The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.
It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests a deeper understanding of a woman's struggle and societal behavior, particularly in relation to how women express themselves in public versus private.
In this quote, Charlotte Perkins Gilman reflects on the complexities of women's behavior and societal expectations. The phrase 'creeping' implies a sense of secrecy or constraint, suggesting that women often have to hide their true selves or desires in public. This stark contrast between daylight and creeping illustrates the societal pressures that discourage women from expressing their individuality openly, highlighting a critical perspective on gender roles and the inherent struggles women face.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on gender equality at a women's rights event.
More from Charlotte Perkins Gilman
All quotes βTo swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind.
Woman" in the abstract is young, and, we assume, charming. As they get older they pass off the stage, somehow, into private ownership mostly, or out of it altogether.
We all need one another; much and often. Just as every human creature needs a place to be alone in, a sacred, private "home" of his own, so all human creatures need a place to be together in, from the two who can show each other their souls uninterruptedly, to the largest throng that can throb and stir in unison.
Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.
When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.
Similar quotes
Sometimes immense things, like war and death and aging, are best seen from the corner of the eye and written of only obliquely, with tremendous lightness.
All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows.
All the higher, more penetrating ideals are revolutionary. They present themselves far less in the guise of effects of past experience than in that of probable causes of future experience, factors to which the environment and the lessons it has so far taught us must learn to bend.
To be doing good deeds is man's most glorious task.
No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to protect themselves from our society. I don't want to be like that.
The custom of Mother Church in baptizing infants is certainly not to be scorned, nor is it to be regarded in any way as superfluous, nor is it to be believed that its tradition is anything except apostolic.