An Unreliable Narrator?

Hello year 13s,


This week we have been looking at form and structure in 'The Yellow Wallpaper', and considering our relationship with the narrator. We discussed the effect of the illustrations (particularly the final one) on our perception of the narrator's 'decline'.

The narrator appears here as the stereotypical 'mad woman' of Victorian literature. Her hair is long and untamed and her clothes appear dishevelled. The general consensus in class was that although Joseph Hatfield did not consult Gilman before he illustrated her work, this is how she would have intended her narrator to be perceived. It is important to remember that there is absolutely no description in the text of the narrator's appearance changing.


The diary format is an effective way to create a conspiratorial tone, and give a voice to women who at that time would have been silenced by men (much like the narrator is silenced by her husband). It does however give us the problem of a potentially unreliable narrator. Here are some of the arguments you put forward for a reliable / unreliable narrator.


The narrator is reliable:

• She is aware of her illness and understands that she needs to overcome it or get better. "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good." "He does not believe I am sick!"
• She describes the setting in great detail, showing that her perspective is correct.
• She is rational when attempting to decipher the history of the house.
• She is aware of her symptoms, "I'm sure I never used to be so sensitive." "It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight."
• She is honest with the readers, "I haven't felt like writing before."
• She would like the house to be haunted. Perhaps this is because she knows she will be deprived of stimulation and is looking for excitement.
• She attempts to prove to herself that the wallpaper doesn't move, "I got up softly and went to feel and see if the paper did move." 

The narrator is unreliable:

• She believes that the children who slept in the nursery before her were responsible for pulling the wallpaper off the wall around the bed, however it is pulled away "about as far as I can reach."
• She sees the woman behind the wallpaper and believes that she "gets out during the day time."
• She speaks of herself as though she is the woman in the wallpaper. There is a change in tense.
• She personifies the wallpaper.
• Perhaps she doesn't have a good understanding of her condition?
• She becomes suspicious of Jenny, even though the reader is aware that Jennie is concerned there are yellow stains on all of her clothes.
• It is possible she is actually in an asylum, and the house is in her mind.
• "So I take phosphates or phosphites - whichever it is..." She doesn't understand the treatment she is receiving and she doesn't care that she doesn't understand.
• We know that she has a mental illness.
• She sees expression in inanimate objects (and always has).

You also did some fantastic collaborative planning this week in preparation for your coursework.

Don't forget, the first draft of your coursework is due Tuesday 18th October. You should be working on this as homework for the next 3 weeks and finding time to speak with myself or Mr Gun-Why if you need some support.

The Gothic

Hello year 13s,


This week we have been looking at the gothic tradition and finding evidence of it in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. I have put a link to the PowerPoint I was using below.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aKd-blYPBv2URBtN1Qp8Jubuzz4fI2GeP2PoZf3q6Vk/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000


Elements of gothic literature:

• The supernatural (or the illusion of the supernatural)
• The women behind the wallpaper adds a supernatural element, especially in the end scene where it appears that the narrator has been 'possessed' by the spirit of the woman she has set free.
• If you prefer the interpretation that the woman behind the wallpaper is imagined by the narrator, there is an illusion of the supernatural that can be explained by the narrator's poor mental health.
• The sublime (terrifying/awesome landscapes and weather)
• The past disrupting the present (e.g. ghosts)
• There is evidence of the children the narrator imagines slept in the nursery in the past. The ripped wallpaper etc. However, it is likely that it is the narrator who has damaged the wallpaper during her stay in the house.
• You could also argue that the women she sees 'creeping' around the garden are the ghosts of all oppressed women - past, present and future.
• Powerful males and vulnerable females
• John is very much in control of the narrator, both physically and emotionally.
• The narrator is vulnerable because her ill health has been misunderstood by her husband and her brother.
• Sexual power
• Women being forced into life threatening situations, and ultimately breaking free.
• We discussed the possibility of the ending being a triumph for the narrator. Her victory might be forcing her husband to recognise her illness. We were divided on how triumphant the ending was, with many of us believing her to have lost everything by the end of the story.
• Wild landscapes and imprisoning houses.
• The house is unfamiliar to the narrator and acts as her prison.
• The room appears to have a sinister past (or present) due to the rings on the walls and bars on the window.
• She is fixated on the wallpaper and becomes trapped in the pattern. She is mentally imprisoned by it.
• The uncanny

The short clip we watched is available on the British Library website (link below). It is part of an article that explains the origins of the gothic tradition and the recurring themes and motifs. For your homework this week, you have been asked to read at least two articles on gothic fiction. By following the link below you will find a range of suitable articles. You might like to read the articles that discuss Frankenstein as a gothic text, and apply your new knowledge to the text.

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gothic-motifs


Remember, you do not need to attempt to apply all elements of gothic fiction to a text to link it to the tradition. Some elements will be more dominant than others.


Coursework intervention sessions will begin after half term. They will be after school on a Thursday in room L108. Until then, I am available on Monday afternoons (periods 6 and 7) if you would like to come and speak to me about your coursework. Once coursework has been completed, the intervention sessions will focus on revision of key texts and essay writing skills.


Have a lovely week.


Miss Ryall

Welcome!

Hello year 13s,

Congratulations on finding your way to the A Level English blog.

As promised, you can view the slides I used in our lesson this week by copying and pasting the link below in to your browser:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iNXeCKumvJbfwTrndiCRn90pkDOiX7sgtxweWR8QZNo/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

Key points from our discussion this week:

• There are elements of 'the uncanny' through the text. Right from the start, the narrator notices something 'queer' about the house that she struggles to explain.

'Uncanny' - Sigmund Freud: when something familiar and comforting becomes foreign and frightening. E.g. when there is something threatening in a home. (We discussed the example of Winston catching sight of himself in the mirror in George Orwell's 1984).
You can access the full text at: web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf

• The opening passage gives us an insight into attitudes towards women's health in the 1890s: the language, short, isolated sentences, and punctuation show that the narrator is helpless against the 'knowledge' of her husband and brother. We also discussed the possibility that the narrator is already thinking of ways to show her husband she is ill when she repeats 'what can one do?'
• We looked in to the autobiographical elements of the story, considered Charlotte Perkins Gilman's treatment for hysteria (including the rest cure and an 'unspecified gynaecological procedure'). She may have chosen to write autobiographically to empower other women in her situation, or as a form of therapy in order to 'self-heal'.
• The narrator is hopeful that the house might be haunted because she is looking for some excitement/adventure. She knows she has been forbidden to write or work and is looking for entertainment.
• Key themes: marriage/relationships; entrapment; isolation, power/control; mental instability.

I have been impressed by your work ethic and initial analysis of this text. I am really looking forward to exploring it with you over the next few weeks. Don't forget to email your coursework question to me by this Friday - 16th September 2016, along with a short justification for your choice.

Miss Ryall