Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” & the “New Woman” (2024)

Background

"This wise [...]sent me home with solemn advice to 'live as domestic a life as possible,' to 'have but two hours' intelligent life a day,' and 'never to touch pen, brush or pencil again as long as I lived."
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wall-paper," 1913

A Historical Introduction to the New Woman

Review the online workshop Masculine Superiority Fever: Making Sense of "Spheres" at the EDSITEment-reviewed U.S. History Women's Workshop .Consider the following discussion questions:

What methods were used to dividewomen and men into separate spheres?
Why were women regarded as moral and spiritual leaders during this time period?
How were women's domestic roles viewed in comparison to men's roles in society?

Explore "Gender and the Nineteenth Century Home,"from the EDSITEment-reviewed American Studies at the University of Virginia website, with specific attention to "Domesticity in Turn-of-the-Century Literature." Consider the following discussion questions:

What aspects aboutthe home were idealized in late-nineteenth century life?
In what ways did women's daily lives begin to change during this period?
How did women's literature respond to the separate sphere ideology?

This short history of the women's movement at "Brief history of women's movement" via EDSITEment-reviewed National Women's History Projectprovides background to the women's movement as a whole. Consider the following discussion questions:

Activity 1. The "New Woman"

Using the web inquiry handouts below, students explore a variety of archived primary sources. Each group will also be responsible for examining how immigrant, working class, and African American women experienced this time period by examining the following:

Nineteenth-Century Domestic Spheres- This web quest looks deeply into the "separate sphere" ideology and contemplates how this ideologywas implemented to limit women's roles. Use these guiding questions to initiate discussion in the group.

To what extent have changes regarding women in society changed?
How do the primary documents on these websites portray the roles of middle-class men and women in the early- to mid-nineteenth century?

Women's Rights and the Suffrage Movement- This web inquiry examines the roots of the women's suffrage movement as a reaction to the separate spheres ideology. Use these guiding questions to initiate discussion in the group.

What did the Seneca Falls Convention do for the advancement ofwomen's rights?
What about Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments (1848) was considered controversial?
What do you consider to be a turning point in the suffrage movement between 1848 and1920?

Popular Representations of Women from the 1880s-1910s- The inquiry activity asks students toanalyzehow those opposed to women's rights depicted activists and the challenges women faced in overcoming these attacks.Use these guiding questions to initiate discussion in the group.

What commentaries and critiques are depicted in the representations you have found?
What roles were available to women and how were they portrayed in the media?
How did women resist the roles presented tothem?

The "New Woman" - This web inquiryanalyzes the "New Woman" as a characterportrayed in the press, but also as a representation of real women.Use these guiding questions to initiate discussion in the group.

How would you describe the "New Woman" in terms of her social and economic background?
In what activities did the "New Woman" engage?
What new opportunitieswere available to women in the 1880s-1910s?

Working-Class, Immigrant, and African American Women- This part of the activity should be distributed to each group to be included with their other exploration activity. This web inquiry analyzes the experiences of women across class, racial, and ethnic backgrounds and their place in the women's movement.Use these guiding questions to initiate discussion in the groups:

How did the home and public livesof working class, immigrant, and African American women comparewith wealthy, middle, and working class white women?
What major contributions did these women add to the women's suffrage movement?
How would you compare the Caldwell family home life with the home life of immigrants such as Carmella Gustaferre and the Lynches to African Americans such as Ruby Livingston?

Activity 2. Women's Literary History

Have students choose from the list of womenwriters handoutin order to complete an inquiry project about women's literary history.Students should research their selected author and compile biographic information, as well as famous works, major themes, personal information, relation to other female authors, literary achievements, and other relevant aspects about their lives as authors and intellectuals. Student research should include—where possible—multimedia resources (video interviews, images, biographic videos, analysis of their famous works, etc.).

As a class, begin constructing a timeline using facts and information from studentresearch about women’s literary history. This can be done on butcher paperor using an online timeline generator. Have students share important elements of their research with the class, including contributions by women to literature, culture, and society.Throughout the year, allow students to add authors that you read in class as well as authors that they read on their own.

With the multimedia resources students have researched, create a content library of their photos, videos, and documents. For the library, have students write a brief introduction to their author as well as a short description of each media piece.This can be done on a free website design platformsor through any education related social classroom platforms. While discussing women's literature, have students consider the following questions:

How might one writer influence the work of another?
How did early women writers open doors for other women?
How have women been represented withinthe literary canon?
How can scholars, classrooms, publishers, and readers include more women?
How do thewriters chosen by students discuss major themes from "The Yellow Wall-paper"?
What struggles did Gilman’s characters work through that the chosen authors also faced?
How has Charlotte Perkins Gilman contributed to women’s literary history?

Assessment

Small Group Presentations: Students should present the findings of their assigned topic in reference to the guiding question "What was life like for American working class, middle, and upper-class women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century?"
Essay: Ask each student to write a two-page essay that answers the lesson's guiding question:"What was life like for American working class, middle, and upper-class women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and early twentieth century?"
Journal Entry: Based on research and scholarship, students write a creative journal entry or an essay from the perspectiveof a person during this time period. What perspective might the person take? What are they advocating for, and why? How might people in their homes or communities react to their viewpoints? Emphasize to students that the creative exercise should reveal the students' knowledge of the time period and the competing voices in the midst of change.

Lesson Extensions

Have students read excerpts from Gilman's 1898 Women and Economics.
Divide the class into three groups, each of which will browse one of three popular turn-of-the-century (1890s-1910s) publications (Harper's, North American Review, and The Century) for editorials on "The New Woman." Ask each group to characterize the general audience of each publication based on the articles (table of contents), front matter, price, advertisem*nts, and any other aspects of the publication at large. (Students can use a National Archives document analysis worksheet.) Students will analyze the editorials and write a group summary of how each publication represents "The New Woman." Each group will present its summary, and a full class discussion will follow.
Individual periodicals are listed at "Making of America: Nineteenth Century in Print (periodicals)."Students can search individual periodicals with the keyword "New Woman." A sample editorial is: The New Woman. (The North American review. / Volume 158, Issue 450, May 1894), which you can locate using the Search engine.