New Historicism

1. New Historicism

2. What is New Historicist Criticism? • New Historicism attempts to interpret a work by examining the historical and cultural context in which a work was created as well as the unique concerns that modern readers bring to historical texts. • New Historicists are interested in primary sources that touch on issues that a work addresses such as contemporary (published at the same time as the work) newspaper articles, letters, studies, and other documents that shed light on how the culture that produced the work would have viewed it. • New Historicists recognize that there are multiple cultural contexts that produce a reading of a work, and are interested in how these contexts work with (and sometimes against) each other.

3. What Questions do New Historicist Critics Ask? • What issues in this work would have been particularly relevant to its original audience? • What primary sources from the period might help us to understand this issue’s historical importance? • How does this work either support or rebel against the dominant social and cultural assumptions of its time? • History is not simply objective facts – review page 1230 • How do our own social and cultural assumptions affect our reading of this work?

4. Charlotte Perkins Gilman(July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was a prominent American feminist, sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story “The Yellow Paper" which she wrote after a severe  postpartum depression. Gilman married Charles Stetson in 1884, and less than a year later gave birth to their daughter Katharine. Already susceptible to depression, her symptoms were worsened by marriage and motherhood. On April 18, 1887, Gilman wrote in her diary that she was very sick with "some brain disease" which brought suffering that cannot be felt by anybody else, to the point that her "mind has given way.” After nine weeks, Gilman was sent home with Mitchell's instructions, "Live as domestic a life as possible. Have your child with you all the time... Lie down an hour after each meal. Have but two hours' intellectual life a day. And never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as you live." She tried for a few months to follow Mitchell's advice, but her depression deepened, and Gilman came perilously close to a full emotional collapseUltimately, she committed suicide a year after her husband from her second marriage (her cousin) died and she found out she had inoperable breast cancer.

5. What historical/biographical facts has the author used in The Yellow Wallpaper? • Postpartum depression • Clearly what she is describing despite the fact that it was not considered a real illness at the time. • The term for it didn’t even exist. • Doctor Mitchell • Ahusband who didn’t understand her • A time period when women were trapped by the structure of family, male-dominated medicine, and traditions

6. Does the story give us any insight into what little we know about the author’s real-life illness? • "Half the time now I am awfully lazy, and lie down ever so much. John says I mustn't lose my strength, and has me take cod liver oil and lots of tonics and things, to say nothing of ale and wine and rare meat." • "He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me." • Firstly, we can see how Gilman felt when she was sick in her real life. We also can interpret from the words “John says I mustn't..” that she was expectedlisten to her husband and do what he said, so we see the position of women within the institution of marriage.

7. Does the story give us any insight into what little we know about the author’s real-life illness? • “I …am absolutely forbidden “to work” until I am well again. Personally, I believe that congenial work…would do me good. But what is one to do?” • From next examplewe can understand that in Gillman’s life there was a distinction between the “domestic” functions of the female and “active” work of male. • Also, note the resignation in “But what is one to do?”. Women did whatever they had been told to do, even if it went against their own instincts and logic. Same with themain character in The Yellow Wallpaper.

8. How do the facts about the author’s life increase our understanding of the text? • From Gilman’s biography we know that she was sent to doctor Mitchell, who believed that depression was brought on by too much mental activity and not enough attention to domestic affairs. For Gilman this course of treatment was disaster. At her worst she was reduced to crawling into closets and under beds. Once she abandoned Mitchell’s rest cure, her conditions improved. • Mitchell is mentioned by name in Gilman’s story: “John says if I don’t pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. But I don’t want to go there at all. I had a friend who was in his hands once, she says he is just like John and my brother, only more so!”(no help) • Without biographical information we would not be able to understand why she didn’t like him.

9. BUT: New Historicist Criticism is NOT just about the Author’s Life! • It is also about intertextuality • This is the idea that texts can give us insights about other texts. • Especially that texts from other disciplines can give us insight into literature • History • Psychology • Sociology • Even Math and Science! • All texts are related to other texts. • Things we have read influence how we write. • Texts that are NOT the primary text we are examining can tell us a lot about our primary text. • History books can help shape meaning in the literature we are reading. • Insights from our psychology class can give us a new understanding of a novel.

10. Reading an article of literary criticism

11. How do I read an article of literary criticism? • Most works of literary criticism are published in journals, and can range from brief, four or five page articles to fifty or sixty page essays. Before you begin to read, identify: • Who is the author of the article? • Can you tell which critical theory the author is using? • Read the abstract (if there is one). This should give you a summary of the article. • Identify the thesis (provoking or arguable claim)of the article. • If the essay is too long for you to read in it’s entirety, at least read the first and last paragraphs to determine if it is a good source for you to dive further into or not. • How does the author support his or her thesis? • If the author quotes the work of literature, look at those quotes in context. Do you agree with the author’s interpretation? • How does the author incorporate the ideas from the critical theory into his or her analysis?

12. How do I use an article of criticism in my essay? • Agree with the author’s interpretation, and add something to it. • “They say [THIS] and also…” or • “[THIS] helps us realize that [your point]” • Use the author’s ideas about your chosen critical theory as a springboard for your own. • Analyze a passage the author didn’t discuss and show how it fits with his or her ideas. • Disagree with the author’s interpretation. • “So-and-so has not taken THIS into account” • What has the author overlooked? • Where do you see evidence for a different, contradictory interpretation?

13. Homework for Tuesday • Topics: Marxism • Homework Due: • Short Story: Tillie Olsen’s “Here I Stand Ironing” p.190 • Theory and Example: “Marxist Critcism” p. 1219-1221