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rebelling against norms
literature the theme of conformity
dream and unconscious in literature
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"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lawrence Durrell's "Zero and Asylum in the Snow"
Society is a close-knit unit of individuals who unknowingly conform to an ideal set by them. The ideal that I speak of is not set in stone, but is ever changing, as is society. This changing ideal appears to be threatened by individual thinkers who rebel against social norms and who refuse to support conformity. This rebellion is exemplified in "The Yellow Wallpaper," written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and in Lawrence Durrell's story, "Zero and Asylum in the Snow." These stories both involve characters that are labelled as sick in relation to the people who 'mesh' well with society. Society, however, has peculiar methods of healing these characters and succeeds only to force them further away from reality and deeper into a conscious dream world. 'Conscious' in the previous line, refers to how one may dream while awake, yet no outsider may become involved in the dream.
A dream world is not necessarily a bad place to dwell, and is only perceived as being bad because not everyone can freely enter its walls. Moreover, the walls are unique to each dreamer, therefore, are transparent. This uniqueness is shown in the short stories I am focusing on. For Durrell, the walls were as white as snow, and for Gilman they are covered in crude yellow wallpaper. When reading these stories, it is easy for one to become confused. It is difficult for the reader to understand exactly what is trying to be said, because these stories are so personal. Durrell and Gilman attempt to give some form of insight into their characters minds, but we as readers are restricted by our thoughts. How can we conceive another's dream world? It is possible only through an open mind; one must not think that the author is talking about nonsense, for this way of thinking proves the success society has in grooming our thoughts to fit within its standards.
In "Zero and Asylum in the Snow," we are introduced to a character that seems to be rambling to some unknown person about nonsensical illusions of snow, farmyards, Christianity, and five other existing characters. As one progresses through the story, one realizes that the snow Durrell writes of is everywhere. It surrounds the character, which is later revealed to be Durrell himself, and "chimes about [them] and [he] can do nothing, nothing.
Ann Oakley’s “Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper” infers the myth that health is a medical product and that the inequalities between men and women are easily removed. It analyzes the differences between health, health care and medical care in the context of 'women and health', and of women as providers as well as users of these. Using the lessons of a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman called 'The Yellow Wallpaper', the article identifies and discusses the three most important unsolved problems of women and health as: production, reproduction and the medicalization of the psychological costs of women's situation in the form of mental illness. “Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper” then calls for recognition of health as a social product and for women to tell the truth about our own experiences, because these determine women's health. Lastly, the paper shows how women's health-giving role in reproduction and in ensuring family welfare holds the causes of women's ill-health within
Delicate Blanche, virile Stanley. Dynamic Maggie, impotent Brick. Williams' protagonists are distinctly different in temperament. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" Blanche exemplifies the stereotypical old south: educated, genteel, obsolete. Stanley is the new south: primitive, crude, ambitious. Blanche, a fading beauty, uses her sugary charm and soft southern ways to attract men. In comparison, Stanley "sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications" to "determine the way he smiles at them" (Williams, Street 29). Course and deliberately aggressive, he is a "survivor of the stone age" (Williams, Street 72). Despite their differences they both possess a raw sensuality. In their first confrontation, Blanche's thick display of charm angers and attracts Stanley. He wants her to be truthful and "lay her cards on the table" but simultaneously would "get ideas" about Blanche if she wasn't Stella's sister (Williams, Street 40-41). Their relationship overflows with sexual tension as they battle for Stella. Stanley, the new south, defeats Blanche, the old south. After destroying her chance for security, his sexual assault erases her last traces of sanity.
would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-Paper." Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Stories. 4th ed. ed. James H. Pickering. New York: MacMillan, 1985. 426-34.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Introduction To Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th Ed. New York, Norton, 1998. 2: 630-642.
During early times men were regarded as superior to women. In Tennessee William’s play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Stanley Kowalski, the work’s imposing antagonist, thrives on power. He embodies the traits found in a world of old fashioned ideals where men were meant to be dominant figures. This is evident in Stanley’s relationship with Stella, his behavior towards Blanche, and his attitude towards women in general. He enjoys judging women and playing with their feelings as well.
The “Yellow Wall Paper “ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a chilling study and experiment of mental disorder in nineteenth century. This is a story of a miserable wife, a young woman in anguish, stress surrounding her in the walls of her bedroom and under the control of her husband doctor, who had given her the treatment of isolation and rest. This short story vividly reflects both a woman in torment and oppression as well as a woman struggling for self expression.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 981- 982.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The Story and Its Writer. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 462-473. Print.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” tells the story of a woman who is trapped in a room covered in yellow wallpaper. The story is one that is perplexing in that the narrator is arguably both the protagonist as well as the antagonist. In the story, the woman, who is the main character, struggles with herself indirectly which results in her descent into madness. The main conflicts transpires between the narrator and her husband John who uses his power as a highly recognize male physician to control his wife by placing limitations on her, forcing her to behave as a sick woman. Hence he forced himself as the superior in their marriage and relationship being the sole decision make. Therefore it can be said what occurred externally resulted in the central conflict of” “The Yellow Wallpaper being internal. The narrator uses the wallpaper as a symbol of authenticy. Hence she internalizes her frustrations rather then openly discussing them.
Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University
Stanley’s treatment of Blanche leaves her alone once again, with what little dreams of returning to her previous status destroyed like the paper lampshade that once gave her the shield from the real her she desperately craved. Stella, the one person Blanche believed she could rely on, sides against her husband after Blanche’s ordeal, leading Blanche to be taken away, relying on the “kindness of strangers”. This final image that Williams leaves us with fully demonstrates that Blanche has been cruelly and finally forced away from her “chosen image of what and who” she is, leaving an empty woman, once full of hope for her future.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Mineola: Dover, 1997. Print.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper in 1890 about her experience in a psychiatric hospital. The doctor she had prescribed her “the rest cure” to get over her condition (Beekman). Gilman included the name of the sanitarium she stayed at in the piece as well which was named after the doctor that “treated” her. The short story was a more exaggerated version of her month long stay at Weir Mitchell and is about a woman whose name is never revealed and she slowly goes insane under the watch of her doctor husband and his sister (The Yellow Wallpaper 745). Many elements of fiction were utilized by Gilman in this piece to emphasize the theme freedom and confinement. Three of the most important elements are symbolism, setting and character.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Ed. Jon C. Scott, Raymond E. Jones, and Rick Bowers. Canada: Nelson Thomas Learning, 2002. 902-913.