A Shallow and Grief Filled Life

Feminist movement themes, including the frustration, pain, and agony felt by women trapped in hopeless situations, are extremely prevalent in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The main character in the story is a complex personality that initially is seen as an obedient and skillful wife; however, toward the end of the story, she breaks out of her self-imposed shell, thereby metamorphosing from a caterpillar into a butterfly. “The Yellow Wallpaper” depicts what was occurring to many women during times when they were forced to simply be no more than a man’s submissive wife.

The main character (whose actual name is never mentioned in the story) is belittled by her husband John, a physician. John does not believe that his wife is able to do daily routines or chores because of her illness. “You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?” (Gilman 436). Written in her journal, these types of statements were frequently seen; the reader is able to tell that something is not right with her marriage (Kerr 1). The woman routinely informs her husband that she feels sick, yet he simply laughs and tells her what a great sense of humor she has. She believes that stimulation is important for her recovery; yet, John and other physicians believe the exact opposite. They believe that the woman must not be present with any stimulation; thus, John traps his wife (both literally and internally) in the house (Gornick 278). Whenever the main character wishes to go outside of the house, even simply to the garden, John prohibits her to do so and tells her that she “is forbidden to work until I [the main character] am well again” (Gilman 437). John’s wife always feels frustrated and out of control whenever John tells her wha...

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...tic look at what women faced during those times as well as what many women are still facing today.

Works Cited

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 436-54. Print.

Gornick, Vivian. "Twice Told Tales." Nation 227.9 (n.d.): 278-281. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web.

Kerr, Calum A. "Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web.

Knight, Louise W. "Gilmania." Women's Review of Books 27.6 (2010): 29-31. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web.

Thomas, Heather Kirk. "Reviews." Studies in Short Fiction 30.4 (1993): 622. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web.