Transformation, a complete change, is a common thread in literature. Both male and female writers have explored this theme developing the characters, plot and suspense within a piece of written work.
Female authors such as Alice Walker and Charlotte Perkins Gilman investigate transformation in their work with very different outcomes for the main characters. Published in 1982, The Colour Purple written by Alice Walker focuses on the story of Celie. The contempory epistolary form the reader is introduced to a fourteen year old girl, on the edge of adolescence who has endured a childhood of loss, deprivation and abuse.The novel focuses on letter or 'epistles' exchanged between characters (Goodman and Digby, 1996, page156). In this instance Celie writes to God, unable to share her troubles with any living person, threatening 'Tell nobody but God', (page 3), Pa's authority forces Celie into secrecy held by a speechless fear of mother discovering the abuse taken place by her father.
Celie's transition from adolescence to adulthood the character associates biblical God with the men she knows. The trauma of the abuse endured by Celie causes further heartache as a grown woman.As such the oppressive view of men is developed in particular with the father figure in the novel. Celie begins to wonder if her father murdered her daughter who mysteriously vanished, beginning to associate God the Father with the murderer of her child.
Celie replies 'God took it' (page 4) when her mother questions the whereabouts of the child. It is interesting to note the correlation Celie makes of God with fear and violence, mirroring her feelings of her father and that of her future husband.The style of letters from Celie's adolescence are characterised by short choppy sentences, with halting rhythms and physical descriptions in an ongoing present that are told in a matter of fact tone. Walkers' style of writing mirrors the traumatised emotional state of Celie, her role in the family home is of maid and protector of younger sister Nettie against Alphonso's sexual advances.
The relinquishment of Celie from Pa's abuse reinforces the negative male views within The Colour Purple. Pa presents Celie as less than a woman, almost selling her like cattle and thus treating her like an animal.It is not only Celie who suffers this contempt as Pa's nameless new wife is referred as 'a fresh one' (page 9). All women are compared as slaves or animals, therefore not having a standing in society. African American women faced a triple oppression during this period; a theory recognised by Socialist Feminist Cora Kaplin as race, class and gender influence the struggle of women such as Celie, (Goodman and Digby, 1996, page 153). The oppression of Celie continues with her marriage to Mr_, along with the disappearance of her beloved sister Nettie which further plunges Celie into a dark despair.
It is the arrival of Shug Avery that the catalyst of Celie's transformation finally ignites. The semiotic of Shug Avery is powerful, as a character that symbolises glamour and freedom, qualities that Celie believes she can not possess. Until this moment, Celie has only admired Shug in a photograph, detecting sadness in Shug's eyes. The effect of this picture is felt for years afterward as clearly demonstrated when Celie and her sister in law Kate go shopping for a new dress. The contrast of Celie's rags and Shug's finery is reminiscent of fairytales such as Cinderella, with Shug representing the Prince Charming to Celie.However, it is the power of Shug's eyes that silence Celie on their first meeting, unable to move as Celie 'need to see her eyes' (page 44).
Shug is ruthless in her treatment towards Celie who in turn declares Shug 'more evil that my mama'. This malice has a broad range of positive meaning when applied to Shug, implying vitality, feistiness and independence of the world, especially men. These qualities are the opposite of the meekness found in women like Celie, whose character has been crushed by male dominance.It is the abundance of these qualities possessed by Shug that Celie lacks and needs to survive further explaining Celie's fascination. The introduction of Shug also allows the author to demonstrate Celie's developing expression. Imagery of Shug's 'mouth just pack with claws' conveys the cutting catty speech of Shug.
Alliteration of the letter 'l' in 'long black body, with it black plum nipples', (page 47) clearly shows Celie discovering her sexual nature towards Shug as the fluency and figurative languages becomes more expressive.Shug and Celie's relationship may start as friendship but it soon develops with the discovery of the Mr_ betrayal towards his wife. Celie may have forgiven Mr_ for his relationship with Shug but the discovery that he has been hiding Nettie's' letters drives Celie to the edge. The finding of these lost letters finally help with the guilt Celie has endured over her children's parentage as she discovers the men she was her father was in fact her adopted father and therefore incest did not occur.
This leads to Celie find her voice to stand up not only to her husband also to God, as she starts to write to Nettie.Her abandonment of God of a white man with a log beard to a belief of a spirit that unites life with the universe finally allows her to gain the independence needed to break free from the oppression that has controlled her life. While Celie is the character that goes through a complete transformation, Alice Walker has ensured that readers are able to see transformation in all characters in The Colour Purple. Mr_ learns that he was wrong to betray Celie; Sofia takes the lead from Celie in showing obedience to survive prison.With this in mind it can be argued that Celie is a force of transformation herself that allows other characters to learn from her. Transformation can also be considered with the developing mental state of a persons mind, otherwise known as madness.
While madness has also been a critical theme in literature, work from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries appear to focus on female characterisation. Female writers in particular find a personal connection in madness due to the conflicting pressure of the female role in society and that of their creative ability.Susan Gilbert and Susan Gubar believed the frequency in which women write about madness can be considered as one of the most revealing symptoms of the writers own feelings of entrapment and oppressions, (Small, 1996, page 116). The eighteenth and nineteenth century saw the peak of female anxiety. Hysteria was foremost a young woman's disease, with medical experts recommending marriage as a cure.
However, while marriage was a given cure, motherhood was regarded as danger. What we now consider as postnatal depression led to a large number of women in the nineteenth century being misdiagnosed with madness, and being committed asylums.It is this illness that appears to be explored in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. The focus of the narrative through that of the first person, the reader is drawn into the thoughts of the unnamed wife whose husband has taken her to an 'ancestral house' (page 348), in order to rest. The first person narrative allows Gilman to use tone and voice to show the deteriorating mental state of the narrator. Themes of oppression in the story show patriarchy and inferior position women were in during the nineteenth century.
Instead of researching his wife's illness, John assures 'friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter', (page 348), unaware that his wife has disobeyed his orders and has indeed continued to 'write in spite' (page 348) of her husband and brother. While the narrator is fascinated by the grandeur of the summer house, the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom occupies the narrators mind and has a detrimental effect on her mental state as she slips into further depression being separated from her child.At first the wallpaper is described as 'repellent, almost revolting' (page 349) but soon the patterns in the wallpaper captures the imagination of the narrator. As such the tone of the story becomes more urgent, as we the hysterical state of the narrator develops.
Once again the narrators husband does not see the urgency of his wife's condition, but does declare that is she does not 'pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell', (page 352). Gilman knew first hand the medical advice of Weir Mitchell as she was once his patient, indicating that 'The Yellow Wallpaper' may have been an autobiographical piece of work.As the story progresses the narrator imagines the form of a woman in the paper who is 'creeping about behind that pattern', (page 353). With the advancing stages of her illness the narrator's diary entries increase with the tone becoming almost aggressive. This behaviour is a direct result of the impact from the yellow wallpaper. Fearing the reaction if her husband read her diary, the narrator is unable to stop as the continuing diary offers salvation for her troubled oppressed mind.
Appearance of the dramatic final onset of the narrators' illness is included in the excitable diary entries that guide the narrator's daily life. The reader is now aware that the narrator is suffering from hallucinations. The last diary entries adopt exclamation points and hyphenated sentences reflecting the excitement and anger felt by the narrator. Initial diary entries may have held back the emotion but the mental state of the narrator now shows the reader her true subconscious as she finally breaks free from her husband.The Yellow Wallpaper' represents the structure of family, medicine and tradition that the narrator feels trapped by, mirroring that felt by the author Charlotte Perkins Gillman.
The author uses the wallpaper as a symbol of domestic life that many women feel trapped by. Both The Colour Purple and 'The Yellow Wallpaper' appear to show transformation. The effect of this on the reader has startling consequences. While the reader feels deep compassion for Celie in contrast the narrator of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' leaves the reader feeling troubled and anxious.
