I feel it is imperative that human nature continues to acclimate itself to imperfections and change, especially after comprehending this weekend’s readings. As can be seen in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman dismissing the reality of the world around us ultimately leads to human departure. Whereas in William Wordsworth lyrical poem “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, the speaker openly engages with the world around him even though the power of its beauty doesn’t become transparent until the fourth stanza. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” following the speakers move to a new house, she begins to forge a strange connection with the yellow wallpaper cracking off the wall. It is not long before the speaker’s mental illness is intensified by her sense of connection with the wallpaper and her husband John loses sight of his wife’s progress. In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” the speaker begins the poem on a hike trying to combat his depression when he is met by a “crowd which turn him gay.” As one of my events for this course, I chose to attend the Hanway Lecture with some of my SGA counterparts. The lecture highlighted climate change, an ever-growing concern that has historically been disregarded and questioned. A parallel in this week’s reading and Hanway's lecture is the importance of accepting change and imperfection while maintaining the integrity of the world and people around us.
As mentioned in “The Yellow Wallpaper” the speaker adopts an overwhelming fascination of the wallpaper covering her bedroom walls. The female speaker suffers a nervous condition, one that her husband John actively contests and wishes to treat. At one point the husband believes his wife’s disorder is improving, not realizing that his wife is just saving her energy for nighttime when the woman she envisions in the wall is most active. I related Johns ignorant belief that his wife’s ailment was getting better to the view of Dr. Richard Alley. Alley who spoke at the lecture, expounded the results of research regarding global warming explaining the reasoning for rising sea levels and varying weather patterns. I feel as if without the proper understanding and affirmative action the world will continue to spiral down the path of global warming just as the female speaker’s mental state grew increasingly turmoil.
In the short story “The Birthmark” the narrator Aylmer battles an obsession to remove a birthmark embedded on his wife’s face. The scientist soon becomes deeply entrapped in his wish to eliminate the birthmark which prominently captures the idea of human imperfection. I believe Aylmer’s struggle is so intense due to his profound love and in denial that his wife could be subject to imperfection. Even though I understand the narrator’s desire for perfection, I cannot interpret it a reality. Similar to my point Dr. Alpizar spoke at the lecture about how even though change is needed to slow the rate of global warming, there is everlasting damage to a world once virgin.
At the beginning of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” the speaker seems to understand he is suffering depression. The speaker admits he is upset, wandering aimlessly with the clouds until he comes across a field of golden daffodils. Expressing an unexpected bliss, the speaker awes in their natural beauty and dance. Continuing in the fourth stanza, as the speaker lies on his couch his heart is filled with joy and dances with the daffodils seemingly cured from his previous downhearted state. Even in a world of growing technologies people still find comfort in the unblemished delights of the earth. Supportive of the lecture and joy seen throughout the poem it is vital to support and nurture the world around us.
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