The Yellow Wallpaper

In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the relationship between man and wife was extremely strange. First, I thought it was completely irrational to put the person he “loves” basically in solitary confinement. Sure, it was one of the cures for something like this at the time, but it obviously did a lot more harm than good. I think everyone knows the feeling that when you are in a room for so long, things start becoming intriguing, and they may not be as they seem. You’ll see something deeper than what it really is, or start imagining wacky things. Also, I can only imagine how claustrophobic she feels. It’s completely insane that she didn’t stand up for herself! She was in a room that she basically hated, with horrible wallpaper, she couldn’t see anyone (not even her child), and she had some kind of emotional problem. I feel very sympathetic towards her with the fact that this is her only option. Just because her husband is a doctor, he thinks that this is the best thing for her. But I believe that now in society, this would be looked down upon in many ways. Also, the relationship they had with each other was awfully strange. It was almost like he was her father and she was the innocent, helpless child. He is also extremely controlling towards her. Because she had this “illness”, she is too screwed up to be thinking for herself. Today, the class discussion was about feminism, and I think this plays a role in it some ways. Since the narrator is a woman, the man thinks that he is doing what is best for her and making her decisions for her. She has no say in the matter, and what he thinks is right is automatically what is going to happen. This shows the dominance of the male in the relationship and whatever they say, is what it is put into play.

Ethan Frome-Article Analysis

"Under the Granite Outcroppings of Ethan Frome"
by: Helen Killoran

In the article I chose, the thesis talked about how immoral Ethan Frome was for society. She discussed each character and if you look through each character, which one was more immoral than the other. Her findings shocked me. Of course most believe falling in love with your wife’s cousin is bad, but I thought Zeena would have been the most immoral. I was extremely wrong. In fact, in this article she is actually praised for having the most moralistic character. She discusses how Zeena did the right thing by trying to get rid of Mattie, and how horrible it was for Ethan to try and get her to stay. She also talks about reasons why Zeena couldn’t be without Ethan for several reasons. She was extremely “sick”, and she needed constant care, and also there is the theory that she had a miscarriage. When Wharton writes about the “dead cucumber vines dangling from the porch like the crape streamer ties to the door for a death” (Wharton 51), most believe she is referring to the fetus tied to the umbilical cord of Zeena. This shows one of the major reasons for Zeena trying to make this marriage work between the two of them. She and Ethan have been through so much, and I think she believed that there was no other way. Ethan was the most immoral character of the entire novella. He falls in love with someone while he is married, he can’t provide children for his wife (so he gave up and doesn’t want to care for her illnesses), and he tries to commit suicide. This shows how little his morals are as a person. I think that this argues its thesis extremely well. Helen Killoran knows exactly what points to make and really turns this whole book around. I found myself almost hating Zeena, but now I understand why she did what she did. I was unaware of all of this background information. Killoran does an amazing job showing the readers what is going on through Zeena’s perspective. I agree with what she writes, but I can also disagree. If Zeena really loved Ethan then she would be looking out for what is best for him, not her “wellness”. I think that you love who you love, and maybe Ethan just wasn’t feeling it anymore. In Ethan’s defense, she didn’t act to loving either. Most thought that she didn’t care about him at all. But overall, this was a great read and I’m glad I got to see it in another perspective. I think it changes my overall outlook on this great novella.

Sonnet Reflection #130

The sonnet by far is probably one of the most cruel we have yet encountered. He went from being with the boy, where it was all about needing someone and wanting them, and trying to win them over, and in these Dark Lady poems, it is all about carelessness, and insults. If I were to receive this poem from someone, I would be absolutely humiliated. All that is talked about is how horrible this lady looks, smells, talks, and walks. What shocks me at the end though is that Shakespeare writes about how he loves her. I find it completely odd that he just got done writing a list of things he hates (which is pretty much everything), but he doesn’t care about any of that because he cares for her. In some way, I figured that he is talking about how beauty is materialistic. Maybe he is showing how personality is the most important thing. Personally, I would much rather have a poem complimenting my personality rather than trashing my looks.

Sonnet Reflection #129

This sonnet, being one of the first “Dark Lady” sonnets, is very interesting to me. It shows how his tone changes when he is head over heels for the boy, and when he is with the lady just because there is no other person left for him. He goes on and on about how love is so wrong and lust can be extremely dangerous. It is one of the worst qualities a human can possess. Shakespeare says it is “murderous, rude, cruel, and full of blame”, but I believe that it is his own way of making excuses for himself and it explains why he is with this “Dark Lady”. He doesn’t love her, he lusts over her. He writes about how bad sex is, and how something so heavenly can lead someone to hell. It can be such a great thing when you’re “in the moment”, but once reality hits, you feel nothing but sorrow.

Sonnet Reflection #99

Sonnet 99 is a very well-written poem with the fact that I had never taken summer in such a negative way as this. In most poems about summer, they are usually known as being the most beautiful time of the year, and everyone loves summer. Shakespeare however, metaphorically calls summer a thief. He claims that all of the flowers and their beauty take away from the beauty that the boy possesses. He uses different flowers to symbolize the boy’s body parts. So in a way, it is like they had stolen his identity. I find this to be an extremely clever way of showing someone they are beautiful. He relays the message that in fact, he is more beautiful than all of summer. Since summer is constantly used as a comparison to one’s beauty, it is very different to see it as a negative. I like the idea though that it makes the reader of this look at summer in a whole new light.

Sonnet Reflection #94

In this sonnet, I find the message to be intriguing. The overall theme is basically saying they have the power to do many things, but they can refrain. Being sophisticated and strong is what will make you a good person. If you are wild, with no rules and restraint, that is what will make you a bad person. Shakespeare compares it to a “rotting lily”. I believe that in modern times, this should be applied. In line 1, it states that people have the power to hurt, but refuse to. I think that line is extremely fitting for today’s society. People believe that since they are rich or are high up in society, that it’s okay to be mean and cruel to one another. A good example would be Saddam Hussein. He had a lot of power in his country, but he abused that power and did many hurtful things with it, and because of that he was one of the most hated men in the whole nation.

Sonnet Reflection #87

In Sonnet 87, I find it to be one of the most depressing. Shakespeare is telling the boy that he should be with someone else because of the fact that the boy is a lot “better” and he should raise his standards. I take this as either a pity party, or Shakespeare is showing the amount of confidence he really has. When you are trying to get compliments and things, people usually tell others how useless they are and how unattractive they look, but Shakespeare seems to be taking it into a whole new level. He is saying how the boy is a treasure, and how he is worthless. In a way I think the writer realizes how amazing the boy is and maybe being with him isn’t the best choice. After all, he is the one telling him to have children. So, I think he understood that this wasn’t right.