The Womans Rose:

A look at womens social environment in the late 19th century

Short Story: The Womans Rose by Olive Schreiner
https://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/schrein/dream/ch02.htm
You may listen to this audiobook if you prefer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FcaInU0o-4
Author Information
Date of birth-death
Country of origin
What pseudonym did Schreiner publish
under? Why did she have to use a
pseudonym?
What led Schreiner to become a writer?
Where does her education come from?
What are some themes in her writing
regarding womens rights? What did she
believe women were entitled to?
Comprehension and Analysis of Short Story
What POV is this story told from?
What does she keep in her box that is distinct
from other womens boxes?
What is suggested when the author has kept
the rose over other flowers that suitors have
gifted her?
How do the men treat the women? How are
the women valued (pay attention to the
wording in this line, A few were married,
and had their wives and children, but most
were single)?
How does the narrator assume the other
woman feels about her presence?

What do midwinter and spring represent in

respect to flowers and blooming? Think about
rebirth, faith, and regeneration. How is it
symbolic of the relationship between the
women? How does it relate to womens rights
movement?
The women are united at one crucial moment
in the story. What does the other woman give
her? What do you notice about the value of
this gift over the gifts of the men?

The women are united for a brief moment

before the men came in and swept us
away to dance. What does this suggest about
the role of men in relation to womens power?
The other woman is often correlated with
what color? The narrator, based on her dress
and hair, is correlated with what color? What
do the colors suggest about the womens
perceptions of each other and their character?
Think about the narrators assumptions of
how she makes the other woman feel.
How does this story relate to The Yellow
Wallpaper?

Womens Rights Movement (1848-1920)

1. http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/NoLady/Womens-Rights/
2. http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/history-of-the-womensrights-movement/
What aspects of womens rights did the
movement try to achieve and reform?

Important pioneers in womens rights movement

Give a description of the contribution that each women made to the womens rights
movement. You can use outside sources to help you but it is not required.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Lucretia Mott

Susan B. Anthony

Ruth Hanna McCormick

Jeannette Rankin
Alice Paul
Carrie Chapman Catt