This excerpt is from Katie Aikin's blog and I highly recommend it. She has a real knack from explanation and, I must say, the story is much clearer now. Her thorough biography of Charlotte Perkins Gilman is also great; I found a few sites that related and described the author to her works, but Katie's writing is very clear and helpful.
Posted by KatherineLambert at November 2, 2004 08:25 PMLamb,
Thank you. And talk about inspiration: you definitely put a new twist on why John might have fainted at the end of the story. What if your husband came home and saw you ripping down wallpaper? Are men able to understand the trauma women sometimes go through mentally and just how heart rendering it can be to be a woman? Do you think they know what it is like to face confinement so they feel better? Do you think society has improved or are women still confined? Or here's a more interesting thought/question: if gender roles are switching, are men the confined ones? At Bethany, a few men said women are becoming "too powerful" and the men are beginning to feel "emasculated." Maybe it is just a Bethany thing....
Thanks for the help, Lamb :)
Katie
Posted by: Katie Aikins at November 2, 2004 09:49 PM