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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Who is she?. Was a writer, lecturer, social critic and feminist Lived at a time of tremendous upheaval in this country's history. Early Life. Born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Conneticut She had a difficult childhood Her father abandoned the family

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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  1. Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  2. Who is she? • Was a writer, lecturer, social critic and feminist • Lived at a time of tremendous upheaval in this country's history

  3. Early Life • Born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Conneticut • She had a difficult childhood • Her father abandoned the family • Her mother had to raise the children on her own. • Due to the absence of her father, Gilman and her family moved around a lot. • Lived with her mother, uncle, and aunt, Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin)

  4. Some More about her Early Life • She received very little schooling but was profoundly affected by the views of her family. • Charlotte's friends were predominantly young women, a theme that would continue throughout her life. • Gilman married artist Charles Stetson in 1884, had a daughter named Katherine. • After divorcing Stetson in 1890, she married George Houghton Gilman in 1900. 

  5. Her Sanity • After the birth of her daughter, Perkins suffered from depression that would haunt her the rest of her life. • Motherhood consumed her time and her ambition • Went to a sanatorium in Philadelphia in 1887 where she was treated by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchel • Weir’s “rest cure” included no physical or intellectual stimulation. “Live as domestic a life as possible” Dr. Silas Weir Mitchel

  6. Women’s Rights • Perkins developed her views on "feminist convictions" and the desire to see social reform from her family of activists. • From 1894 to 1895 she was active in planning the California Women's Congresses, as well as founding the Women's Peace Party. • One of her greatest works of nonfiction, Women and Economics, was published in 1898. • She called for women to gain economic independence, and the work helped cement her standing as a social theorist. • Other important nonfiction works followed, such as The Home: Its Work and Influence (1903) and Does a Man Support His Wife? (1915). • Charlotte Perkins Gilman established The Forerunner, a magazine that allowed her to express her ideas on women's issues and on social reform. • published from 1909 to 1916

  7. Her Writing • She was known as a feminist writer who expressed her views and beliefs in her novels, short stories, and nonfiction works.  • Most of her writings were based on her own experiences that she faced from divorce to depression. • In Herlandshe used not only fiction but satire to tell a story of three American men who enter an all-female society, in which women reproduce on their own.

  8. Suicide • In 1932 Gilman learned that she had inoperable cancer. • On August 17, 1935, she took her own life in Pasadena • She died by an overdose of chloroform • In her suicide note Gilman wrote, "I have preferred chloroform to cancer"

  9. Why the Yellow Wallpaper? • "The Yellow Wallpaper" is considered by many to be Gilman's best work of fiction. Gilman wrote the short story while she was on bed rest for her depression. • At first the story was seen as a horror story or a case study on mental illness, but some critics today emphasize its feminist theme.

  10. The Gender Roles…

  11. Applying Modernism- How was Gilman a modernist? • Gilman strove to understand the basis for the societal strictures that defined "woman" so narrowly. • The structure of the story is unique in that Gilman used short sentence as though she was writing down  her thoughts, perhaps recording them in a diary each day.

  12. Resources • http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669 • http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/18661913/lit/gilman.htm • https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library/exhibit/woman-human-life-and-work-charlotte-perkins-gilman • http://www.online-literature.com/charlotte-perkins-gilman/ • http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/charlotte-perkins-gilmans-yellow-wall-papermdashwriting-women#sect-thelesson • http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/charlotte-perkins-gilmans-yellow-wall-papermdashwriting-women#sect-activities • http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline2.html

  13. For Homework – Monday, 2/24 • Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman • Make sure to… • Talk to text • Ask questions • Focus on symbols, imagery, and modernist ideals. • For Monday, you should have • An overall understanding of the story • One specific thing that interests you or you have a question about • At least two examples of symbols, imagery, or modernist ideals

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