The Yellow Wallpaper

Narrator, John, their relationship,

Treatment of women in the Victorian era (patriarchal society, woman in
the wallpaper is representative of the collective struggle experienced by
Victorian era women, rebelling against a society dominated by men)
-faced a lot of oppression and violence, due to prejudice, preconceived
notions
quotes 5 (they suddenly commit suicide), 11 (bulbous eyes), 12 (those
absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere), 14 (sticketh closer than a
brother they must have had perseverance as well as hatred), 17
(isolated columns of fatuity), 20 (the pattern slaps you in the face,
knocks you down, and tramples upon you)
-infantilised
Women were treated like children, trapped in the domestic sphere
Jane could only focus her imaginary powers on frivolous objects, she
became obsessive about the wallpaper which led to her descent into
madness
John is certain that he knows best, and thus plays a part in destroying
her
quotes 10 (blessed little goose), 19 (John constantly tries to assert his
authority, dismissing her wishes, patronising her, and demanding her to
trust him)

-powerless, womens lives were dictated by men

quotes 3 (internalising Johns authority), 9 (disagreed to repapering the
room, representative of the relationship between men and women), 18

(not allowing her to see her cousins), 23 (women creep, crawl and
shake the pattern under the moonlight)
Was the narrator triumphant or defeated?
Triumphed
-came closer to her inner reality
in her descent to madness, her musings reflect the oppression women
faced, her subconscious desire to rebel
-escaped the confinements of domestic sphere and patriarchy, escaped
from oppression
her wishes were constantly suppressed
-power reversal, powerless to being in control
1. The narrator enjoys the notion that the house is haunted- imaginative
nature
2. John laughs at me of course, but one expects that in marriage. One
obviously does not expect that in a healthy marriage, irony
3. Initially, the narrator would interrupt her train of thought with Johns
instructions. She has internalised his authority to the point that she
hears him telling her what to think. She ends up focusing on her
house instead of her own recovery. This marks the beginning on her
slide into obsession and madness.
4. The narrator attributes the bizarre features of the room-the barred
windows, the torn wallpaper, the rings and things in the wall, to the
fact that the room used to be a nursery. But readers can tell that the
rooms function is to house an insane person.

5. they suddenly commit suicide plunge off at outrageous angles,

destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions women kill
themselves as a result of prejudice, wrongly labelled as insane,
injustice
6. She describes the colour of the wallpaper as repellant, almost
revolting, a smouldering unclean yellow. Her negative sentiments
towards the colour of her wallpaper reflects her sickly state of mind.
7. John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are
serious. It leads the reader to wonder whether John is having an
affair, or he simply did not want to be close to her.
8. I am glad my case is not serious! dramatic irony, it is clear that at
that point her condition is quite severe
9. John vetoes her smallest wishes, such as repapering the room.
10. John calls her a blessed little goose, patronising and dominating
11. bulbous eyes a reference to the surveillance that the narrator is
subjected to
12. those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere women are
constantly being watched
13. The narrator used to entertain herself with imaginations of the
furniture when she was a child.
14. The wallpaper sticketh closer than a brother they must have had
perseverance as well as hatred, a reflection of how society was
ruled by misogynistic men altogether. Overwhelming nature of
Victorian social norm for women
15. Women in the wallpaper- reflects the narrator who is imprisoned in
the domestic sphere and by the patriarchal society
16. Im getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps
because of the wallpaper. She is starting to get attached to the
wallpaper, empathy for the woman trapped inside, subconsciously
desires to free the imaginary woman, which is akin to freeing herself
from her oppression

17. Violent imagery to describe the pattern, such as isolated columns of

fatuity to highlight the absurdity of the treatment of women,
strangling, incapacitating social norms
18. John did not allow her to see her cousins, sees her as an ignorant,
petulant child not to be over-indulged, does not understand her
needs, plays a part in destroying her
19. John constantly tries to assert his authority, dismissing her wishes,
patronising her, and demanding her to trust him.
20. The pattern slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples
upon you. It illustrates how it was impossible for women to escape
from their confinement. Society stifles women.
21. The narrators obsession over the wallpaper starts to get territorial.
She does not want anyone else to touch it. Her relationship with the
wallpaper gets increasingly intimate, she starts to have growing
empathy with the woman inside.
22. There are always new shoots on the fungus her illness is
consuming her, her imagination became more wild
23. The narrator notices that the woman creeps, and under moonlight
she begins to crawl and shake the pattern. Similarly, the women in
the Victorian era had to creep by daylight because they did not
want to come under close scrutiny by the society, and can only
secretly attempt to break free, dare not voice themselves
24. She starts to feel that John is putting up an act, and only pretending
to be loving. She suspect Jennies interest in the paper too. Her
perception of people changes.
25. The narrator locked the door and threw the key down to tear off the
paper. This signifies a power shift.
26. In tearing the wallpaper she loses touch with the outer world, but
comes to a greater understanding of her inner reality. She loses her
rationality to break through the rigid expectations of the domestic
sphere. She is finally free, and joins all the other imaginary women
crawling around.

27. Convinced that she came out of the wallpaper as well, freed of the
constraints of her marriage and her own efforts to repress her mind
28. Calls John that man and complains about having to creep over
him, a personal triumph for herself and a power reversal

Rappaccinis Daughter
-Parental love
Did Rappaccini love his daugher? In what ways?
Rappaccini purposely made her daughter poisonous to others in order
for her to be protected from the worlds evil nature. Overly protective,
sheltered Beatrice too much.
I would fain have been loved, not feared. He used extreme measures to
create an insulated garden for her daughter, but this took away her free
will and greatly limited her experiences. In being fearsome instead of
vulnerable, Beatrice never enjoyed what other young people did, never
loved, never been in danger.
Rappaccini also makes Giovanni poisonous in order for her daughter to
have a companion in her garden world. Disregards Giovannis free will,
secretly makes him poisonous so that he can accompany his daughter.
But he cut off Giovanni from his world.
-Lust/love
Did Giovanni really love Beatrice?
He lusts after her beauty, enamoured with her on first sight

Upon discovery that Beatrice had caused him to be poisonous, he

hurled intense words of hatred at her, calling her Accursed one!
He is quick to scorn Beatrice after her betrayal, selfishness. although it is
clear that it was not Beatrices intention. He projected his anger on her.
He did not accept Beatrice as who she was, but chose to see her as a
sin or a seductress. Love means accepting a person for who they are,
Giovanni wanted to change Beatrice and make her conform.
-Poison and beauty, two of them come together every time, inseparable
Dualism is present in all characters. There is evil in beautiful things. This
is also how temptation is presented to men.
-Dangers of science, crossing ethical boundary
Science can become evil with mens experimentation. By altering the
plants, Rappaccini is distorting the original intention of God. He develops
a god-complex mentality.
He places science above humanity, using science to achieve what he
wants. manipulation, science gives him control, disregard of ethic
boundary.
He uses his patients as a means for an experiment to build his own
agenda. Studied Giovanni like a specimen, a bird, a mouse, or a
butterfly as Baglioni says, instead of an individual with his own free well.
Humanity is meaningless to him.
-His intentions. Were they good?
He wanted a companion for his daughter, but he ruthlessly uses his
knowledge of science to manipulate and control to get what he wants.
Took away Giovannis free will.

-Who is to be blamed for the tragedy? Predetermined or characters free

will- deceit, folly, and selfishness?
Old dame Lisabetta encourages Giovanni and even helps him to enter
the garden to improve the prospects of the room. (This is the classic
definition of Genesis story blaming the woman for mans downfall which
in this story, Giovannis failure as he struggles with temptation.)
Giovannis selfishness. He wanted Beatrice to drink the vial without
considering its effects on her. Selfishness. He acted out of his fear of
losing his love. He only thinks about himself, did not have Beatrice in
mind, did not love her as she is. He wanted to save her just to quench
his own desires.
Giovannis folly and ignorance. Giovanni becomes so consumed with
lust and love that he forsakes common sense. 1. He seeks and takes the
advice of Baglioni without disconcerting the priests motivations. 2. He is
quick to scorn Beatrice after her betrayal, selfishness, although it is clear
that it was not Beatrices intention. He only wanted someone to blame
and project his anger on. In turn pressurising Beatrice to drink the vial
Baglioni had an underlying agenda when he offered the vial to Giovanni.
He was not thinking of saving Beatrice, but to foil Rappaccinis
experiments. Motivated by rivalry, selfishness.
Baglioni was bothered by the rumors of Beatrices skill to be equal to
that of her father. He even comes to believe that Rappaccini intends her
daughter Beatrice to replace him. Fearful of Beatrice surpassing him,
viewed her as a threat. -> Deceived Giovanni to achieve his goal,
capitalised on Giovannis lust.
Rappaccini.

Delusional to his diabolical behaviour

Lusts for his own personal achievement and greatness without concern
for mankind and even his flesh and blood.

The use of imagination is rife in the story especially with the thought of
limitless possibilities science could attain.
The plants are lush and beautiful, but also poisonous. similarly for
Beatrice, she is beautiful but her beauty is endowed by poison.
Rappaccini purposely made her daughter poisonous to others in order
for her to be protected from the worlds evil nature. The fact she is a
prisoner in the garden indicates how she was led to believe that
darkness does exist in the outside world. As such, Rappaccini also
makes Giovanni poisonous in order for her daughter to have a
companion in her garden world. Notably, the scientist took extreme
measures for her daughter by building her a fake world where
Hawthorne makes a clear reference to how science can become evil

because of mans experimentation. More importantly, the purpose of the

plants are altered which was not the original intention of God, the
Creator making a reference to how scientists can develop a godcomplex mentality.
highlight human folly seen in the eyes of the protagonist. Giovanni
becomes consumed with lust and love that he forsakes common sense.
Afterwards, he seeks and takes the advice of Baglioni without
disconcerting the priests motivations. He is also quick to scorn Beatrice
after her betrayal. Hawthorne is able to show by
end of the tragic tale how the ideas of transcendentalism fails as the
characters are not able to use their intelligence in navigating their
romance to a happy ending.
misplaced faith in other people-from Beatrices loyalty to her father, to
Giovannis easily succumbing to his desire for Beatrice

Frankenstein
1 Prostitutes usually welcome any men, but she rejected the Creature
29. Creature experiences violence from townspeople when he first
explores the world
30. Clutches at beams of light and laughs.
31. Innocence portrayed very strongly in Scene 6 as he enjoys natures
delights
32. Beggars chase the Creature away
33. He does not understand the violence shown towards him
34. De Lacey, the only person who accepted the Creature because hes
blind. He could not jump to conclusions about him based on
preconceived notions about his looks. Brought Creature to civilised
world.

35. Creature tries to play the guitar, seeks to do something, craves

acceptance
36. De Lacey talks about the original sin, the sin of being born. Everyone
is made imperfect, but people do not reflect on their own
imperfections.
37. Ideas batter me like hailstones. Questions but no answers. Why?
38. Creature initially wanted an ugly wife, seeks seclusion rather than
integrating with society
39. Victor tries to deter Elizabeth from following him to England by using
scientific terms. Condescending. through the language and
arguments of science he tried to establish themselves as superior to
women and justify the exclusion of women from various aspects and
at the same time eliminating womens importance in society
40. The more I learn, the less I understand.
41. Creature killed William. does not have concept of death. Learnt how
to speak and feel, but with no human and emotional interaction, he
turns to acting in accordance to his appearance
42. Victor read forbidden books, isolated himself
43. Creature is more capable of love than Victor is
44. the world was a cornucopia to me! Now it is a waste of frost and
snow.

Isolation
Self isolation
Isolated by society
Emotional neglect
Physical alienation
Who should be blamed for the tragedy?

Victor did not think about the possible consequences of his creation.
Rather, he thinks of the glory he will achieve with the ground breaking
experiment. Inconsiderate, self-obsessed.
Victor failed as a father for the Creature, abandoned him as soon as he
saw him.
Society. Creature did not choose to be isolated. His isolation is imposed
by society. Creature retaliates with violence because of how society
treated him. Even Felix and Agatha chased him away. Superficiality of
humans.
Society lacks empathy and compassion.
Main driver for fuelling revenge, enables Creature to become ruthless