Reflection on "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

   In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman we read the writings of a women who is put into confinement for an entire summer.  As the story progresses, the speaker slowly loses her mind and becomes insane.  I found this transformation of mind very disturbing and eerily relatable. 

   I have memories of seeing at a pattern or picture that put me in somewhat of a trance when looking deeply at the intricacies.  Some patterns become an optical illusion that trick the mind in seeing things that are actually absent from reality.  Even the speaker has the idea that she is the only one who sees her visions.  It seems as if the speaker sees the pattern moving and reshaping before her eyes and in different lights.  If a person looks at tiles on a bathroom floor or at the small patterns on some furniture, it is very possible to see, often with tired eyes, the pattern morphing into something different then originally seen.  I found that the descriptions of the wallpaper mirrored this.  The shifting pattern on the yellow wallpaper contributes to her decline to madness.

   I believe that almost everyone has had a taste of the madness that creeps into ones mind when placed alone for a period of time.  To imagine the kind of confinement that the speaker was subjected to for the length of a season, especially during summer when there seems to be no end of activity, is a frightening thought.  Being alone with ones thoughts can cause a person to lose the sense of reality much like the speaker in the short story.  The madness seems to take a hold of the speakers mind very similar to how the “woman” would creep around behind the wallpaper.  Each entry of her writing takes on a new level of paranoia and madness as her time in confinement progresses.  The reader can truly sense a shift in the speaker’s mind when she claims that her reflection in the window is really the “woman” behind the wallpaper.  The length of time that the speaker was confined in her room greatly contributes to her insanity.

  Gilman’s short story accurately predicts how a person, when left by themselves, can lose their mind to madness.  

Summary of Literary Article

   When assessing Samuel Fisher Dodson’s essay, “Frozen Hell: Edith Whatron’s Tragic Offering,” Edith Wharton’s novella, Ethan Frome, is characterized as a modern tragedy. Once Dodson gives the reader his view on the traits of a modern tragedy, he dissects Ethan’s persona and situation to define the novella as a modern tragedy.

   Dodson defines modern tragedy through an understanding of the connection between tragedy as a genre and the real world.  Dodson says in the article that, “The modern world contains only real people who make mistakes, suffer, and die or endure.  The degree of suffering is not necessarily in just proportion to their mistakes and, from this discrepancy, tragedy arises” (309).  Ethan Frome is a good man who does not deserve his fate, according to Dodson.  This puts Ethan Frome’s story in a “real world” light.  Dodson then connections this “real world” story to the genre of tragedy to consider it a modern tragedy.

   Dodson uses the ideas of the ancient philosopher Aristotle and Marilyn Jones Lyde to deduce his own ideas on modern tragedy.  At first, Dodson’s refutes Aristotle’s views on the workings of a tragedy by arguing that Greek civilizations, with their gods and rigid class structure, do not reflect modern day.  Dodson says that modern democracy replaces Aristotle’s tragic hero with the “modern hero who is elevated internally instead of externally,” (309).  Reading further into the article, Dodson then gives evidence that approves Aristotle’s ideas on tragedy and relates them to modern tragedy.  Aristotle’s four main character traits and strong moral ethics of a protagonist pertain to Dodson’s modern tragic protagonist.  Dodson and Aristotle also reach a consensus that the tragic character must have a hamartia, or tragic flaw, that is the cause of the disaster.  For a work to be considered a modern tragedy, the two agree that there must be an emotional reaction due to the empathy that the reader or viewer experiences as a result of the disaster.  The strength of the feelings produced by the disaster determines the modern tragedy’s quality.

   Then Dodson introduces the three points that define a modern tragedy to Marilyn Jones.  Her first point states that a modern tragedy must have a great force, alias fate.  Dodson writes that this point strays from his idea of modern tragedy because he believes that the protagonist must have free will.  As an example, Dodson refers to the Grecian tragedy’s protagonist, Oedipus, who was never forced to commit any act of murder, but chose to commit the acts himself.  According to Dodson, Jones’ second point of a “universal significance” (qtd. in Dodson 310) follows suit with Aristotle’s ideas on tragedy.  Her third point of absolute truthfulness suggests that a truthful character’s fate is credible.  Upon reading this essay, it is apparent that Dodson uses the ideas from both sources to form his definition of modern tragedy, but it is defendable to say that Dodson agrees more with Aristotle’s view.

   Before fully introducing the novella into his writing, Dodson gives his final thoughts on what makes a tragedy and what that tragedy has to be in order to consider it a modern tragedy.  Dodson defines tragedy:

“Tragedy as a genre goes beyond the stage to any from of literature that honestly depicts a morally good person suffering through the domination of internal passions, the behaviors of people, the whims of an indifferent universe, or the active alienation of the modern world… and through some mistake causes great pain or death,” (Dodson 310).

Then, Dodson describes the workings of a modern tragedy.  An interesting conclusion that he makes is that a modern tragedy must have a lack of narration.  By this he may mean that the presence of an omniscient narrator hurts the potential of the emotional response that was mentioned earlier as an important factor in a modern tragedy.  Dodson writes that in a modern tragedy the hero must reveal a tragic flaw that causes disaster due his free will so that he takes blame.  These tragic events cause the reader to reflect upon their own self and feel empathetic towards the hero thus producing an emotional response.  This is Dodson’s view on modern tragedy.

  Having established the workings of a modern tragedy, Dodson continues his essay to show how Ethan Frome can be classified as such.  When defining modern tragedy, Dodson stressed the importance of a tragic flaw.  Dodson writes how Ethan fits all the criteria for the tragedy’s hero.  However, he finds Ethan’s tragic flaw and uses it as his main argument to prove that the novella is a modern tragedy. Dodson concludes that Ethan’s tragic flaw is his lack for the ability to communicate. 

   Ethan’s tragic flaw is very apparent when he is with Mattie and Zeena.  His lack of communication leads his to loneliness, which is why he asks Zeena to marry him.  Dodson writes that Zeena’s inability to help Ethan realize his dreams and “sickness” is a factor that crushes Ethan.  Dodson observes “perhaps Zeena wouldn’t have been so ‘sick’ had Ethan confronted her early on and talked to her about their individual fears and dreams” (312).  Throughout that novella Dodson noticed that Ethan is similarly unable to fully express his feeling to Mattie.  Ethan’s self-sacrifice for both women is also a product of his lack of communication that sinks him deeper into tragedy according to Dodson.  Ultimately, this tragic flaw leads Ethan more dead then alive without any glimmer of hope.  Dodson writes that Ethan is a defeated hero who still has an admirable strength, but cannot reach his potential.

  I felt that this essay was very well presented.  Dodson backed up his opinions with other people’s ideas.  He also filled his reasoning with valid examples from the novella.  I agree that this novel is a modern tragedy.

Sonnet 130

  This sonnet is sarcastic in its nature.  It is very possibly a parody of an Italian sonnet.  Italian sonnets are supposed to be very romantic.  They often compare the subject to other objects that are supposed to be beautiful.  This is very apparent in the first line of the sonnet when the speaker says that his lover's eyes are nothing like the sun.  The speaker goes on like this throughout the sonnet denying that the subject has any beauty.  In line four, the speaker describes the subject's hair as being "black wires."  In Shakespeare's time, light colored hair was favored over darker hair.  The speaker also claims that he would rather hear the music of the subject than hear her talk.  However, the tone changes dramatically from line eleven to then end.  The rest of the sonnet tells that the speaker's love is rare and that she should not be confined to the ridiculous standards of beauty that society places on her.

Sonnet 129

  This sonnet is full of a fiery passion.  When one reads the sonnet, it seems to have a driving force that propels it forward and a frightening way.  Throughout the sonnet, there are a plethora of verbs.  Line ten has the same verb repeated three times all in different tenses.  This sonnet has the feel of a rant and almost seems as though it was improvised.  Overall, it seems to be very negative.  There is almost a feeling of regret and frustration in the sonnet.  According to some people who study Shakespeare's sonnets, sonnet 129 is part of the Dark Lady sonnets.  The Dark Lady is supposed to be a musician who world for the same wealthy family that Shakespeare works for.  When this sonnet it put into context with its surrounding sonnets, this tone of this sonnet is very different.  Unlike its surrounding sonnets, this sonnet is very negative and angry.

Sonnet 116

   This sonnet is very concerned with the definition of real and true love.  The first two quatrains focus on how love is constant.  In the first line of the sonnet, the speaker says that the marriage of love should not be denied to anyone.  The rest of the quatrain explain that what true love is not.  True love does not change. It does not "alter when it alterations finds."  The second quatrain tells what is true love.  The first line claims that true love is an "ever-fixed mark."  In Shakespeare's time, and ever-fixed mark was a lighthouse.  A lighthouse can symbolize a never changing call to a better place.  Line seven is a metaphor comparing a star to love.  The start could be referring to the North Star that always points north.  The last line of the quatrain is the speaker claiming that we do not know love's true value, but we can imagine how great its value can be.  The last quatrain of the sonnet tells that love outlasts time, although time can destroy beauty. Even on the brink of death love endures.  In the last line of the last quatrain, "his" could be referring to Father Time.  The couplet of the sonnet attempts to prove the sonnet valid.  In the sonnet, the speaker claims that if this is not true, the speaker did not write the poem and man never loved.  Shakespeare uses the words "proved" and "writ" in the couplet.  Both these words are legal terms and he might have used them to make the couplet sound me absolute.

Sonnet 99

   To start, this sonnet has fifteen lines instead of fourteen lines.  Thus, one can argue that this is not a true sonnet.  However, the opposing argument is the the first line is simply and introductory line and is not actually part of the sonnet.  This sonnet is very centered around the idea the the flowers stole the beauty from the subject.  The speaker seems to be condemning the flowers for taking the subject's beauty.  In the first quatrain, the speaker claims that the flowers stole the sweet smells of the subject.  The speaker also charges the flower with stealing his beloved's complexion and taking it for its own.  The second quatrain blames the roses and marjoram of stealing the subject beauty as well.  The last line of the second quatrain describes the flowers as shameful and despairing.  The flower described in the third quatrain not only stole red and white, but also stole the sent of the subjects breath.  As consequence of this thievery, the speaker sentences the flower to be eaten by worms.  To me, all of this seems very passionate and overly obsessive.  In the couplet, the speaker end the sonnet with a statement that says that no other flowers have done damage to the subject.

Sonnet 73

  This sonnet focuses more on the speaker.  The sonnet is eerie and is keeping death very present in its lines. The first quatrain refers to autumn.  Shakespeare often used the seasons to describe life.  Autumn precedes winter which is death, and so autumn refers to aging.  Lines two and three create an image of trees that are losing their leaves.  The speaker describes yellow leaves just hanging on the trees and the boughs "shake" in the cold.  The trees are personified as shaking to bring gusts of wind into the image of an autumn day.  In the fourth line, "bare ruined choirs" could be referring to the many churches and cathedrals which were decaying during Shakespeare's time.  Henry V111 dissolved many churches.  In the first line of the second quatrain, the speaker refers to himself as the "twilight of such day."  Here, the speaker is referring to the autumnal image he creates in the first quatrain to twilight.  Twilight, which is the eve of night.  The speaker goes on the say that night brings "Death's second self," or sleep.  Also in that line is the word "seals."  In context, seals can have other meanings than its primary meaning in the sonnet.  "Seals" can also refer to sealing a coffin or a will.  The first line of the third quatrain is similar to the first line of the second quatrain in that they both begin with "In me thou seest..." which directly refers to the speaker.  The different in this line is that it ends with "the glowing of such fire."  This introduces the third idea of a dying fire.  What is interesting about this quatrain is that is can be interpreted as a metaphor comparing a candle to aging.  This is especially apparent in the last line of the third quatrain.  A candle consumes itself until it burns out.  The couplet of the sonnet states that because of life's fleeting quantity, the speaker tells the subject to love what will be lost.  It is very possible that the speaker could be referring to himself.

Sonnet 55

   This sonnet has a similar theme to sonnet 12.  The idea of being able to make the subject immortal through words stays constant.  However, this sonnet differs in that centers more around destruction and time against human creativity.  The first quatrain claims that this sonnet will outlive monuments and statues.  The last line says that stone is destroyed by time.  To describe time, Shakespeare uses the world "sluttish."  Slut had a different meaning in Shakespeare's time being dirty and unorganized.  A slut was a kitchen maid.  The second quatrain focuses more on war and violence.  Shakespeare rarely uses Greek mythology in his writings.  In line 9, Shakespeare mentions Mars to describe the calamity of war.  The speaker tells the subject that great wars will not outshine his memory.  The last quatrain is enjambed.  This produces a feeling of propelling forward.  The last quatrain continues the theme of immortality.  The last line of the poem "dwell in lovers' eyes" could be referring to the reader.  The reader of the poem might love the subject as the speaker does.

Sonnet 18

   This sonnets starts off with a question.  Should the speaker compare the subject to a summer's day?  During Shakespeare's time comparing the subject to a summer's day was common.  Italian sonnets were often themed like this.  Shakespeare could be creating a parody of an Italian sonnet and maybe other poems of his time.  However, instead of comparing the subject to a summer's day, the speaker tells how the subject surpasses the beauties of summer.  According to the speaker, the subject is more lovely, more temperate, and more eternal than summer.  The second quatrain reveals how summer's beauty decline like most else.  Then the last quatrain tells how the subject will stay eternal.  After reading up to this point, the question that comes to my mind is how can a human be more immortal than summer?  The last line of the quatrain and the couplet reveal that the sonnet keeps the subject alive while people can still read the sonnet.  The theme to this sonnet seems to differ from the sonnets before it.  The themes prior to this sonnet encourage procreation.  This sonnet focuses more on the beauty of the sonnet.  If one believes in the Young Man theory, this could be the speaker becoming obsessed with the subject.  In the original print of the sonnet, instead of a period at the end of the last line, there is a comma.  One could argue that it was a misprint which was a common occurrence.  Others say that the comma was intentional for the purpose of creating an eternal feel to the sonnet.

Sonnet 12

   This sonnet focuses on the passage of time and how, ultimately, life leads to death.   Interestingly, the first line of the sonnet almost sounds like the ticking of a clock.  The consonants help create the imagery of a swinging pendulum of a clock. The second line tells of "the brave day" giving into "hideous night."  If comparing the theme of the prior sonnets with this sonnet, the "brave day" could be youth and the "hideous night" old age.  The word "brave" can associate youth to be a positive and the word "hideous" can associate old age to be a negative.  The "violet past prime" and "sable curls all silvered o'er with white" also describe old age.  The second quatrain of the sonnet uses seasons to suggest the beauty before old age dies when there is no offspring.  The seventh line of the sonnet is about summer and the following line about winter.  This echoes the earlier line about day giving into night (line 2).  The last quatrain is about how beauty fades quickly.  There is an underlying theme of it being necessary that there is other beauty to watch other beauty fade and to keep it alive.  The couplet of the sonnet personifies time and death.  The meaning of the last couplet is that nothing can stop the passage of time and, ultimately, death is the end.

Sonnet 2

   Sonnet 2 has a common meaning with sonnet 1.  The meaning being that youth's beauty will go to waste unless a child is brought into the world to renew the beauty.  This sonnet is often considered a "carpe diem" poem.  "Carpe diem" means, seize the day.  The speaker tells the subject to "seize the day" by having a child to show others his beauty.  The sonnet says that in forty years, the subject will be old and wrinkled.  Shakespeare wrote "forty winters" in place of forty years.  He used winter to make apparent the closeness of death.  Shakespeare often used seasons to describe the life cycle.  In the second line of the poem, "deep trenches" on "beauty's field" could mean the wrinkles on skin.  Then, the fourth line means that old age is not something to be glorified.  The second quatrain of the sonnet tells the subject that when he is old, if the only proof of his former beauty can be given with his eyes, it is a real shame.  The third quatrain tells that a "fair child" best proves one's beauty.  The last line of the sonnet uses the words "blood warm" to decibel a child and "cold" to describe age.  The warmth could also refer to summer and the cold to winter keeping in mind that Shakespeare often used seasons to represent the journey from life to death.

Sonnet 1

   This sonnet like many others of Shakespeare's expresses the importance of offspring.  The first quatrain of the poem expresses that beauty is desirable and that beauty should be kept alive.  In the third line, "riper by time decease" could translate to time decreasing one's beauty.  This means that youth is beautiful and aging reduces that beauty. Staying consistent to the theme, the next line of the sonnet tells that having an heir will renew beauty.  Again, the second quatrain tells of diminishing beauty.  The sixth line in the sonnet is a metaphor comparing a candle to decreasing beauty.  Although the sonnet does not use the words "candle" or "decreasing beauty" in the line, the reader can infer from the words Shakespeare uses.  "Light's flame" and "self-substantial fuel" can describe how a candle feeds on itself until it dies out.  This concept can be related to aging.  The sonnet continues to use metaphor to convey the idea that having a child would bring beauty to the world and that nor having a child is a selfish act.  In modern terms, the last couplet of the sonnet translates to that it is a pity to let your beauty die along wish you.  As a whole, the first sonnet is meant to encourage reproduction to keep beauty alive.