Thursday, September 25, 2008
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Paper" blew my mind. First off, this lady who I believe her name is Jane had a bad feeling about the house when she first came to the house. The way Jane describes the house as being so beautiful, you would have thought that someone had to either be renting from or at least bought the house. But that wasn't the case. That should have sent up a red flag to Jane and her husband that something is definitely wrong with the house. i personally believe that someone actually died in that house and the spirit of that person runs out everyone that tries to live there. What kinda creep me out was this little obsession that Jane had with the yellow wallpaper that she has in her room. Everyday Jane found herself starring at it and figuring out the patterns. At some point she finds this Shadow lady that only comes at night. They both end up ripping the wall paper off the wall. But the next day the spirit possess Jane's body because she says to Jane's husband "I've got out at last, said I. In spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the wall paper, so you can't put me back!" Definitely possess. Because she was so curious about the yellow wallpaper, the spirit possess her. As the saying goes "curiosity kills the cat".
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3 comments:
Rather than thinking of the house as somehow "haunted," consider her everything in the story is a function of the protagonist's character (state of mind/imagination). What do we learn about the main character from what she sees/says.
Here are some of my comments from other blogs, which may help to give you an analytical graps of the story:
Since her husband forbid her to write down her feelings, consider her imaginative involvement with the wallpaper as her "creative" outlet/therapy. Rather than thinking the wallpaper "caused" her illness, try studying if for what it reveals about the character's conflicts (see also comments on Angyl's blog).
you might try a character analysis of the protagoinist--what are the conflicts she may be experiencing (this could take some psychological digging, looking for needs, fears, lacks, etc, emotional, imaginative, and otherwise...don't overlook the sesual connotations!), based on the story's details, and how is her interaction with the wallpaper a way of working thses out?
Examine specific scenes and details, things the character says and observes(first person narrator, in this case, so you have to read through her point of view).
rather than imposing a class bias or judging the character, (which often involves imposing a frame of reference, value system, etc., that may not be relevant to the story's specific setting or characters' situations, etc.), let's to interpret/analyze the character's conflicts(as if indeed you were a detective of in this case perhaps psychoanalyst).
I really enjoy reading your blog on this story. You gave me a different point of view and I understand why you interperted the story the way you have. I believe you have an unique insight.
Son of a....I think you caught on something I and others did not. Our protagonist DOES have a name and her name is Jane. When speaking at the end of the story the person speaking is the woman who escaped from the wallpaper. She says "I've got out at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" Of course it is actually our protagonist who is speaking but since she is speaking as the woman who was escaped from the wallpaper I believe the 'Jane' she refers to is herself. So nice catch, I think.
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