Waterlog

[truepenny]

TIME: 30 min.
DISTANCE: 3 mi.
TOTAL: 15.5 mi.
NOTES: My ass is well and truly kicked.
SHIRE-RECKONING: We burst into song.

---

Okay, so either Professor Rabkin or I are completely out of our tree. Today was the lecture on Virginia Woolf (Orlando) with sidebars on Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In talking about Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" (because god forbid we ever discuss any of her other works, such as the far more overtly and brazenly fantastical Herland), he says that what the narrator sees in the wallpaper is a noose and a head entering the noose and that that's the image the story ends on. This does not match up with my memories of "The Yellow Wallpaper" at all. Granted it's been a while and granted there may be a noose, but I know--or at least I think I know--that the dominant image in the wallpaper is the creeping woman who creeps out of the wallpaper, and that the end of the story is the narrator creeping over her husband who has fainted with horror in the doorway. So am I wrong, or has he conflated "The Yellow Wallpaper" with another story?

Comments

[pnkrokhockeymom.livejournal.com]

I think you're right; there could be a noose (I don't remember it, specifically), but what sticks in my mind is what you describe, the creeping woman that creeps around and around in the wallpaper and then on out. It's been years since I read it, but my recollection matches yours. So if you are wrong, we are both the same flavor of out of our tree.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I've taught that story a zillion times and I'm sure that it's a creeping woman, definitely as the final image. If there's a noose, it's a vague allusion.

[ombriel.livejournal.com]

You're right--the closing image is John fainted in the doorway so she has to creep over him.

There is a rope, which the narrator first intends to use to tie up the woman in the wallpaper if she escapes. But half a page later she's become the woman and says, "I am securely fastened now by my well-hidden rope." But I don't see anything about a noose.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

If I remember, there's some discussion of the woman peering out of her trap (the wallpaper), and there might be some noose references, but the escape and creeping woman image are dominant and that's what the story ends with. That's all reinforced by the description of the room which has the rub mark and the gnaw marks, which if I remember correctly, are all at the height of a creeping woman.

[themadblonde]

Just curious. I read this story several times growing up & found it a somewhat effective little creeper, but not my favourite. Quite recently, a noted book critic of my acquaintance remarked quite off-handedly that the story was really about repressed sexuality. Um, really?

[pureyaoi.livejournal.com]

Only wanted to say that as fascinated as I am by "The Yellow Wallpaper," I loved Herland and wish it was taught more.

[elsue.livejournal.com]

You got me curious, so I googled The Yellow Wallpaper.

Here's the story (you can also link to a printable PDF version):
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html

And here's an article on why she wrote it:
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html

[lalouve.livejournal.com]

I don't recall a noose, and even though it's been some time since I taught it, I think I would have.
Of course Herland isn't taught as often - it doesn't end with the main female character insane and helpless...

[exceptinsects.livejournal.com]

Herland! My ninth-grade English teacher had us read that. In retrospect, I almost can't believe it.
And this was in a public high school in the rural US, even.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Noose? No noose. (Is good noose).

[pennski.livejournal.com]

The first time I read it, I didn't see a noose. The second time I did - I saw the creeping woman as our narrator's shadow moving round the room with the sun. But I think it's there as a possibility, not didactically.