Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a writer and social activist during the late 1800s and early 1900s. She published her best-known short story "The Yellow Wall-Paper" in 1892. One of her greatest works of non-fiction, Women and Economics, was published in 1898. Along with writing books, she established a magazine, The Forerunner, which was published from 1909 to 1916.
Early Life
Gilman was born on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut. She had a difficult childhood. Her father, Frederick Beecher Perkins was a relative of well-known and influential Beecher family, including the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. However, when she was young he abandoned the family, leaving Charlotte's mother to raise two children on her own. Gilman moved around a lot as a result and her education suffered greatly for it.
Marriage and Inspiration
Gilman married artist Charles Stetson in 1884. The couple had a daughter named Katherine. Sometime during her decade-long marriage to Stetson, Gilman experienced severe depression and underwent a series of unusual treatments for it. This experience is believed to have inspired her best-known short story "The Yellow Wall-Paper" (1892).
Women's Rights Activism
While she is best known for her fiction, Gilman was also a successful lecturer and intellectual. One of her greatest works of nonfiction, Women and Economics, was published in 1898. A feminist, she called for women to gain economic independence, and the work helped cement her standing as a social theorist. It was even used as a textbook at one time. Other important nonfiction works followed, such as The Home: Its Work and Influence (1903) and Does a Man Support His Wife? (1915).
Along with writing books, Gilman established The Forerunner, a magazine that allowed her to express her ideas on women's issues and on social reform. It was published from 1909 to 1916 and included essays, opinion pieces, fiction, poetry and excerpts from novels.
Death
In 1900, Gilman married for the second time. She wed her cousin George Gilman, and the two stayed together until his death in 1934. The next year she discovered that she had inoperable breast cancer. Gilman committed suicide on August 17, 1935, in Pasadena, California.
SOURCE: Biography.com Editors (2014), Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, https://www.biography.com/writer/charlotte-perkins-gilman
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Charlotte Perkins Gilman
SOURCE: Suzanne Shaut (2015), posted on Youtube, Duration: 3:50 mins, URL: https://youtu.be/02AoEDFOjV0
Dr. Bernstein's Intro to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" [Part 1]
Learn about Charlotte Perkins Gilman, what inspired her to write "The Yellow Wallpaper," the rest cure, and how literature can change our understanding of important issues.
SOURCE: Dr Bernstein (2012), posted on YouTube, Duration: &;34 mins, URL: https://youtu.be/HgqWKUa_c7Y
Intro to Symbols in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman [Part 2]
Learn about literary symbols and how to figure out the what the wallpaper symbolizes in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper."
SOURCE: Dr. Bernstein (2012), posted on YouTube, Duration: 9:24 mins, URL: https://youtu.be/p_w9e8kerdQ
Click on the image above to access the video "Gothic Undercurrents"
What was haunting the American nation in the 1850s? The three writers treated in this program — Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson — use poetry and prose to explore the dark side of nineteenth-century America. [Transcript available]
SOURCE: American Passages: A Literary Survey (2003), Produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting. [Duration: 56:45 mins], video available from Annenberg Learner, URL:https://www.learner.org/series/american-passages-a-literary-survey/gothic-undercurrents/
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