Search for Self-fulfillment by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin :: Biography Biographies Essays

Search for Self-fulfill officiateforcet by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin In the terminal half of the nineteenth century, Victorian ideals still held sway in American society, at least among members of the middle and upper classes. Thus the cult of True char was still promoted which preached four cardinal virtues for women piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Women were considered far more religious than men and, therefore, they had to be pure in heart, mind, and, of course, body, not engaging in shake until marriage, and even then not finding any pleasure in it. They were also supposed to be passive responders to mens decisions, actions, and needs. The true womans transport was her home fe antherals were uniquely suited to raise children, c are for the needs of their menfolk, and give way their lives to creating a nurturing home environment. (Norton, 108). However, the tensions between old and new, traditional and untraditional, were great during the la st years of nineteenth century and there was a debate among male and female writers and social thinkers as to what the role of women should be. Among the female writers who devoted their work to defying their views about the womans place in society were Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was a social activistic and theorist of the womens movement at the turn of the twentieth century. She developed her libber ideals in her novels, short stories and nonfiction books such as Women and Economics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is best cognise for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, (1892) which is based on her own experience. As the story begins, the woman-whose name we never learn- tells of her depression and how it is being treated by her husband and brother who are both doctors. These two men are unable to see that there is more to her stipulate than just a stress and depression and prescribe for her rest as a cure. The fibber is taken to a summer house to recover form her condition where she is not allowed to do any occasion but rest and sleep. Furthermore, she cannot do one thing that she loves the most writing. I must put this away, -he hates to have me write a word. She spends most of her time in a room with yellow paper and very little to occupy her mind with.