The Yellow Wallpaper Feminism

Charlotte Perkins Gilman first handily witnessed the need for Feminism in a male dominated so society. Gilman, like many other women was forced to live uphold certain standards. She was lumped in with the stereotypical category of simply being a woman. In the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrates the way women are treated in society , the effect that stereotypes and standards can have on a person and points out the divide in culture through her main character the narrator,John’s wife, and the yellow wallpaper. In the story he is the first character and one of the only characters called by name is John. John is the narrator’s husband, but the narrator’s name is never really told. The story doesn’t reveal much about John except that “ John is a Physician” (Gilman 1). The name John usually can represent an unknown man. In the story, John is only known for really how he treats the narrator, his wife, and his profession. His wife however is not even known by a name. Gilman shows the divide in genders. There is less known for John’s character, yet he is the one with the

Gilman actually denies the first relation of yellow being a color relating to goodness. She says things such as “the color is replent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by sunlight.” (2). Gilman uses the narrator to say “ They must have had perseverance as well as hatred” toward the wall paper meaning it was absolutely terrible. The yellow wallpaper stood for the divide in society. The woman trapped in the woman was a symbol for all woman inducing the narrator being trapped within the standards. The narrator begins to this divide at the end and take ownership instead of doing something because “ John says“ (4) The narrator tears down the wall paper at the end of the story also tearing down the gender divide between her and