|
|
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wall-paper”—The “New Woman”
The Emerging Middle Class 'New Woman' of Turn-of-the-Century (1890s-1910s)
America
Introduction
"For many years I suffered from a severe and continuous nervous
breakdown tending to melancholia-and beyond. During about the third year of
this trouble I went, in devout faith and some faint stir of hope, to a noted
specialist in nervous diseases, the best known in the country. This wise man
put me to bed and applied the rest cure, to which a still good physique responded
so promptly that he concluded that there was nothing much the matter with me,
and sent me home with solemn advice to 'live as domestic a life as possible,'
to 'have but two hours' intelligent life a day,' and 'never to touch pen, brush
or pencil again as long as I lived.' This was in 1887…"
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wall-paper," 1913
"Every kind of creature is developed by the exercise of its functions. If
denied the exercise of its functions, it can not develop in the fullest degree."
—Charlotte Perkins Stetson (Gilman),
from Hearing of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Committee
on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., January 28, 1896
In the early- to mid-nineteenth century, "domestic ideology" positioned American
middle class women as the spiritual and moral leaders of their home. Such "separate
spheres" ideals suggested that a woman's place was in the private domain of the
home, where she should carry out her prescribed roles of wife and mother. Men,
on the other hand, would rule the public domain through work, politics, and economics.
By the middle of the century, this way of thinking began to change as the
seeds of early women's rights were planted. Specifically, over 300 early feminists
such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton convened in Seneca Falls, NY, for the nation's
first convention to discuss and promote women's rights and roles. By the end
of the 1800s, feminists were gaining momentum in favor of change. The concept
of "The New Woman," for example, began to circulate in the 1890s-1910s as women
pushed for broader roles outside their home—roles that could draw on women's
intelligence and non-domestic skills and talents. This push for change was not
without backlash. Adherents of "separate spheres" ideology turned to popular
media such as magazines, advertisements, advice literature, and political cartoons
to retain the image of women as the queen of the home.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story "The Yellow Wall-paper" was written during
this time of great change.
This lesson plan, the first part of a two-part lesson, helps to set the historical,
social, cultural, and economic context of Gilman's story (please note that the
lesson is also appropriate as a stand-alone lesson or as a compliment to studying
pieces of literature by women during the same time period). Students will examine
advertisements, images, magazine articles, and other primary source documents
to gain an understanding of the roles of American middle-class women in the
mid- to late-1800s. Lesson
Two requires a close reading of "The Yellow Wall-paper" itself within the
context of students' research and analysis in this first part of the full lesson.
Guiding Question
What was life like for American middle- to upper-class women in the mid- to late-nineteenth
century and early twentieth century?
Learning Objectives
- Upon completing this lesson, students will gain an understanding of the
rapidly changing roles of American women in the nineteenth and early twentieth
century.
- Students will understand how factors such as race, class, nationality/immigration
status, and marital status affected a woman's place and role(s) at the turn-of-the-century
(1890s-1910s).
- Students will characterize and explain resistance to changing roles for
women
Preparing to Teach This Lesson
- Review the online workshop "Masculine
Superiority Fever": Making Sense of "Spheres" at the EDSITEment reviewed
U.S. History
Women's Workshop [Click second image on left or, for browsers that do
not support frames, go directly
to the essay]. As you review this site, keep in mind the following key
points:
- The early- to mid-nineteenth century idea of "domestic spheres" suggested
that a middle class woman's place was in the private domain of the home,
where a woman could rule as a mother and wife; a man's place with in the
public sphere of work, politics, etc.
- This "separate spheres" ideology placed middle class women on a spiritual
and moral pedestal as the queen of the home, which often was regarded
as a safe "haven" from the tumultuous public world.
- Explore "Gender
and the Nineteenth Century Home," from the EDSITEment reviewed American
Studies at the University of Virginia website, with specific attention
to "Domesticity
in Turn-of-the-Century Literature." As you review this site, keep in mind
the following key points:
- As industrialization and consumerism changed the ideal of the home as
a haven, "Americans desperately clung to the idea of a romantic idealized
space where children, morality, and culture could flourish without the
influence of industrialization."
- This ideal of the separate spheres no longer made sense at the turn-of-the-century
(1890s-1910s) when women's roles began to change and broaden.
- Late-nineteenth century American literature by women often wrestled
with and critiqued separate spheres ideology.
- Read a short history of the women's movement at Brief
history of women's movement" via EDSITEment reviewed National
Women's History Project. Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Declaration of Sentiments,"
from the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, reads: "The history of mankind is a
history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman,
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world." Some of Stanton's
specific points include the following:
- Women were not allowed to vote
- Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation
- Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to
the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity
- Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were
paid only a fraction of what men earned
- Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law
- Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university
would accept women students
- Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were
made totally dependent on men
- Review Gilman's
brief suffrage commentary in the Votes
for Women Collection from the EDSITEment reviewed American
Memory collection.
If using this lesson plan in conjunction with Lesson
Two on Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper":
Suggested Activities
Divide students into five small groups. Each group will explore the historical,
social, economic, and cultural background of American women in the nineteenth
century. In some cases, students may wish to use a NARA
document analysis worksheet. Using the list below, assign a different topic
to each group. Ask each group to present its findings.
- "Nineteenth-century Domestic Spheres"
- "Women's Rights and the Suffrage Movement"
- Have students in this group prepare a brief history/timeline of the
women's movement by exploring American Treasures of the Library of Congress'
Seneca Falls
Convention exhibit, the Library of Congress' "Votes
for Women" collection(both via EDSITEment reviewed American
Memory), and the College
of Staten Island Department of History (via EDSITEment reviewed U.S.
History Women's Workshop).
- Point students to the following items to help generate their small group
discussion:
- Each group will prepare a one-page summary based on the group exploration
of these sites. Guiding questions:
- What prompted the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention?
- What most surprised your group about Stanton's outline of women's
rights (or lack thereof) in 1848?
- For which key elements of change did women advocate in the several
decades leading up to women's official right to vote in 1920?
- "Popular Representations of Women in the 1880s-1910s"
- Have students explore "Touring
Turn-of-the-Century America," Emergence
of Advertising in America," and "Library
of Congress Online Prints and Photographs Reading Room" to explore
how popular media, including advertising, political cartoons, and magazines,
portrayed women during the 1880s-1910s.
- Point students to the following items to help generate their small group
discussion:
- Each group will prepare a one-page summary based on the group exploration
of these sites. Guiding questions:
- What do you notice (in terms of dress, activity, expressions, etc.)
about the lunching women in "A Hasty Lunch" in comparison to other
women in the background of the photo (e.g., the woman with the man
and children)?
- What roles for women are portrayed?
- What commentaries and critiques are depicted in the representations
you have found?
- "The New Woman"
- "Working Class, Immigrant, and African-American Women"
- Each group will prepare a one-page summary based on the group exploration
of these sites. Guiding questions:
- Describe the home life of working class, immigrant, and African-American
women at the turn-of-the-century (1880s-1910s).
- What were common roles for the women you have learned about by browsing
the sites?
- How would you compare the Caldwell family home life with the home life
of immigrants such as Carmella Gustaferre and the Lynches and African-Americans
such as Ruby Livingston?
Assessment
Here are some assessment options:
- Small Group Presentations: Students should present the findings of their
assigned topic, referencing strong support from corresponding web sites. They
should demonstrate a clear understanding of their online research findings
and discoveries.
- Essay: Ask each student to write a two-page essay that answers the lesson's
guiding question, "What was life like for American middle- to upper-class
women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century?"
- Role-playing Exercise: Have students role-play the home life of the typical
American middle class family of the mid-1800s.
- Journal Entry: Based on research and scholarship, students might write a
creative journal entry or an essay in the voice of a person during this time
period. What rhetorical perspective might the person take? What are they advocating
for, and why? How do those in their homes or communities react to their viewpoints?
Emphasize to students that the creative exercise should reveal the students'
knowledge of the time period and the competing voices in the midst of change.
Extending the Lesson
- Have students read excerpts from Gilman's 1898 Women and Economics.
- Divide the class into three groups, each of which will browse one of three
popular turn-of-the-century (1890s-1910s) publications (Harper's, North
American Review, and The Century) for editorials on "The New
Woman." Ask each group to characterize the general audience of each publication
based on the articles (table of contents), front matter, price, advertisements,
and any other aspects of the publication at large. [Students can use a NARA
document analysis worksheet.] Students will analyze the editorials and
write a group summary of how each publication represents "The New Woman."
Each group will present its summary, and a full class discussion will follow.
Individual periodicals are listed at "Making
of America: Nineteenth Century in Print (periodicals)." Students can search
individual periodicals with the keyword "New Woman." A sample editorial is:
The New Woman. [The North American review. / Volume 158, Issue 450,
May 1894], which you can locate using the Search engine.
Selected EDSITEment Websites
American Memory
American Studies at the University of Virginia
"At Home in
the Heartland"
Center for the Liberal Arts
National Women's History Project
Smithsonian National Museum of American
History
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
|
