Approaching from the perspective of feminist criticism, this paper compares the female protagonists in Shakespeare＇s well-known tragedy Hamlet and Gilman＇s short story ＂The Yellow Wallpaper＂. While the first perso...Approaching from the perspective of feminist criticism, this paper compares the female protagonists in Shakespeare＇s well-known tragedy Hamlet and Gilman＇s short story ＂The Yellow Wallpaper＂. While the first person narrator in ＂The Yellow Wallpaper＂ is a modem signifier of the archetypal Ophelia as the sacrificial lamb of the patriarchal oppression, the two differ in their manifestations of madness, which could be accounted for by their respective historical and social environment with women＇s awakening consciousness of self-identity展开更多
The Yellow Wallpaper examines the role of women in 19th-century American society, including the relationship between husbands and wives, the economic and social dependence of women on men, and the repression of female...The Yellow Wallpaper examines the role of women in 19th-century American society, including the relationship between husbands and wives, the economic and social dependence of women on men, and the repression of female individuality and sexuality. The Victorian era had a profound impact on social values in the United States, stressing that women were to behave gracefully and remain within the domestic sphere. The novel takes place in a country house located about three miles from the nearest village. The Setting has the appearance of tranquility, but is actually a place of confinement--There are bars on the windows of the nursery, and the bed is secured to the floor The isolated location of the house, its somewhat neglected condition, and her further isolation in the fortress-like nursery, symbolize the narrator＇s mental condition. Several symbols are employed in the story to reveal the oppression of women by men and the struggle against that male dominated society. The yellow wallpaper is symbolic of the Cult of True Womanhood, which binds women to the home and family. Like Charlotte Gilman, women were constricted to the set parameters that men determined. Getting beyond the yellow wallpaper, women defied the corrupted power that men wielded over women, escaped their confinement, and created for themselves a new ideological role, one that included entry into the public sphere展开更多
文摘Approaching from the perspective of feminist criticism, this paper compares the female protagonists in Shakespeare＇s well-known tragedy Hamlet and Gilman＇s short story ＂The Yellow Wallpaper＂. While the first person narrator in ＂The Yellow Wallpaper＂ is a modem signifier of the archetypal Ophelia as the sacrificial lamb of the patriarchal oppression, the two differ in their manifestations of madness, which could be accounted for by their respective historical and social environment with women＇s awakening consciousness of self-identity
文摘The Yellow Wallpaper examines the role of women in 19th-century American society, including the relationship between husbands and wives, the economic and social dependence of women on men, and the repression of female individuality and sexuality. The Victorian era had a profound impact on social values in the United States, stressing that women were to behave gracefully and remain within the domestic sphere. The novel takes place in a country house located about three miles from the nearest village. The Setting has the appearance of tranquility, but is actually a place of confinement--There are bars on the windows of the nursery, and the bed is secured to the floor The isolated location of the house, its somewhat neglected condition, and her further isolation in the fortress-like nursery, symbolize the narrator＇s mental condition. Several symbols are employed in the story to reveal the oppression of women by men and the struggle against that male dominated society. The yellow wallpaper is symbolic of the Cult of True Womanhood, which binds women to the home and family. Like Charlotte Gilman, women were constricted to the set parameters that men determined. Getting beyond the yellow wallpaper, women defied the corrupted power that men wielded over women, escaped their confinement, and created for themselves a new ideological role, one that included entry into the public sphere
