Relationships become something just about everyone experiences at some point in their life. Each individual handles them differently and there are no two relationships that operate the same way. Minimal communication has the worst consequences on a relationship, but when a lack of equality develops in a relationship it can also lead to damaging results. A relationship or marriage where the men control the women occurs more often than one with the woman being in control. Men are viewed as more powerful and more aggressive in our society, and Mark Peel illustrates this in an essay about male social workers in the 1920’s that, “Perhaps [men were] more interested in care than in masculine exertion, or able to link caring and manhood in a way that many men still find difficult in a new century, they might have found a different way to be a man” (Peel 294). In a society like this, these males found it very challenging to hold back their power because of the way others would make judgments on their lifestyle. A good nineteenth century example of a marriage where there is a lack of communication, the woman is isolated, and the man overpowers is the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”. This mistreatment of women in a marriage can have a negative effect on the woman, and the story proves this by showing how much the narrator digresses.
The absence of meaningful communication was a key element to why the narrator’s illness got as bad as it did. John, the narrator’s husband, gave the impression that he was ashamed of his wife’s illness. The narrator writes about a conversation between herself and her husband, and she reveals, “He says no one but myself can help me out of it, I must use my will and self-control and no...
... middle of paper ...
...iage, Power, and Negotiation in Nineteenth-Century Chile." Radical History Review70 (1998): 27. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, 1860-1935. The Yellow Wallpaper
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
Gordon, Kelly Carolyn. "Class Act(resses)." Theatre History Studies 31.(2011): 3-8. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.
Marcellus, Jane. "Nervous Women and Noble Savages: The Romanticized “Other” in Nineteenth-Century US Patent Medicine Advertising."Journal of Popular Culture 41.5 (2008): 784-808. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.
Peel, Mark. "Male Social Workers and the Anxieties of Women's Authority: Boston and Minneapolis, 1920-1940." Journal of Men's Studies 15.3 (2007): 282-294. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.
The narrator, a new mother, is revoked of her freedom to live a free life and denied the fact that she is “sick”, perhaps with postpartum depression, by her husband, a physician, who believes whatever sorrows she is feeling now will pass over soon. The problematic part of this narrative is that this woman is not only kept isolated in a room she wishes to have nothing to do with, but her creative expression is revoked by her husband as we can see when she writes: “there comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word (Gilman,
Bernardo O'Higgins was successful in building a two-party system and centralized government for the Chileans. Decades follow and Chile grows physically, through bouts of wars and the win of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). This growth allowed the cou...
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s bodies of work, Gilman highlights scenarios exploring traditional interrelations between man and woman while subtexting the necessity for a reevaluation of the paradigms governing these relations. In both of Gilman’s short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Turned”, women are victimized, subjected and mistreated. Men controlled and enslaved their wives because they saw them as their property. A marriage was male-dominated and women’s lives were dedicated to welfare of home and family in perseverance of social stability. Women are expected to always be cheerful and good-humored. Respectively, the narrator and Mrs. Marroner are subjugated by their husbands in a society in which a relationship dominated by the male is expected.
During the Nineteenth Century, the gender roles were greatly divided. Women were seen to have a completely differently status and nature from men. The stereotypical woman during this time-period was dependent, passive, domestic, and far weaker then a man. Men on the other hand, were far more dominant, dependent, controlling, ambitious and active. Men were the protectors and providers for the family. As if women weren’t already inferior enough to men, when they got married, essentially everything that was theirs was striped from them. What she once owned, was now her husbands, this included her savings, her land, her slaves, her freedom and especially her independence (Steele and Brislen). Women were expected to just do their household duties and be content with their lives and want nothing more. This lead wives to live in the shadows of their spouse. It is Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a feminist writer of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century who illustrates the discord of the gender roles of this time-period. One of her most famed writings is “The Yellow Wallpaper.” In this short story, we read about a spouse who is totally dominated by her husband John, and we follow her while she is away rejuvenating herself from an illness. Feministic literature of this time, really focuses on the inferiority of women against men.
But in reality, a male narrator gives a certain sense of understanding to the male audience and society’s understand of the male and females roles and responsibilities in a marriage. Just as men were expected to cut the grass, take out the trash, pay the bills and maintain the household as a whole, women were expected to cook, clean, nurture the children, and be a loving and submissive wife to their husband. The only stipulation required for this exchange of power was to establish a mutual love. In the Victorian age love was all it took for a man to take or alter a woman’s livelihood and
It is tremendously unfortunate that women are treated so ruthlessly in marriages that it leads to mental consequences. Glaspell illustrates, through the lens of Psychoanalytic Criticism in the sense that the woman becomes mentally tempered because of the way her husband treats her, a time when Hale is talking to Mrs. Peters regarding the wife’s mental health, “I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir” (152), stating the idea that before the woman gets married, she was full of life; however, when she does get married, she is treated very unfairly and soon has strange emotional effects. Gilman shows an instance when the wife is experiencing psychological effects, “the front pattern does move . . . the woman behind shakes it” (par. 189), explaining that because the wife is so fed up with the unequal way she is being treated and the fact that she has to stay in a room, she begins going insane. According to Harper and Sandberg while considering mental issues towards women in marriages, “martial process is a key player in the depression equation” (547); this explains the ideology that because some women are treated unfairly during marriage, psychological effects soon haunt the woman who is unhappy with the inequality. This is a prime example of an instance where psychological effects on women in marriages illustrate gender inequality. Moreover, emotional effects in marriages are explored, “partners who are able to find the closeness they needed in marriage were less likely to be depressed” (547). This explains the concept that because spouses are not “close,” regarding the fact that women are not treated equally, men treat women in a cruel manner and thus, cause women to be negatively harmed mentally because of how useless they feel, illustrating gender inequality.
There are multiple possible causes for the internal conflict the narrator faces. The first being nervous depression and the other is the fact that her life is being controlled by her husband. Her husband is in full control because in the beginning of the story, John, her husband, influences how she should act. He decides the actions that should be taken in regards to her health and sanctity. Although she finds herself disagreeing with his synopsis, she is confined and does not admit how she feels to him. This also brings about another a major conflict that occurred in the 19th century, men being dominant and woman being categorized as inferior. Evidence can be found when the narrator states, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with o...
John, the husband of the narrator, believes based on his professional knowledge that it is better for her to stay in a room until she makes a sense of improvement. The authoritative role that John plays in the story makes him the independent variable due to his actions of manipulation, lack of empathy, and absence of concern over what her wife needs to say. Even though the narrator wants to be heard, she remains with a submissive attitude throughout the story making her the dependent variable by leaving her entire illness inside John’s hands[responsibility]. John at this point has the power to take her condition to a total different direction but instead decides to ignore what she has to say and completely rely on his assumptions, which evidently lead to a tragic
Russell Brown, J. 1995. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Being able to have an equal partner and feel heard is not only an important thing to have in a marriage but is an important thing for one’s health. Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her story “The Yellow Wallpaper” to discuss and emphasize the harmful effects this can have on women. With a captivating plot Gilman keeps the reader interested, and with powerful symbolism and themes teaches the reader the importance of a woman’s status in her
Women have been mistreated, enchained and dominated by men for most part of the human history. Until the second half of the twentieth century, there was great inequality between the social and economic conditions of men and women (Pearson Education). The battle for women's emancipation, however, had started in 1848 by the first women's rights convention, which was led by some remarkable and brave women (Pearson Education). One of the most notable feminists of that period was the writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. She was also one of the most influential feminists who felt strongly about and spoke frequently on the nineteenth-century lives for women. Her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" characterizes the condition of women of the nineteenth century through the main character’s life and actions in the text. It is considered to be one of the most influential pieces because of its realism and prime examples of treatment of women in that time. This essay analyzes issues the protagonist goes through while she is trying to break the element of barter from her marriage and love with her husband. This relationship status was very common between nineteenth-century women and their husbands.
Theatres and How We Had Fun." Little, Brown, and Company. (Boston, Toronto, London); 1991. P. 139, 144.
Gender-based violence has been recognized as a large public health problem as well as a violation of human rights worldwide. One out of three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in another way at least once in her life (www.infoforhealth.org). The abuser is usually a member of the family, introducing the difficult problem in that the abuse usually happens behind closed doors, and is often viewed by cultural norms and legal systems as a family matter rather than a crime.
Why do women put up with abuse? This question is often the first question people ask, but it is misdirected. Why doesn't she leave? This focuses on the woman’s behavior and not the batterers behavior. Instead we should ask why do men batter? This question is also misinformed. Many women leave every day. Leaving doesn't always mean protection from future violence. Leaving is a multi-staged process.(Sussman) On average a woman leaves and returns six times before she leaves permanently. There are many factors that often help to keep a woman with her batterer.
Brockett, Oscar G., and Oscar G. Brockett. The Essential Theatre. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976. Print.