AskEssays.com - Discover essay samples

Charlotte perkins gilman

4.9 of 5.0 (139 reviews)

Contains
528 words
Category
History

Charlotte perkins gilman Page 1
Charlotte perkins gilman Page 2
The above thumbnails are of reduced quality. To view the work in full quality, click download.

Charlotte perkins gilman


Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a self-proclaimed philosopher, writer, educator and an intellectual activist of the women's movement from the late 1890's through the mid-1920's. She demanded equal treatment for women as the best means to advance society's progress. She was an extraordinary woman who waged a lifelong battle against the restrictive social codes for women in late nineteenth-century America.

Mrs. Gilman was born Charlotte Anna Perkins on July 3, 1860, in Providence, Rhode Island. She was the grandniece of Harriet Beecher Stowe. She attributed her lifelong talent for speaking and her writing ability to her Beecher heritage. Most of what Charlotte learned was self-taught, since her formal schooling was only about six or seven years. Gilman believed early on that she was destined to dedicate her life to serving humanity. When her lover unexpectedly proposed, she was suddenly torn between work and marriage. After years of debating whether to marry or not to marry, she consented and to the best of her abilities carried on the traditional roles of wife and mother, only to suffer a nervous breakdown. When her treatment of total rest drove her close to insanity, she was cured by removing herself physically from her home, husband, and finally her daughter, and by taking part in and writing about the social movements of the day. Later in life she married her first cousin, George Gilman, and again suffered from depression though not as severely as she had suffered throughout her first marriage.

Using her life experiences as a female within a male dominated society, Gilman wanted to redefine womanhood. She declared that women were equal to men in all aspects of life. This new woman she described was to be an intelligent, well-informed and well-educated thinker. She would also be the creator and the expresser of her own ideas. She was to be economically self-sufficient, socially independent, and politically active. She would share the opportunities, duties and responsibilities of the workplace with men, and together they would take care of their home. Finally, this new woman was to be informed, assertive, confident, and influential, as well as compassionate, loving, and sensitive, at work and at home. This vision of the future female went against the traditional role of womanhood, not to mention the concepts and values of family, home, religion, community, and democracy.

These views have labeled Gilman as a feminist, but theses ideas clearly have a place within educational history. Gilman showed the need to develop higher learning institutions for teacher education and to offer women a place that would train them to think more critically. She viewed the education of women as an essential part of a democratic society. She felt by educating women and thus feminizing society that gender discrepancies within society would end.

Gilman began to explore the issue of gender discrepancy within society in the mid-1880's when she first began her career as a writer. Her first published essays focused on the inequality found within marriage and child-rearing. Her well received short story The Yellow Wallpaper told the story of a new mother who was nearly ...

You are currently seeing 50% of this paper.

You're seeing 528 words of 1055.

Keywords: charlotte perkins gilman the yellow wallpaper, charlotte perkins gilman books, charlotte perkins gilman biography, charlotte perkins gilman death, charlotte perkins gilman quotes, charlotte perkins gilman short stories, charlotte perkins gilman the yellow wallpaper summary, charlotte perkins gilman women and economics

Similar essays


The Pyramids Of Egypt

Imagine living in Ancient Egypt about 3,000 B.C. Imagine a society teeming with life and happiness. Imagine looking around and seeing beautiful buildings, fields of crops, and the great pyramids with their white limestone fa'ade blazing in the sun of the midday. It would be quite the experience to have lived back then. The history of Egypt begi...

99 reviews
Download
Christianity 2

Christianity is a religion that is used my many americans, but it is very difficult to understand. It is a religion based on Faith without a rock, with only sand to build, right? Wrong. Your Faith is the rock. Without faith one is unable to engage in christianity, or in a relationship with God. When one becomes a christian, it is his or her respons...

187 reviews
Download
Gallipoli the anzac legend

Gallipoli- the anzac legend Gallipoli- The Anzac legend Dion Freilich 10h The Anzac Legend is the source of the Aussie Fight and bravery that will live on for future generations to understand and to acknowledge their courage and bravery. Some would say The Anzac Legend all began when Britain declared they were in need of help an...

99 reviews
Download
Book Review on Theodore Draper's A Struggle for Power The A

Book Review on Theodore Draper's A Struggle for Power: The A Theodore Draper's A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution was published by Vintage Books in 1996. In his novel, Draper heavily relies on primary resources to show us the complexities of policy and personality that led to war. He makes a persuasive case that the American Revolutio...

160 reviews
Download
Babe ruth

(1895-1948) The crowd that jammed Chicago's Wrigley Field booed when the big man with the barrel-shaped body and pipestem legs came up to bat. It was the third game of the 1932 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees. The score was 4-4 in the fifth inning. Cub pitcher Charlie Root threw one...

120 reviews
Download
Atsisiųsti šį darbą