The Child Speaks by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
THE CHILD SPEAKS: A young child's thoughts and feelings on being confined to a room by their father for their own good.
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman · First published 1899 · Genre: Speculative Fiction, Feminist Literature, Social Commentary · 533 words
First lines
Get back! Give me air! Give me freedom and room, / The warm earth and bright water, the crowding sweet bloom / Of the flowers, and the measureless, marvellous sky,- / All of these all the time, and a shelter close by / Where silence and beauty and peace are my own / In a chamber alone.
Then bring me the others! "A child" is a crime; / It is "children" who grow through the beautiful time / Of their childhood up into the age you are in. / "A child" must needs suffer and sicken and sin; / The life of a child needs the life of its kind, / O ye stupid and blind!
Similar titles
- Baby Love by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- The Mothers Charge by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- A Common Inference by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Mother To Child Charlotte Perkins Gilman by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- An Ominous Baby by Stephen Crane
- The Phantom Sister by Ring Lardner
Genres
- Speculative Fiction — Charlotte Perkins Gilman often incorporated societal criticism and utopian ideals into her works, hallmark characteristics of the speculative fiction genre.
- Feminist Literature — Gilman's work often centered on female empowerment and critique of the patriarchal society, classifying it as feminist literature.
- Social Commentary — Perkins uses her narratives to comment on societal norms and structures, making her work fit the social commentary genre.
- Non-fiction — If the book presents a collection of Gilman's thoughts, essays, or speeches, it could be categorized as non-fiction.
Tags
childhood · communication · innocence · imagination · family · parenting · society · gender roles · psychology · narrative · development · education
What this Textopian page supports
The Child Speaks is listed on Textopian as a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, dated 1899 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Date: 1899 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Speculative Fiction, Feminist Literature, Social Commentary, Non-fiction, Realism
- Length: 533 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Child Speaks by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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