Basic Information

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born to Mary Wescott Perkins and Frederick Beecher Perkins on July 3, 1860, in Hartford, Connecticut (Scharnhorst,1985, p.1). She was a prolific writer and, some would argue, the most influential feminist theorist of her time. Gilman’s writings include eight novels (three of which are utopian romances), a multitude of articles, poems, and short stories, an autobiography and six books of essays. Her writings cover a wide array of feminist issues and were written with the purpose of advancing women’s rights.

Background Information

Charlotte’s parents, Mary and Frederick Perkins, were distant cousins. They were married in 1857 and over the course of three years they had three children, including Charlotte. After the death of their last child in infancy, the doctor informed Charlotte’s mother she could no longer have children. Shortly after, her father abandoned his wife and children (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.1). After her father’s abandonment, Gilman was raised solely by her mother (Allen, 2009, p.22). Frederick Perkins assumed no responsibility for the raising of his children or the support of his wife and as a result the family struggled to get by. They remained completely uprooted, moving eighteen times in the fourteen years that followed the divorce (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.2). They lived with family, friends, and even joined “cooperative living experiments” in order to have their housing needs met (Allen, 2009, p.22). Many of Gilman’s views about women, marriage, sex and economics can be traced back to her childhood.

Gilman had a number of influential social reformers in her family. These connections helped her in identifying her own purpose to work for the betterment of mankind. Gilman was the grandniece of Isabella Beecher Hooker. After Charlotte’s father abandoned the family, Isabella and her sister Mary helped financially support the family and Isabella would later pay for Charlotte’s college education (University of Rochester, 2019). Gilman was also the grandniece of Henry Ward Beecher, a well-respected clergyman and president of the American Women’s Suffrage Association (Wheeler, 1995, p.75). Additionally, Lyman Beecher, a famous Presbyterian minister and orator, was Gilman’s great grandfather. She used her family connections to distinguish herself when attempting to publish her first writings (see manuscripts, New York Public Library, 1886-1914).

Gilman met Charles Walter Stetson, an artist, and soon after he proposed marriage. Though Gilman worried that marriage may interfere with her ambitions to be a leader in social reform she agreed to Stetson’s marriage proposal, and they were married on May 2, 1884 (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.5). Only a few weeks into her marriage, Charlotte found out she was pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, Katharine Beecher Stetson, on March 25, 1885. After her daughter’s birth, Gilman suffered from postpartum depression and struggled with the demands of marriage and motherhood. The expectations placed on her to do “women’s work” fueled her downward spiral. She concluded that she could not live as Stetson’s wife and pursue her greater ambitions to do “race work” (work for the benefit of mankind). Gilman separated from Stetson, in 1888, and moved with her daughter to California where she supported herself and her daughter by writing and by touring as a lecturer (Allen, 2009, p.42). Stetson remarried in 1894 and took custody of Katharine. Stetson’s wife, Ellery Channing, took on the responsibility of raising Katherine, which allowed Gilman the freedom to pursue her work (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.24).

On June 11, 1900, Gilman married her first cousin, George Houghton Gilman, at the age of 40 (Allen, 2009, p.66). They lived in New York’s Upper West Side until 1922. When George’s parents passed away, they inherited and moved into his family’s Norwich, Connecticut home (Allen, 2009, p.72). George was more of a partner to Gilman than her first husband, granting her the freedom to pursue her passions. He helped her work through many of her experiences and acted as her sounding board and champion (Allen, 2009, p.65).

Contributions to the First Wave

Gilman had strong views about gendered expectations in matters of marriage, family and society. Just before Gilman’s marriage to Stetson she wrote her poem titled “In Duty Bound” which reflected her rebellion against the societal demands placed on “dutiful house-wives” (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.6).

In duty bound, a life hemmed in

Whichever way the spirit turns to look;

No chance of breaking out, except by sin;

Not even room to shirk—

Simply to live, and work.

Any obligation pre-imposed, unsought,

Yet blinding with the force of natural law;

The pressure of antagonistic thought;

Aching within, each hour,

A sense of wasting power.

A house with roof so darkly low

The heavy rafters shut the sunlight out;

One cannot stand erect without a blow;

Until the soul inside

Cries for a grave—more wide.

A consciousness that if this thing endure,

The common joys of life will dull the pain;

The high ideals of the grand and pure

Die, as of course they must,

Of long disuse and rust.

That is the worst. It takes supernal strength

To hold the attitude that brings the pain;

And they are few indeed but stoop at length

To something less than best,

To find, in stooping, rest.

This poem reflects the experiences that Gilman and many other women faced in marriage. These feelings and the demands of marriage would contribute to Gilman’s worsening mental health and eventual divorce from Stetson.

After Gilman’s first poems were published, she became increasingly involved in the feminist dress reform movement and the women’s rights movement. The first suffrage convention she attended was in 1886 and the following year she published a dress reform article titled “A Protest Against Petticoats” (Allen, 2009, p.36). She herself refused to wear a corset (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.4). Gilman argued in her writings that the restrictive and sex-enhancing dress of the day contributed to the over sexualization of women (Allen, 2009, p.106).

Gilman’s most famous work in terms of feminist and gender studies is her 1890 short story “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” which was published by the Feminist Press. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is a first-person narration of a mother who is suffering with postpartum depression. Her physician husband prescribes the “rest cure” which is carried out in a rented summer home. The woman’s yellow wall papered bedroom takes on the form of a prison as the woman descends into madness. This story is reflective of Gilman’s own struggles with postpartum depression, her subsequently prescribed “rest cure,” and the trapped feelings she had in her marriage and motherhood. The original edition of this story, containing an afterward by Elaine R. Hedges, has sold over 225,000 copies, making it the Feminist Press’ “all-time best seller.” Gilman’s story has been translated into multiple languages and continues to be influential, appearing in college textbooks for women’s studies as well as literature textbooks (Dock, 1998, p.1).

In 1894, Charlotte took on the post of editor for the Pacific Coast Women’s Press Associations journal Impress. She also served a term as the journal’s president (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.36-37). Under PCWPA leadership, Charlotte helped to organize the Woman’s Congress held in San Francisco in 1895. During this meeting, Gilman met a number of influential women, including Anna Howard Shaw, Susan B. Anthony, and Jane Addams. She accepted an invitation from Addams to visit Hull House in Chicago (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.44). Gilman’s visit to Hull House was an inspiration for her utopian writings, which include her novel Herland. Gilman also developed a friendship with Anthony who later invited her to speak at the January 1896 Women’s Suffrage Convention in Washington D.C. and address the House Judiciary Committee in support of suffrage (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.45).

Arguably, Gilman’s most important contribution to the First Wave was her 1898 book titled Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic Relation between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution. The theory presented in this work is that human evolution shaped the socio-economic relations between the sexes. Perkins argued that the sexual domination and oppression of women by the strongest males, which originated in the prehistoric age as a necessary evolutionary preservation strategy, was no longer socially necessary or productive. She argued that the sex-relation was also an economic relation, referring to this as “the sexuo-economic relation” and was built on inequality (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.51). By 1920, this work had been translated into seven languages (Allen, 2009, p.1).

Gilman was influential, not only at home in the United States, but throughout the world. Her writings were translated into multiple languages, offering her international exposure. In addition to her writings, she had the honor of attending and speaking at multiple international meetings including the Woman’s Suffrage Congresses held in Germany and Budapest (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.84).

In 1909, Gilman launched Forerunner, her own feminist magazine. In just over seven years, she was responsible for writing, editing, and publishing all 86 issues, each consisting of 28 pages (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.86). Many of the stories she published during this time were fantasies which presented and promoted feminist ideals (Scharnhorst, 1985, p.96). Gilman continued to write, speak and advocate for women’s rights throughout the rest of her life.

In a sick society, women who have difficulty fitting in are not ill but demonstrating a healthy and positive response

~Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Goodreads, n.d.).

Analysis and Conclusion

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an influential feminist and theorist who argued for societal reform and women’s rights through her writings. Her accomplishments in writing are impressive; she not only covered a wide range of topics including marriage, economy, labor, social and gender norms, and politics, but she did so through poetry, short stories, novels and nonfiction social critiques. Her writings were didactic, purposeful, and often autobiographical. Her work continues to offer important insights into the history of the feminist movement.

References

Allen, J.A. (2009). The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Sexualities, Histories, Progressivism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Charlotte Gilman, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left, ca. 1900. Library of Congress. Retrieved October 21, 2019 from: https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3c06490/.

Dock, J.B. (1998). Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-paper” and the History of Its Publication and Reception: A Critical Edition and Documentary Casebook. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Goodreads. (n.d.) Quote by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/441216-in-a-sick-society-women-who-have-difficulty-fitting-in.

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. (1886 – 1914). Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/576aff30-1333-0135-8c42-794bb6ef969a.

Scharnhorst, G. (1985). Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Boston: Twayne Publishers.

University of Rochester. (2019, January 28). Drifting open eyed into insanity. Retrieved from https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/the-voice-writings-of-an-early-feminist-charlotte-perkins-gilman-360012/.

Wheeler, M.S. (Ed.). (1995). One woman, one vote: rediscovering the woman suffrage movement. Troutdale: NewSage Press.