The Yellow Wallpaper

“The Yellow Wallpaper”

By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Questions

1. Several times at the beginning of the story, the narrator says such things as “What is one to do?” and “What can one do?” What do these comments refer to? What, if anything, do they suggest about women’s roles at the time the story was written?

-When this story was written, women were thought of as ‘possessions’, not as an individual identity. Their roles were extremely confined to staying in the house, supporting their father or husband and acting in such sophisticated ways. Thus, the narrator kept on repeating, “What is one to do?” and “What can one do?”

2. The narrator says, “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes”. How unreasonable is her anger at him? What does the fact that she feels it is unreasonable say about her?

- She normally keeps her anger and stuffiness to herself, thinking her husband is only trying to make her ‘better’. She is also convinced that she actually has weakness in her nerves, since her husband, as a physician, always says so. She is unconsciously aware that her husband is the one who is driving her crazy, but her conscious is defying it. Thus, she thinks her anger towards John is unreasonable, thinking that the problem is herself.

3. What do her changing feelings about the wallpaper tell us about the changes in her condition?

- She doesn’t realize what was happening to the wall at first, only noticing something wrong with it. At this point, she doesn’t show much skepticism toward John at first, too. She actually agrees with him that she is psychologically unstable. However, as time goes by, she starts to notice a woman who is caged, blocked by yellow wallpaper, who makes every effort to get out of it, but can’t. This woman, probably representing the narrator, resembles her. The narrator begins to untrust John and his sister Jane, mentioning them as ‘sly’ and ‘pretending’. She, in turn, also starts to use her smart brain to get out of hateful situations and do what she wants.

4. “It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so”. His wisdom is, to say the least, open to question, but what about his love? Do you think her suffers merely from a failure of perception, or is there a failure of affection as well?

- John fails in both perception and affection. This is inevitable for most men in this period of time since both perception and affection are dependent on culture, society and especially education of the time.

5. Where precisely in the story do you think it becomes clear that she has begun to hallucinate?

- At the point where she sees something moving on the wall.

6.  What does the woman behind the wallpaper represent? Why does the narrator come to identify with her?

- Answered on question 3

7. How ill does the narrator seem at the beginning of the story? How ill does she seem at the end? How do you account for the change in her condition?

- She may have gotten physically better, but not psychologically. She was normal before she met John, I believe, but started to get worse since John’s diagnosis of naming her ‘unstable’. Her imagination became wilder and broader, which made her insane, although this is all John’s fault. John names her unstable and seeks to cure it, but ironically, his faulty ‘diagnosis’ in turn drove her crazy. 

William Blake (1757-1827)

A poet of <The Chimney Sweeper> and <The Sick Rose>, William Blake is a Pre-Romanticism poet who used a theme of conflicts between innocence and experience. (This topic is used by a lot of other artists too, since it's a conflict almost every human go through during their lives. We can also describe whole human history with the theme, especially regarding the Adam's garden.) He also used a lot of biblical symbolism, as he was a extremely devout Christian who never went to church.

The Chimney Sweeper
1789 by William Blake

When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry "'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
That curled like a lamb, back, was shaved: so I said
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, and that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want (lack) joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and brushed to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

The Sick Rose

O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
Has found out they bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

crimson=새빨간
Rose = has traditionally been a symbol of feminine beauty and love / sensual pleasures.
Bed = a woman's bed as well as a flower bed
crimson joy = suggests the intense pleasure of passionate lovemaking as well as the brilliant beauty of a red flower.
Worm = the woman's secret lover. common symbol or metonymy (환유. 어떤 낱말 대신에 그것을 연상시키는 다른 낱말을 쓰는 비유) for death.

The poem suggests the corruption of innocent but physical love by concealment and deceit.

Because I could not stop for Death

Because I could not stop for Death

-          -Emily Dickenson

Because I could not stop for Death-

He kindly stopped for me-

The Carriage held but just Ourselves-

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility-

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring-

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-

We passed the Setting Sun-

Or rather – He passed Us-

The Dews drew quivering and chill-

For only Gossamer, my Gown-

My Tippet – only Tulle-

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground-

The Roof was scarcely visible-

The Cornice – in the Ground-

Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and uet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses’ Heads

Were toward Eternity-

Vocabulary

Dews: 이슬

Tippet: 모피 어깨걸이

Tulle: 실크, 나일론 등으로 망사처럼 짠 천

Gossamer: 아주 가는 거미줄

Cornice: 처마 돌림띠

‘tis: it is

Analysis Paper

‘Because I could not stop for Death’ by Emily Dickenson reflects Emily’s perspective toward the issue of life and death. In the poem, strangely, she does not refuse to go with death nor try to negate the reality that approached her. She seems to be always ready to travel with death, which common people would be terrified of. She even describes Death as ‘kind’ on the second line of first stanza, and thanks Death for putting away ‘my labor and my leisure too, for his civility’ on the second stanza.

This is because of her very special perspective towards death. She had erected her own belief system, just like in a religion. Most religions have their own life and death formulas, such as in Christianity, a heaven and a hell exists, and in Buddhism or Hinduism, people get eternal chances of reborn after death. According to her, death is not the end, but an eternity, which is implied on the last line of the first stanza, ‘And Immortality.’ The carriage here represents her belief system, indicating that when she is with Death, Immortality is always in it.

Along the journey, the carriage passes by three places representing human life, ‘School’, ‘Fields of Gazing Grain’, and the ‘Setting Sun’. These three places symbolize the limitations of human life, as opposed to eternal death. The ‘Recess – in the Ring’ indicates that the recess has ended, the ‘Gazing Grain’ is the ripened grain that will be harvested soon, and the ‘Setting Sun’ will soon disappear from the sky. Emily, Death and Immortality pass by these human life and head for endless journey.

On the fifth stanza, they stop before ‘a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground’, which we can easily picture as a grave, where dead people’s bodies are laid. However, only her body stays behind, her soul keeps on traveling.

After Centuries later, on the carriage she thinks, that ‘the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity.’ Here, the Horses’ Heads indicates her direction, which is the eternity.

Connecting this poem with her biography, Emily Dickenson’s unusual point of view on life and death may have contributed to the way she lived her life, avoiding to meet people, or even going outside. She may have thought her present life as a human was useless and where she really wanted to go may actually be the eternity, along with the Death and the Immortality, like in the poem.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud -William Wordsworth

Analyzing theme: Nature has healing power for loneliness.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

   That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

   A host, of golden daffodils,

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

   And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

   Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;

A poet could not but be gay,

   In such a jocund company;

I gazed – and gazed – but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

   In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

   Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

                In William Wordsworth’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, the author describes his thoughts as if writing a journal for himself. Thoughout the poem, he emphasizes the great healing power of the nature, and how it affected himself. The first line of the first stanza indicates his extreme loneliness, for a cloud moves like a snail, not knowing where to go. This lonely sentiment suddenly shatters apart when the author discovers a host of beautiful daffodils that grabbed his attention. The first personification of the daffodils on the last line of the first stanza shows how he is taking the newly discovered daffodils, which is more delicately defined in the latter part of the poem, telling the audience that these flowers became his mates who let him forget his solitude.

After the stunning discovery, the author is getting more and more mesmorized by the brightness and everlastingness of the daffodils. By the third line of the second stanza, all he can see in his eyes is a bunch of daffodils, and he finds these flowers so beautiful that they seem to be ‘stars twinkling in the milky way’ and reach the number of ‘ten thousand at a glance.’ Again, the author personifies the daffodils, describing them as ‘tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’

On the third stanza, the author continues to be impressed and is enjoying the cheerful, swaying daffodils, from which he cannot take his eyes off of. On the next, final stanza, he finally recognizes that his loneliness is recovered by these beautiful daffodils, with his heart filled with the most superb happiness.

It is not explicitly stated in the poem, but it seems like the author had had an epiphany that he needed nobody around whenever he was lonely; he needed nature beside him. A lot of people finds joy and calmness from nature and enjoy it, while others prefer city life as they are more accustomed to it. I personally agree with William as nature is not only more quiet and calm, but it is also more likely to go with the flow, while in cities, everyone endeavors to flow backwards.

Are people defined by what they do?

   My strong determination on practicing my plan used to last three days. Should I be defined by what I thought of, or what I actually did? Although it is common sense that people are defined by what they do, majority of people are often blinded by their sweet words. However, looking back to previous world top leaders, we should rather define people by how they act.

   Anyone can talk after a short practice, pretending they are prestigious leaders who care a lot for the good of his citizens. On the other hand, the world has never got in touch with a leader who practiced all his words into reality. In other words, while words can be all lies, actions never lie. This is exactly why Presidents, no matter what country they govern, often get cruel slash by his citizens few months after inauguration. Before the inauguration, since Obama was able to do nothing on any main issue, he gushed out all kinds of words that could possibly satisfy the citizens. Now, he failed to satisfy Americans with his actions, and finally Americans are evaluating their leader in a correct way: they are defining a person with what he does.

   Words and thoughts do not bear unforgetful results, while actions do. Material consequences are created when an individual acts in a certain way. For instance, Benjamin Franklin did many activities that other people are all willing to do, but merely give up, for they are so tiresome. He came to be known as clean, white leader, who is more diligent than anyone else. As a result, many citizens started to admire and wanted to go after his path. His hardworks had payed off, and just like him, people create results that comes after their actions.

   Not many great public speakers who spit out touching words are greatly admired by majority. Instead, real action-takers like Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks capture the mind of people. This is one of the reasons why people are more likely to be defined by what they do. Gandhi was not a mere talker; he weaved his own clothes with his own spinning wheel. He also wore simple white cloth, not covering his body properly. He did not fight against England with weapons. This actions not only touched citizens’ mind but also England leaders’. Rosa Parks was similar; She quietly demonstrated against white by sitting on white-only seats on the buses.

   To sum up, people are defined by what they do since anyone can talk sweet words, actions can bear consequences and lastly, people are more touched by people’s actions.

A Funny Doctor

I am so disappointed, my body. You should have done better. After getting a flu shot last week, I caught a cold. Since when was I so weak, not even being able to fight off small amounts of flu virus? I was about to stop breathing because of that flu virus when I visited near-by hospital to request some help. I went to that hospital about 10 times before this, so I almost made friends with the doctor. This made me very comfortable to be in a hospital but at the same time very embarrassing at the thought that I got sick too much. I hated to be seen as a ‘weak person who comes to the hospital so often’. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even look at me, for he knows how old am I, or what kind of things are going on that constantly makes me sick. He just glanced at me for a second and suddenly pressed a point right in the middle of my neck. I almost screamed at the surprise and extreme pain of that. He then grumbled some mysterious words to himself, and sat down again in his seat. Pulling out a huge, blue book that looked like the one I would never read with my own will, he mumbled,

“This is the hidden secret of my business sales.”

“What?!”

“I’m telling you the extractions of my 10 year study”

Oh my god, he is trying to make a lecture when I had so much homeworks at home. I wanted to say ‘no thank you’ and come back home, I just couldn’t do it when I saw the serious look on his face.

Then he started to explain how the body works. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but roughly, he told me several tips about relieving stress and relaxing my tense muscles by stretching. On the page he opened, there were three simple sketches of human head and neck, which were probably drawn to let the reader understand the following things: The nerves of shoulders are on the middle of your neck. When you shrink forward when you are studying, not only your shoulders will hurt but also your neck, which leads to hardening of your brain and pains on your eyes. Wow! I finally found out why these places hurt at the same time! For the first time, I admired my doctor, and said thank you several times. This pretty long time was perfectly worth it. Now that he told me why I always felt something heavy on my head and shoulders and told me exactly what to do, I was free of all kinds of pain. I wish all the doctors in the world would always be like this one. Yay! Thank you again, sir.