Ariana Isakson

College Prep Writing

Analytical Essay

February 28, 2018

Analysis of Charlotte Perkin’s “Turned”

Charlotte Gilman was a feminist and women’s rights activist during the beginning of the

19th century. She expressed her beliefs of feminism through the short stories and articles that she

wrote. One of her works that reflected her strong mindedness and feminism quite well was the

short story “Turned” which was written in 1911.

In the story “Turned” the main character Mrs. Marroner was an intelligent women who

gave up teaching to stay at home to tend to her husband Mr. Marroner. Mr. and Mrs. Marroner

had a Swedish house keeper named Gerta. Gerta was a young, beautiful girl that Mrs. Marroner

took upon herself to educate because she wasn’t able to have children of her own and she felt as

though she had motherly responsibility too. As the story progresses Mr. Marroner leaves for a

business trip and Mrs. Marroner was left alone with Gerta. Gerta comes forward to Mrs.

Marroner saying that she is pregnant and as a result Mrs. Marroner agrees to help Gerta care for

the child since she is also a child herself. Periodically Mr. Marroner would send letters to his

wife and Gerta and one night when Mrs. Marroner opened the letter mistakenly addressed to her

she realized; the baby that Gerta was carrying also belonged to her husband. After coming across

this information Mrs. Marroner hastily kicks Gerta out. Later she decides it was not only Gerta’s

fault, but her husband’s fault as well because he had taken advantage of her since she was young,

naïve, and not from this country. Therefore, she decided to leave her husband and help Gerta

raise her child.

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When “Turned” was written in 1911 feminism had just started emerging. At this point in

time women were just starting to get jobs outside of their homes. It was only about 19% of

women in the work force at this time; while the other women still stayed home, but it was still a

start (Leaf Group LTD). World War I was also a turning point for women in the work force.

With men off to war they needed someone at the Homefront to tend to the stores and work in

factories. That is just what the women at this time did. Women took jobs in factories and as

nurses, but as soon as the men returned the women were sent back to home. However, the

women didn’t go quietly because with that little taste of opportunity women began to yearn for

more (Leaf Group LTD).

Throughout the years women have been becoming more involved in the work place. In

1950 only 1/3 of women were in the work force, and today as much as 3/5 of women are in the

work force (Heathfield). In earlier years more common jobs that were taken by women were

teachers, dressmakers, and domestic service workers (Striking Women). Even though some jobs

were only taken by women only certain social classes fulfilled their roles. For instance, a women

was only a teacher if she was not married, and if she were to get married while she were a

teacher she would leave her position (Striking Women).

Charlotte Gilman was born in 1860 in Connecticut. She spent almost all her life dedicated

to feminism and women’s rights. She wrote many short stories, articles, and even books. In the

beginning of her life she was abandoned by her father and as a result was forced to help her

mother with her other sibling. Because Charlotte’s mother was raising them on her own the

family was forced to move around a lot so she could find work. This had caused Gilman’s

education to suffer greatly. Later in her life she married an artist named Charles Stetson and had

a daughter with him. Throughout her marriage to Stetson she became very depressed and
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underwent many treatments for it. While she underwent the treatments she also wrote many

works which consisted of Women and Economics, The Home: Its Work and Influence, and she

even wrote a text book.

Charlotte Gilman spent the majority of her life not caring what people thought about her.

During her time it was a major faux paus to divorce your spouse; however, she felt unhappy in

her marriage so she believed that was the only way to help cure her depression. In Gilman’s time

divorce was unheard of. On average only 29,000 people got divorced a year in the 1900s, but in

today’s era there is on average 144,267.75 divorces a year (Rogers). Also around this time

women were starting to find a voice for themselves. In the early 20th century women were forced

into more of a subordinate role with their husbands, but because feminism and equal rights for

women were becoming so big in this time period they began to speak out (How marriage has

changed over centuries). Gilman even spent a time having an affair to a women by the name of

Adeline Knapp until she ultimately ended up remarrying to a man by the name of Houghton

Gilman, her first cousin (Radcliffe Magazine). All was well in Gilman’s life until her true love,

Houghton Gilman, died suddenly. After the death of Houghton, Charlotte was diagnosed with

terminal breast cancer. She decided to take her own life in 1935. After her death in 1935,

feminists and women’s rights activists have been using her short stories and other works to help

further along their cause.

A majority of Charlotte Gilman’s works consisted of women who were empowering in

their own way. Her short story “Turned” was an amazing example at that. “Turned” was not her

most famous piece of literature that she created, but it still was of importance. Mrs. Marroner

was a smart women who gave up her life as a teacher to tend to her own home and to the needs

of her husband, and when he ultimately betrayed her she spends her time trying to right the
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situation instead of adding fuel to the fire. She had taken her housekeeper Gerta underneath her

wing, and when she discovers the she is not only pregnant, but that Mr. Marroner is also the

father of the child she does what any women would do. She fires Gerta and throws her out. After

a short while and she is able to think rationally about the situation she decides that she is going to

take Gerta and her unborn child far away without any word to her husband. When Mr. Marroner

returns and finds the house empty he spends a great deal of time lying to the neighborhood

because of the embarrassment of having his wife leaving him. He ultimately finds out where she

is and the only thing she says is “So what have you to say to us?”

This story has an amazing underlying meaning because at the point this story was written

divorce, children out of wedlock, and working women were almost unheard of and Charlotte

Gilman encompassed all three of these into one single story. By developing a back story for Mrs.

Marroner such as the fact that she used to be a teacher and gave that up once she got married

sparks a sense of pity inside the reader and as the story progresses that feeling of pity grows

stronger once the reader realizes that Mr. Marroner was having an affair and his affair was with

their own housekeeper. This feeling of pity only progresses in the story until Mrs. Marroner not

only blames Gerta, but also her husband for taking advantage of their naïve, Swedish house

keeper. Once she realizes this she decides to take it upon herself to care for Gerta and her unborn

child. The qualities that Mrs. Marroner possesses throughout this story are qualities that

Charlotte Gilman believed that all women should possess. She believes that they should be

strong, independent, and forgiving. Mrs. Marroner spent her life catering to her husband’s needs

and when she realized he wronged her she was strong enough to leave him and make it on her

own. Not only did she leave but she took his mistress and his child with her to help care for her

which made her incredibly forgiving.

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