EH 200
Professor Crowley
September 30, 2010
Precis of Gilman, Charlotte, Perkins “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds.” In Barbara Solomon’s The Haves And Have-Nots (386-400). New York: New York / New American Library.
SITUATION:
The story “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” is about how women were valued in the nineteenth century society. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, moved to California at the age of thirty after divorcing her husband. “She lectured on women’s status and socialism, taught school, operated a boarding house, edited newspapers, and wrote articles and novels. Her articles on feminist issues are Women and Economics (1898), Concerning Children (1900), Human Work (1904), The Man-Made World (1911). Gilman’s novels are The Crux (1911), Herland (1915), Moving the Mountain (1911), and With Her in Our Land (1916)” (386). The latter three are feminist works. The author has an autobiography that was published in 1935, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was terminally ill with cancer and chose to end her own life in 1935.
The treatment of women was extremely negative; most were expected to stay home to fulfill domestic responsibilities. Mrs. Beazley’s issue involved her husband selling land and property that was willed to her by her father. She signs the legal documents due to feelings of force from her husband. At one point Mrs. Beazley says to her husband after he exclaims, “You’ve signed the deeds,” she replies, “Yes, I know I have- you made me” (389). Mr. Beazley brings home a tenant to keep his spouse occupied and distracted from his escapades only to have the woman legally advise her of her rights. The author wrote “Mrs. Beazley’s Deeds” to shed light on how women were treated in the nineteenth century society and how they are still treated to this day in time. Gilman writes this story to appeal to American men and women and make them aware of how men and women are equals.
ISSUES:
Many problems and questions arise from the main issue in