 She lived from 1860s-1930s during the Industrial Revolution

 Despite the overarching rhetoric about women’s purpose being to fulfill their family’s
needs, she was a feminist

She wrote stories about independence, duty, struggle, control, and determination.
She is famous for ‘The Yellow Wallpaper”

 She wrote a feminist novel “Her land”, satire of family duties 

 She also wrote many stories for publications and feminist magazines
 Satire: “That’s what they said” ~satire, putting question as to how important men and their
jobs really were
 What are we going to do with mother ~ Cold question, showing family detachment
 They are more preoccupied with money than her mental and physical wellbeing, showing
the low role of mothers in society and also family detachment
 None of them show any enthusiasm to take care of their mother, instead making excuses
and even counting how many years she has left to live
 James is doing very well, which the siblings might be jealous of – why else would they put
emphasis on it? 
 His wife is an expensive woman
 Wives are seen kind of as a nuisance – how comfortable the mother would be depends on
how the sons’ wife would react to her

Even though the father had just crossed away, they are more preoccupied with monetary values  

 Selfish and materialistic, these siblings are. They see their as not a person but a monetary
burden
 They don’t seem to have any remorse or sorrow upon death, a large disaster, rather being
more preoccupied with nitty-gritty financial details 

It is showed how the father was not a good man and how his marriage was terrible

 Instead of being dressed in black, symbolism of mourning, she was dressed in white,
symbolising her freedom
 Ironically, the kids are just like the father, despite showing their distaste for his habits
 Like him, they are selfish, cold 
 This is also a reason for the mutual dislike of their home

‘Duty’ is repeated while talking about the mother, emphasizing how that was supposedly the most
important thing in their life
The lawyer, who is supposed to be an emotionless man of the law, shows more compassion than
the children, 

 The identity of the mother is robotic, like a zombie. Before, this was shown by the
repeated use of duty in relations to her, while now it is shown by the fact that her first
name isn’t even told
  The children are disappointed by the fact that the inheritance wasn’t as large as it was
supposed to be, again showing their materialism

A new will is revealed

 Despite being cold and terrible, their father was a wise man financially, showing the lack
of humanity in business
 He left his whole estate to his wife to prevent embezzlement, who refuses to give it to
their children
 They meet her defiance with patronization
 Despite her defiance, the mother is still not really characterized ~ “the voice”. She even
has to remind them that she is alive

The fact that the mother counted the days shows how terrible the marriage was

 She believes that her repeatedly mentioned ‘duties’ were fulfilled, despite her children and
society believing otherwise
 She is visibly hurt by the lack of empathy from her children, but is still willing to give them
their share as per the will
 “It is good for a woman to have some money of her own” feminist message

Suddenly the kids feel guilt upon seeing her pain

 Despite this Ellen still suggests that she’s mentally off, still trying to get the money

The mother tries to characterize herself due to the lack of it previously (see ‘the voice’ ‘duties’
etc.), trying to make them realise that she is a ‘Real Person’

 It is also shown how, behind their familial masks, women in the time had dreams and
desires too

Narrator:

  The story is narrated by a 3rd person omniscient narrator

 This allows us to see the emotions – or lack thereof – of all of the characters

Setting:

 And old American society rife with sexism 

 This is seen in the woman’s terrible marriage and how she was tied to it/the fact that she
was expected to give even after her husband’s death 

Plot:

 The father’s family comes to mourn for him at his funeral

  However, there seems to be a distinct lack of emotion, with the children being more
focused on extorting their mother for money

After her husband’s death, the widow is self-sufficient, running a farm by herself

 Her children want to control her, taking the money from the inheritance

Climax:

 She rebuts their claims to her inheritance, quite happy with her current life, not thinking
that she owed them any more after withstanding 30 years of a terrible marriage

Title:

 Upon reading it, the reader immediately gets a sense that this is going to be a feminist
story about the worth of women/widows
 It can be seen as a juxtaposition since widows are seen traditionally as extremely weak

The fact that the protagonist is presented as ‘The Widow’ also shows the societal importance of
marriage and the titles affiliated with it Themes: Familial Relationships:

 The family despised their time together, showing little to no affection for each other as a
result of this:
 “How I did hate to live here!”
 “…we never were an affectionate family, I guess”

The Father:

 Mrs McPhereson did not enjoy her time with him

 The children do not seem terribly attached to him either, showing little remorse over his
death

The Children:

 The children seem to attend their father’s funeral out of not remorse but rather for
monetary gain
 They have little siblingly relations, seeming to be jealous of eachother’s’ wealth, trying to
unload responsibilities onto each other

The Mother:

 She sacrificed the best years of her life to her children for no avail

The Mother and the Children:

  The fact that the meal they ate together was ‘cold and melancholy’ shows the tension and
lack of comradery in the family
 The children do not have any gratitude for the years she sacrificed for her, instead viewing
her as a burden and expecting her to sacrifice more
 “Well…what are we going to do with mother”

Even after the children see the pain she suffered, they still try to extort the money from her,
suggesting that she was not mentally well.

 Women such as Mrs McPhereson were expected to serve for their whole lives
 Even giving up their time was not seen as enough – the children thought that she should
also give up her inheritance
 Similarly, James’s wife had to look after the children

They are seen as a burden:

 The children’s attitude towards their mother

 James’s wife being presented as an “expensive woman”

After a certain age, they were considered obsolete:

 “Oh she’s all of fifty…and much broken”

They were seen as less important, which is reflected in the fact that initially, the daughters were
to receive have the inheritance as the sonDuty and Freedom:

 The duties of women have been listed above

 However, fulfilling one’s duty was not enough to gain love
 Mrs McPhereson was not loved by her children despite bringing them up
 The Father was not loved by his children despite providing for him his entire life

Mrs McPhereson takes her husband’s funeral as a chance to cast her duties off and live the
illustrious life of her dreams

 This surprises the children: “‘Why Mother –’ ‘At your age –’”

Mrs McPherson:

 She spent the first 50 years of her life for others, 

 Family, husband, children
 She put aside her own desires to take responsibility of theirs

The next 30 years she would spend on herselfWhile her children and society see her not as a
person but a robot only to serve duties, she attempts to show that she is an individual with
dreams
  By refusing to hand over her inheritance, she gains new independence, which she plans to
use to travel the world, showing her hidden desires

However, she is not bitter, still allowing them to take some inheritanceShe has a rebellious streak,
refusing to show self-pity for the time she lost but rather taking advantage of the time she had
left, letting noone stop her in that pursuitShe was a very intelligent woman, managing to remain
self-sufficient after the demise of her husbandThe Children:

 They are seen as incredibly materialistic – in fact, their first words to each other were
about money:
 “There can’t be much left”

They are selfish, showing little gratitude for their mother’s sacrifices, instead viewing her as a
burdenIronically, despite hating their father, they turn out as cold as he wasThe Father:

 He did not seem to be a very pleasant man, due to which none of his family members
enjoyed to live with him
 “‘He was a man who always did his duty’, admitted Ellen. ‘But we none of us – loved him –
very much’”

He did, however, fulfill his monetary duties towards his childrenSatire:

 “That’s what they said” putting question as to how important men and their jobs really
were

Symbolism:

 Mrs. McPhereson’s white dress symbolizes her freedom

Repetition:

 The repetition of duty while referring to Mother shows how she is viewed as a burden