The Yellow Wallpaper Background Reading Flashcards
What was an essential part of her analysis?
That the traditional power structure of the family made no on unhappy- not the woman who was made into an unpaid servant nor the husband who was made into the master.
What is Gilman’s primarily known story and what did the original readers and current readers think of it?
The yellow wallpaper- it was considered almost unprintably shocking in its time and it unnerves readers to this day.
When was Gilman struck with a severe case of depression?
In 1886, early in her first marriage not long after her daughter.
What was the doctors name who tried to help and what did he offer?
Dr. Mitchell was one of the country’s leading specialists in nervous disorders. He gave her the ‘rest cure’ which meant no mental activities and just to be in the houses just resting all the time.
What happened after to the treatment and herself?
The treatment was a disaster and it prevented her from working, she soon had a nervous breakdown. At her worst she was reduced to crawling into closets and under beds holding a rag doll. She soon abandoned the cure and her condition improved, she left behind her daughter and husband. Marrying again she embarked on a successful career as a journalist.
What was Charlotte Perkins Gilman best known as in her time?
She was bets known as a crusading journalist and feminist intellectual.
