In “The Yellow Drawing Room” by Mona Caird, Vanora, the protagonist, paints her entire drawing room yellow. This is met with appalling reactions from a man who is trying to court her, as he thinks that his ideal woman would be better associated with “a nice tone of grey or blue.” During the Victorian era, it was expected that women were subdued (like these colors) and that they were acting in accordance with the wants of the men in their lives. The yellow drawing room introduces the idea of “the new woman” into Caird’s short story. This is Vanora’s first mentioned deviance from the norm. Throughout the story, we learn of Vanora’s creativity and humor, both of which support her rejection of old norms and reclaiming of her domestic space.
The fact that her main act of rebellion is in the form of a drawing room which is typically used for entertaining and displaying wealth, demonstrates her rejection of the typical hosting and entertaining duties that come with Victorian associations of the domestic home and womanhood. She also rejects domesticity by knowing that she will not be happy in that environment, despite the assumption that that is what all women should need to be happy. She says that “the threat of being excluded from the realms you mention does not terrify me.” She does not care to conform to the old norms that
In addition to this, she expresses her personality and uses humor. St. Vincent even says that her “personality seemed to enwrap me as a garment.” This shows that Vanora is sure in her identity and personality and she knows what she wants. This is reflected in the reading from the Victorian Web that states that the new woman deals frankly with sex and marriage. Her confidence stands in contrast to the submissive and reserved nature that was often expected of Victorian women. Through Vanora’s character, Mona Caird critiques the restrictive past of Victorian society and advocates for a new role for women.
I agree with your analysis, and I especially loved your connection to the Victorian Web article that cites the New Woman’s frankness towards sex and marriage. However, I wonder if Vanora is completely rejecting domesticity, or simply reimagining a domestic life for herself that is not so constraining and lifeless. In painting the drawing room yellow, she somewhat implies that she is making the room her own, perfecting it for future parties she may host there with people who share her affinity for the color. Just like many of the female archetypes we have discussed in class, Vanora does not fit perfectly into the parameters of a “New Woman,” and perhaps would welcome a suitor unlike the narrator.
What an analysis of all the life and personality that define Vanora’s version of “New Womanhood”! You subtly point out through the exploration of these details that Vanora is not necessarily a one-to-one model of a “New Woman”—after all, if she were shown riding around on her bicycle, explicitly rejecting marriage, desiring a woman, or bouncing around to many different male suitors, this would be a very different story. Even these traits, though, are not necessarily a one-to-one representation of the “New Woman”… we discussed in class, based on “The New Woman Fiction” Victorian Web article by Dr. Andrzej Diniejko, how the New Woman was more of a symbol or construct than a person, an all-encompassing term for transgressing against norms as a woman. Their method of transgression, too, then, might become a sort of “symbol”—as you unpack with the yellow drawing room. You connect the bright color yellow with a vivid and unapologetic personality, as opposed to a subdued grey or blue as is suggested, much like the bicycle of the New Woman can suggest freedom of movement, agency, and sexual metaphors.
In my blog post, I was also interested in the specficity of yellow as the color Vanora chooses. Yellow is usually associated with happiness and joy, but Vanora breaks that mold and uses yellow as a form of rebellion. Your analysis about how Vanoras choice of yelow directly contradicts the typical things that happen in the drawing room and she rejects the expectations of how she is supposed to act in the room is great insight into Vanora’s character and the idea of the new woman. Specifically, the idea of her refusing to host or entertain because I think a key trait Vanora has as the new woman is her independence and refusal to change herself for others. Great analysis!