Nigel Hunter
EN 101.16
9/18/13
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte
Perkins Gilman the author portrays a battle within the speakers own consciousness
as she begins to lose her sanity, “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne informs
how we need to come to terms with our imperfections as they are a part of who
we are and that trying to change something that is already perfect or alter
what was intended to be created can result in dire consequences, and in William
Wordsworth poem “As I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” the beautiful imagery
influences us to take time to appreciate the beauty of life. All of these works
of literature relate in the connection of coming to terms with one’s self. They
connect in the way we see ourselves, what goes on in our own minds, and what beauty
we can see in life if we simply take time to slow down and look.
In “The
Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman we enter the speakers mind as she
battles depression. Throughout the story we can see that being confined to this
solidarity is causing her to lose her sanity. She reflects her current situation
of feeling trapped and creates a story of a women trapped within the
configuration of the wallpaper. We can see that she beings to lose her sanity
when this women jumps the line from imagination to reality as the speaker attempts
to free her by ripping apart the wallpaper. Everything her husband has done to
keep her confined has actually contributed to her destruction as she loses the
battle within her own mind.
In Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” the speaker cannot accept the one “flaw” on his
perfect wife’s face. While others appreciate his wife’s beauty, the speaker
convinces his wife that this birthmark is hideous and gets her to agree to have
it removed in an experiment. The speaker’s wife dies in this experiment which
leads us to the moral of this story that we are all beautiful the way we were
designed. “You have rejected the best the earth could offer,” his wife’s dying
words remind him of his selfishness and unwillingness to be content with
something that was already as perfect as it could possibly be (p.447). These
external flaws are not truly flaws and we must learn to accept who are and what
we look like.
“A host of
dancing Daffodils; Along the Lake, beneath the trees, Ten thousand dancing in
the breeze,” William Wordsworth paints this picture with vivid imagery describing
the beauty of nature as he examines a bed of daffodils. Wordsworth reminds us
that we should take time to be alone and examine these beauties in life.
These three
works of literature connect by coming to terms with identifying one’s self. Each
poem describes an aspect of one’s relationship with themselves whether it be a negative
relationship as in “The Yellow Wallpaper” or one of realization as depicted by
Wordsworth. Each speaker learns something about themselves and has some type of
interaction with their own consciousness. These poems and short stories relate
to the Zen meditation I participated in Monday night. In this meditation the
focus was on being with one’s self. It meant letting go of all the stress or
any situation you may have going on externally and to explore internally. While
exploring internally you come to grips with who you are. This meditation allows
you to interact within your own consciousness and infers that you should slow
down once in a while to look at things in life that you normally wouldn’t as
suggested in Wordsworth poem.
Mediation
was a great experience and encouraged me to take time out my busy day to stop
and think periodically. It was an interesting connection with one’s self just
as the poem and short stories connected with the speaker’s selves. I was glad
to have benefited from this experience and learned the importance of connecting
with oneself.
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