The Yellow Wallpaper

[In Dust and Ashes]

I just finished reading this story for class. facinating. very twisted. I really enjoyed it, but I dont' get the meanings that others have mentioned about it. someone mentioned a lot of symbolism in it, but really all I can see is the prison symbolism. am I missing something?
also, someone was going off about a feminst thing in it....

thoughts anyone?
if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. it's rather short.

I really liked her transition at the end when everything changed from the fantacy to herself. it was a very artful switch, I think, even though it was rather predictable.

[Intern Kate]

is this the one where she tears down the wallpaper to write on it? i know we read it in class, i thought it was supposed to be brimming with symbolism, and feminism was brought up a lot, and isn't the doctor supposed to be her husband? i could be confusing it with something other though. it's sort of muddled.

[Kinbote]

I recall, I think, reading this in 10th grade English alongside something horrible(er? Can't recall this one well enough) called "I Stand Here Ironing." Feminism was indeed th word of the day.

[Intern Kate]

speaking of feminist things, i think Plath is a stupid fathead to compare her "Daddy" and Mr. Hughes to Hitler, and her childhood and marriage to the Holocaust. christ. we went over it yesterday in "Contemporary Poetry" (LOL so what) is why i bring it up.

[Kinbote]

Especially given that Ted Hughes was a significantly better poet than her. And I don't know that Hitler ever wrote poetry at all: what a fool comparison!

That "Contemporary" in "Contemporary Poetry" sounds dangerous, Kate. Careful not to suffer brain damage or whatever.

[In Dust and Ashes]

huh! writing on the wallpaper! that's is interesting, I never even considered what she was writing on, but that certainly makes sense with the damage done to room.

we discussed it today in class and I think I'm gonna have to read it again because there really is a lot in it that I hadn't noticed before. I really loved it.

a few oddities that never got resolved in our discussion:
why was the bed nailed to the floor?
why was there more than one woman in the wall?
and what's the significance of the room being a nursery? obviously, it has its irony, but surely there has to be something else in that.

one guy in my class proposed that she was a complete lunitic from the begining and really the room is a psychoward. that would help explain the bed and the barred windows, but I kind'a doubt that that's what the author was going for.

we discussed the feminist theme. considering the time period and the fact that the author is a woman is pretty much enough to prove that it has something to do with feminism.
we decided that it's about how she was put down and kept under control by her husband (and others) for so long that the only way out of it was to go mad. she lost her mind to gain control of herself and be free. in the end the husband has no control and becomes completely feminine when he "faints".

any thoughts?
I'm definately going to be reading this story again.

[In Dust and Ashes]

oh also, is her name Jane?
we were talking about how the narrator threw in the name "Jane" at the very end when she said "I've got out at last inspite of you and Jane". theres no mention of a Jane anywhere else in the story and the narrator doesn't have a name at all that we know of, so the only conclusion that we could think of was that she was refering to herself.

in which case, how was Jane keeping herself trapped? it seemed like she was working so hard to release herself.

[Intern Kate]

Originally posted by hambakmeritru
one guy in my class proposed that she was a complete lunitic from the begining and really the room is a psychoward. that would help explain the bed and the barred windows,

ding ding ding! at least this is the conclusion my class and professor came to.


i wouldn't even take "Comtemporary Poetry" if something better were offered with a decent instructor. but i adore the professor so decided ok. he's probably a million and one, but so cute, and he used to go to poetry workshops or readings or something featuring Anne Sexton, and he had a crush on her, saying her eyes were the most beautiful he'd ever seen: the color of glaciers. :o

[In Dust and Ashes]

Originally posted by Intern Kate
ding ding ding! at least this is the conclusion my class and professor came to.

really?
then it wouldn't of been wallpaper, would it? maybe padding?
and windows on all sides?
and the baby?
and the smell?

[Kinbote]

I'd hazard that, were Anne Sexton (and, for that matter, Sylvia Plath) not on the attractive side of things, nobody'd remember who they were.

What does "contemporary" mean in this case? Hopefully not that "concrete" nonsense of some years ago. Or, really, anything of the moment, either.

[Intern Kate]

suicide wouldn't hurt, for notoriety, either.

we started off with Ginsberg. :( mostly it's the professor's charming rambles i attend class for.



i'm sorry, i don't really remember the business with windows, babies, and smells. it's been awhile. but i mean, the door was indeed nailed shut.

[In Dust and Ashes]

you mean the bed?
I don't rememeber a door being nailed at all.

[Intern Kate]

oops! yeah. was the door locked from the outside though? i'm extrapolating. i believe i've indeed passed the point where i can constructively discuss this story.

what's the class, anyway?

[In Dust and Ashes]

Approaches to the Study of Literature.
it's a "eh" kind'a class.

at the end, she locks herself in the room and throws the key out the window or something like that, so her husband (if it is her husband) has to go out and get it before he can get in the room.

one of the major things I like about this story is the untrustworthy narration. which also makes it very hard to really know anything for sure, but it certainly makes things exciting.

[Intern Kate]

Originally posted by hambakmeritru
one of the major things I like about this story is the untrustworthy narration.

i did like that aspect, it calls for some craftsmanship on the writer's part.

i feel like the vast majority of literature focused on in the courses offered here, are American or British. albeit my major is English, but it'd be nice for them to offer more.

[Barbarian Love Elephant]

Do english lit classes the world over follow the same crap? i covered this story as well and even used it in an assignment but only because twas easy!

[Blue River]

I had to do it in an English exam last year. They probably use a bunch of the same stories and poems that are prime examples of a particular theme.