 Like many women of her time, Addams’ prospects after college were limited. She made a failed attempt at medical school and then, precipitated by her father’s death, slipped into a nearly decade-long malaise over the direction of her life. At first, the energy and spirit of her undergraduate college experience did not translate into any clear career path, given that she had rejected both marriage and religious life. Moreover, Addams’ malady was somewhat analogous to the unidentified illness that her later acquaintance, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (as described in The Yellow Wallpaper), suffered. As a member of the privileged class, her soul searching included a trek to Europe, which Addams made twice during this period. On the second trip, she visited Toynbee Hall, a pioneering Christian settlement house in London, which was to inspire her in a direction that propelled her toward international prominence (TYH 53).