Turned By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Analysis

Submitted By Casey-Halle
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Halle 1!
Casey Halle
Professor Travers
FYS 103-01
4 March 2015
To Walk In Her Shoes

In the short story “Turned” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the two main characters conflicting personalities help them work together, as a team, and overcome hardships. Mrs.
Marroner is a strict New Englander, with an educated background and a strict demeanor. Gerta, in contrast to Mrs. Marroner, although ignorant, is free willed and naive. She does not understand the new society she is in, but is easily taught and manipulated. Gerta’s teachability and Mrs.
Marroner’s educated background match well, and in continuation Gerta’s innocence is well balanced by a strong female figure such as Mrs. Marroner. Their obviously opposite character traits create a compelling story of female camaraderie through the most trying of situations.
Mrs. Marroner is a disciplined, intelligent woman. In most cases, she is very straight forward with her words and frank with her emotions. Although her heart softens for Gerta, her housemaid and student, Mrs. Marroner sees her wide-eyed innocence as weakness, “‘I never saw anyone so docile,’ Mrs Marroner had often commented. ‘It is perfection in a servant, but almost a defect in character. She is helpless and confiding’” (Gilman 40). Mrs. Marroner describes her judgements of Gerta in a very blunt way. She is honest in both her compliments and criticisms.
However, this judgement connects to another aspect of Mrs. Marroner’s personality, “She had tried to teach Gerta, and had grown to love the patient, sweet-natured child, in spite of her

Halle 2! dullness. … But to the woman who held a Ph.D., who had been on the faculty of a college, it was like baby-tending” (Gilman 41). Mrs. Marroner’s educated background causes her to impose negative judgement on people, like Gerta, that are less intelligent. To Mrs. Marroner, Gerta is a student, and her mind is ready to mold.
Gerta, in contrast to Mrs. Marroner, is docile and obedient. She is simple and innocent, and does not understand much, but is willing to learn. Through the eyes of Mrs. Marroner, Gerta is still a child, even though she is eighteen, “She was precisely that: a tall, rosy-cheeked baby; rich womanhood without, helpless infancy within. … but she was only an ignorant child, with a child’s weakness” (Gilman 40). Perhaps this is why Gerta gets put in the situation she is in. She is obedient to a fault, and is impregnated by Mr. Marroner. While what exactly happens is never explicitly said, it is hard to imagine that it is Gerta’s fault. We never know because Gerta does not stand up for herself when Mrs. Marroner confronts her. Instead, she begs for forgiveness.
“But Gerta had literally thrown herself at her feet and begged her with streaming tears not to turn her away. She would admit nothing, explain nothing, but frantically promised to work for Mrs
Marroner as long as she lived” (Gilman 41). It is more likely that she got persuaded into the affair than willfully committing to it, but more importantly, Gerta is too afraid to say what actually happened because she knows she cannot survive on her own. Gerta’s stark differences with Mrs. Marroner get her in trouble, but they also make her easy to work with and teachable.
The differences between Gerta and Mrs. Marroner create a dynamic of teamwork in the end, rather than hostility, because of the hardship that they face. Mrs. Marroner sees Gerta as a student, rather a dim-witted servant. She respects her as a person first and foremost, even though
Gerta is very simple, “She was what is called ‘willing’, was unusually teachable and plastic; and

Halle 3!
Mrs Marroner, with her early habits of giving instruction, tried to educate her somewhat” (Gilman 40). This creates a mutual respect between both of them. To pair with her intelligence, Mrs. Marroner is also very independent for a woman at this time. Tragedy hits when she discovers that her husband has had an affair with Gerta. She tells Gerta to leave, shows no
remorse
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