LITERARY COMMENTARY:

KAYJATTA

THE YELLOW WALL PAPER; BY GILMAN

The Yellow Wall Paper represents the male-dominant society depicted in Gilman’s short story. It is repugnant, just as the society it represented.

Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wall Paper” is written in the first person.  Gilman appears to be the writer as she describes her “nervous depression” (pg. 1598) and her subsequent confinement by her husband, John. The story is about her medical condition- a hysteria characterized by nervous depression, a common diagnosis for women of her time. Gilman sets out to address issues of women’s health, gender and separate spheres of existence. There is a sharp contrast between her more practical, scientifically rational husband, John and her own irrational sensibilities (pg. 1598). She feels helplessness in the face of the male power exhibited by John and her brother both of whom are doctors. The author in the story talked eloquently about the house but couldn’t participate in offering ideas about her own medical condition. This again goes to affirm the separate spheres of gender (pg. 1598-1599). She talked about how to “dress and entertain and order things”, a typical women’s role (pg. 1600). The author mentions her baby that Mary is so good about, and how nervous she gets for being away from. She compares this to the fact that John never gets nervous, again illustrating gender expectations and separate spheres of existence. Gilman’s confinement to the house, nearly barred from all kinds of stimulation-writing, society, etc- while her husband, John works long hours points to the women’s confinement to the domestic sphere. The story is also about powerlessness. The author’s obsession and dislike of the wall paper indicates her feelings towards the gendered stereotypes of her society (pg. 1608).

THE WHITE HERON; BY JEWETT:

Sylvia’s rejection of the hunter’s money in defense of the environment and nature as represented by the White Heron illustrates her innocence and maturity, her humanity and sense of selflessness (pg 1642). This defense of nature can perhaps be explained by Sylvia’s relationship with the cow, Mistress Molly and her aging grandmother. Mistress Molly and the surrounding wilderness and its wildlife are an important part of Sylvia’s life, devoid largely of any other human interaction. This short story by Sarah Orne Jewett addresses a conflict between nature and human influences or nature and society.

The story parallels the simple natural purity of rural life represented by Sylvia and the White Heron against the corrupted artificial urban life that the hunter represents. It is a conflict of two value systems, one of spirituality and private appreciation of nature and the other of materialistic and public utility of wealth. Sylvia’s love of nature trumps her love of money and the manufacturing town she came from (pg. 1630). This is a superior state of knowledge and maturity.

Literary sources:

1.      Sarah Orne Jewett’s White Heron: An imported metaphor, Sheri Joseph Vol.27 No. 3 (Spring 1995)

2.      Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Karen Ford Vol 4, Issue 2 (1985).