検索キーワード： 著者 "Charlotte Perkins-Gilman" すべてのカテゴリー

"The Yellow Wallpaper and Why I Wrote It" is a thought-provoking exploration of the classic short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book delves into the psychological and societal themes embedded in the original work while providing an intimate glimpse into the author's motivations and personal experiences that led to the creation of this groundbreaking piece.

Art and life. Each the mirror of the other. This then is the classic definition of what ‘Realism’ as a writing form really is. Some might call it a fancy term for the mundane day to day pursuits but in the hands of an author it comes alive. We are drawn into characters and landscapes that we can empathize with, we can, metaphorically speaking, help shoulder their burden, be on the long trail with them whatever the landscapes, the hurdles, incidents and other people may place in their literary way.

Mental illness though can still carry a stigma. A case of ‘you’re not trying hard enough’, ‘or knuckling down and getting on with it’. But in more recent decades mental issues have come to be recognised as an illness, a disease rather than an affliction. We all remember horror stories of lobotomy’s and electric shock being used to ‘cure’ what society viewed as anti-social behaviour but illness, mental or physical is very real. Depression, schizophrenia, breakdown, psychosis are alarming events to have or to witness.

On the eve of the First World War, sociology student Vandyck Jennings goes on an expedition with two of his friends to search for a society rumored to consist only of women. On the way to what they will name “Herland,” Van and his friends ponder the type of women they hope or expect to see when they get there … but they find no fantasies when they arrive. Herland is an all-female, community-driven utopia. Van and his friends are skeptical of a society that doesn’t even need men to procreate, but women and girls who live there have been raised in a world removed the patriarchy of the world.

Este maravilloso relato, escrito por la autora norteamericana Charlotte Perkins, nos cuenta, a través de la forma del diario de una mujer, la historia de su matrimonio, la maternidad y la recuperación de una enfermedad que adolece en una peculiar casa de campo, donde día a día ingresará en otra realidad. El simbolismo y los sucesos de corte psiquiátrico son precisos para conectar la obra con un lado de la realidad que no debe ser ignorado.