A major limit placed on woman seen in the Gilman work is that women are too weak to write.
I think that one could get the impression of madness in her story, but that is only because she was trapped for so long, and once she was able to break free it was overwhelming. I think that madness tends to arise in relation to writing because since the women have limitations placed on them which they must rise above, the product of overcoming these limitations is so radical it is hard to accept.
Limitations can be productive, because they are restrictive. By redistricting someone to something, she is forced to push herself to find inspiration and develop ideas. This results in is stronger writing. It can be in the form of better arguments or more creative imaginations. In the case of Gilman, because she was restricted to that room with the yellow wallpaper, she had no choice but to draw inspiration from it. She becomes totally immersed in the yellow wallpaper to the point where she not only sees, but also smells it. This idea of immersing oneself in writing reminds me of the Kafka story, the idea of being able to decipher writing, or in Gilman’s case the idea of actually writing, by being totally consumed in it to a point where you feel the meaning of the words, not see them. The stories have a further parallel because in both cases the one who understands the writing is a prisoner. However, no matter what limitations are placed on women, if they are strong enough, they will eventually find a way to rise above them. When Gilman accomplished this, she proclaimed, “I’ve got out at last in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” In the end, she is in fact stronger than her husband. I think a basic question we need to ask in interpreting the Turn of the Screw is, why does James choose to write a story by taking on the persona of a female writer? Is it because there is something empowering to writing as women?
Or perhaps James does so because he recognizes the challenges that women writers face and wants to see if he can produce a great literary work even with restrictions? I think that The Turn of the Screw acknowledges the challenges that women writers face. The sort of “taboo” on women writers is acknowledged by the fact that the story is tightly secured hidden away under lock and key only when read by a male is it brought to light. It seems as though women can only be writers if there is some sort of mediation through a male figure
Alexander Krzyston * Alexander J Krzyston * Alex James Krzyston
Alex Krzyston * Alex J Krzyston * Alexander James Krzyston
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY * EVANSTON * BURR RIDGE
