Throughout time, various groups of people have been subject to some form of tyranny; forced into lives that are not their own. They have been and are stripped of basic rights and the unique qualities that they may possess. One will do just about anything to acquire freedom, once they have become the victim of this type of control. They will fight a higher authority; they will find an escape from themselves and social criticism. Whatever it may be that holds them back, they will resist. Charlotte Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper focuses on the maltreatment and inequality of females. Under her husband's command, a young woman suffering from postpartum depression is forced into complete isolation. Not only is she disconnected with the world around her, she must give up the right of self expression. She is not allowed "to engage in normal social conversation" because there is "the possibility of over-stimulating intellectual discussion." Writing, the one thing that she loves to do and longs to do most, is forbidden. This woman is confined to her room; a room that is not pleasurable by any means. The yellow wallpaper is the feature that seems to be the most perplexing. As the days go by, the "wallpaper comes to occupy the narrator's entire reality" until "she rips it from the walls to reveal its real meaning." In this moment, she feels as though she is finally free to be who she wants to be. Although she is driven to insanity, she is able to escape her oppressors. The Yellow Wallpaper can be used as an example of the effects of forcing others to live with strict limitations. It cannot be denied that oppression causes rebellion. The woman in The Yellow Wallpaper is trapped within her own marriage. Her husband, John, is a physician ... ... middle of paper ... ...did. Everyone deserves a chance to live with a minimal amount of regulations on whom and what they want to be. Until people are free from oppression, there will always be some form of resistance. Works Cited Ford, Karen. ""The Yellow Wallpaper" and Women's Discourse." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 1985: 309-314. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." In An Introduction to Literature, by Sylvan Barnet, William Burto and William E Cain, 419-430. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. Thomas, Deborah. The Changing Role of Womanhood: From True Woman to New Woman in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". July 27, 1998. http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm (accessed January 27, 2014). Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in "The Yellow Wallpaper"." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 1984: 61-77.
* 1 "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 1994, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, p. 646.
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. “A Feminist Reading of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.” The Story and Its Writer. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
Treichler, Paula A. “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in "The Yellow Wallpaper".” Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1/2, Feminist Issues in Literary Scholarship (Spring - Autumn, 1984), pp. 61-77. JSTOR. Pulaski Technical College Library, AR. 22 Nov. 2011.
The Yellow Wallpaper, Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is comprised as an assortment of journal entries written in first person, by a woman who has been confined to a room by her physician husband who he believes suffers a temporary nervous depression, when she is actually suffering from postpartum depression. He prescribes her a “rest cure”. The woman remains anonymous throughout the story. She becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her in the room, and engages in some outrageous imaginations towards the wallpaper. Gilman’s story depicts women’s struggle of independence and individuality at the rise of feminism, as well as a reflection of her own life and experiences.
In a female oppressive story about a woman driven from postpartum depression to insanity, Charlotte Gilman uses great elements of literature in her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. Her use of feminism and realism demonstrates how woman's thoughts and opinions were considered in the early 1900?s.
Treichler, Paula A. “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 3. 1–2 (Spring-Fall 1984):61–77.
Sommerville-Thompson, Mina L. "'Re-Viewing' Charlotte Perkin Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' Beyond Feminism." CCTE Studies 76.(2011): 33-41. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper"' Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. 3 (1984): 61-77.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an observation on the male oppression of women in a patriarchal society. The story itself presents an interesting look at one woman's struggle to deal with both mental and physical confinement. Through Gilman's writing the reader becomes aware of the mental and physical confinement, which the narrator endures, and the overall effect and reaction to this confinement.
Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 3:1-2 (Spring-Fall 1984): 61-77.
"Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper"—Writing Women." EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web. Web. 05 Mar. 2011.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes “The Yellow Wallpaper” to express how women’s rights are oppressed, how society deals with depression and how gender inequality is prevalent in the 19th century. This short story takes place during a period where women are not treated equal to men, and women have few rights. The author uses “The Yellow Wallpaper” to get this point across to the reader. Throughout time, women have experienced confinement through gender, depression and oppression. Through each of these ways of confinement, Charlotte Perkins Gilman attempts to show how gender, depression and oppression leads to the narrator’s confinement in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
Ford, Karen. “The Yellow Wallpaper and Women’s Discourse.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 4.2 (1985): 309-14. JSTOR. Web. 6 April 2011.
Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Introduction To Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th Ed. New York, Norton, 1998. 2: 630-642.