
tendenciesthe female narrator is given a degree of autonomy
while her husband swoons.)

You will turn these notes in. Only one copy per group is

needed.

Applying the Critical Approaches (Part 2)

In your groups, write one thematic statement for each

of the two critical approaches you discussed previously.

Thematic statements should directly relate to the
analytical points discussed in class. (You may draw on the
points raised by your classmates in addition to those identified in your
group.)

Each thematic statement should include three parts: 1)

tone, 2) author/title, and 3) theme/meaning of the story

as derived from the appropriate critical approach. (For
example: In her [tone] short story The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte
Perkins Gilman discusses/analyzes/ questions [the theme/meaning of
the story in light of the respective critical approach.)

Individual Reflections
On a clean piece of paper, reflect on todays lesson.

Responses should be at least a -page in length and

consider the following questions:

Which of your groups chosen critical approaches most

challenged your perception of the story? Why?
What is the effect of viewing the story through only one critical
approach? Through multiple approaches?
What is the theme/meaning of the story if you consider the
information from all of the critical approaches discussed?
How is this meaning similar to or different from the original
theme/meaning we developed as a class?

Please place your reflections in the box as you leave.

Resources
The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Society:

https://sites.google.com/site/gilmansociety/aboutcharlotte-perkins-gilman
The U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art &

Archives: http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-andPublications/WIC/Historical-Essays/NoLady/Womens-Rights/