Category: charlotte perkins gilman

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Trapped in a Cage in Helen Weinzweig’s “Basic Black with Pearls”

Every now and then, I get to the point where I’m not sure what I want to read. When that happens, I go to my bookshelves and start to browse, pulling down a book, reading the description and the first page, then returning the book until I come upon one that I want to read. This process is how I came to read Helen … Read More Trapped in a Cage in Helen Weinzweig’s “Basic Black with Pearls”

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Republican Motherhood and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper”

A few items stuck out as I prepared to teach Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” this semester. The first aspect of the short story that caught my attention was the multiple uses of specific words or forms of specific words: creep (20), sun (8), crawl (4), and skulk (1). Each of these words, except for sun, has a connotation of hiding or concealment. … Read More Republican Motherhood and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper”

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Housewife” & Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”

When getting ready to teach Susan Glaspell’s Trifles (1916) last week, I found myself looking through the anthology I am using for some poems to go along with the play. I found a couple by Amy Lowell and Edna St. Vincent Millay that would have possibly worked; however, none of them captured the spirit of Minnie Wright’s confinement and pain quite like Charlotte Perkins … Read More Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Housewife” & Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”