Subtle Feminist Assertions in The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper " was originally shunned by the American patriarchal literary powers present before the turn of the century. Despite editors' hesitation, Gilman's determination eventually led to the story's publication in New England Magazine in 1892. It was not until the early 1970's, however, that the story was adopted by the feminist literary movement and viewed as the author undoubtedly intended. A popularly held opinion among critics is that this delayed acceptance was "a case of misinterpretation by audiences used to 'traditional' literature. " Before the modern feminist movement in literature, readers would not have expected or looked for the kind of message found in "The Yellow Wallpaper." Were the story written a century later, the feminist message would likely be stronger. To get it published and portray the realities of her narrator, however, Gilman recognized the need for ambiguity in the story's feminist message. Gilman left the story open to patriarchal interpretations, but included enough commentary within and beyond the narration to convince the feminist reader of her true intentions.
The submissive unnamed protagonist and narrator acts as an enabler to her patriarchal surroundings. Gilman clarifies on the first page the narrator's feminist disinclination, "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." This defines the woman's attitude towards her position in her marriage and society. The woman's defeatism also works to 'put her in her place' in the patriarchal society. After briefly explaining that her husband does not believe s...
... middle of paper ...
...not discounting, does somewhat deflate, or mask, the argument that Gilman is offering a truism about the difference between males and females.
Some of the greatest writers, artists, and musicians have been patently misread or ignored by their contemporaries, only to be discovered as visionaries decades or centuries later. By creating a submissive female narrator, Gilman makes a powerful statement to the modern reader about the realities of women before the 20th century. The narrator's acquiescent quality is simultaneously a common trait for women of the time and the catalyst of her insanity. Considering the state of women when the story was written, the narrator had to be as she was to be believable. Thus, the story's recent rise to popularity must be attributed to Gilman's subtle feminist assertions, almost a century ahead of their time.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a 19th century, journalist from Connecticut. She was also a feminist. Gilman was not conservative when it came to expressing her views publically. Many of her published works openly expressed her thoughts on woman’s rights. She also broke through social norms when she chose to write her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” in 1892, which described her battle with mental illness. These literary breakthroughs, made by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, help us see that the 19th century was a time of change for women.
Misogynistic Confinement Yellow Wallpaper depicts the nervous breakdown of a young woman and is an example as well as a protest of the patriarchal gender based treatments of mental illness women of the nineteenth century were subjected to. The narrator begins the story by recounting how she speculates there may be something wrong with the mansion they will be living in for three months. According to her, the price of rent was way too cheap and she even goes on to describe it as “queer”. However, she is quickly laughed at and dismissed by her husband, who as she puts it “is practical in the extreme.” As the story continues, the reader learns that the narrator is thought to be sick by her husband John, yet she is not as convinced as him.
not be searching for new lands, but there is always a new frontier to be
She analyzes the significant languages, images, and symbols used in the text. After Barbara analyzed the short story, it basically pinpoints that Gilman’s was trying to make a feminist statement. Suess also goes into details about the representation of patriarchy in society and she tied it to text. The article showed that a form of patriarchy is introduced in the story, and that Gilman used John to represent a patriarchy and society. Barbara stated that in the story, John is a clear representation law, order, and reality. The article revealed that John 's suppression of Jane 's efforts to gain control of her own life through her choice of medicine and the opportunity to write reflects the more general oppression of Jane, as a woman and as a mentally ill person. I believe this article would be beneficial for my research paper because it goes into details about the story and talks about specific symbols used in the text that point towards my theory of how Gilman is making a feminist statement in the
Rash, Ron. “The Assent.” The Best American Short Stories 2010. Eds. Richard Russo and Heidi Pitlor. New York: Boston, 2010. 279-287. Print
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," the reader is treated to an intimate portrait of developing insanity. At the same time, the story's first person narrator provides insight into the social attitudes of the story's late Victorian time period. The story sets up a sense of gradually increasing distrust between the narrator and her husband, John, a doctor, which suggests that gender roles were strictly defined; however, as the story is just one representation of the time period, the examination of other sources is necessary to better understand the nature of American attitudes in the late 1800s. Specifically, this essay will analyze the representation of women's roles in "The Yellow Wallpaper" alongside two other texts produced during this time period, in the effort to discover whether Gilman's depiction of women accurately reflects the society that produced it.
Many critics question whether this story is meant as a personal documentation about Gilman or a reflection of women’s position in society in 1892. However, due to her creation of this unreliable narrator, it creates the allusion that this story has many meanings. The narrator generates the way we see John and the ironic theme of entrapment, through many different angles. The subject of the story changes from reality, to her obsession with the wallpaper and consumes the narrator’s tone and thoughts. The way Gilman used narration to manipulate the reader’s interpretation John and to convey the theme of entrapment makes this an effective piece of literature.
He argues that with the increasing number of people who are to be controlled in society, a tool that provide chances for the person watching over the rest to do so with ease is necessary (Foulcault 199). The panopticon is thus instrumental in ruling a large number of people at a go. Gilman’s argument also portrays men as busy individuals always seeking the most effective weapons to use against women. They have the intention of completely closing women from making any intrusion into their comfort zone. The results have also shown the extent of their brutality (Gilman 14). Women cannot speak out at will and are down trodden. They live under the mercies of men. Any attempt to counter their negativity is met with joint repulsion and hatred. The support men show on each of them is tremendous and Gilman is yearning to a time when women will be united to build their own
Like the darkness that quickly consumes, the imprisoning loneliness of oppression swallows its victim down into the abyss of insanity. & nbsp;
Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University
Throughout the story, the reader is called to trust the narrator although it is clear she is going crazy, for she is the only telling the story. Gilman is able to develop the theme through this character’s point of view by showing that the narrator has no choice in the world in which she lives-- she must obey the men in her life above all else. If Gilman chose any other perspective, the story would not have been able to portray the woman’s oppression as well, because the reader would not have been able to see into her mind as it slipped away well into insanity.
The woman behind this work of literature portrays the role of women in the society during that period of time. "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a well written story describing a woman who suffers from insanity and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The author uses her own experience to criticize male domination of women during the nineteenth century. Although the story was written fifty years ago, "The Yellow Wallpaper" still brings a clear message how powerless women were during that time.
In the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the role of a woman in society is one of domestic duties. Jeenie, the protagonist’s sister-in-law, is a great example of this. The protagonist is forbidden, by her husband, to “work” until she is well again, so Jeenie steps in and assumes her domestic identity of a woman and wife. The protagonist calls her “a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper” and says she “hopes for no better profession” (Gilman 343). Jeenie clearly has no aspirations outside the confines of her domestic role. The protagonist herself worries she is letting her husband, John, down by not fulfilling her domestic duties. She says “it does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way” (Gilman 342). Besides the domestic role, which she is unable to fulfill, the protagonist plays the helpless, fragile, role of a woman where she is deemed incapable of thinking for herself and is reduced to acting more or les...
Energy is the basic necessity of daily life. Nowadays, dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs becoming lower in numerous countries due to the potential of renewable energy to supply sustainable energy to the huge populations in many developing countries who are short of clean and continues energy. Generally, renewable energy can be defined as energy that is derived from natural resources which are constantly replenished and theoretically inexhaustible. Fossil fuels on the other hand can be described as energy that cannot be renewed and will eventually diminish. Thus, in many developing countries renewable energy is the alternative energy to replace non-renewable energy or commonly known as fossil fuels. In addition, according to Sorensen (2004), there is a greater demand for renewable energy sources nowadays due to the uncertainty of fuel price rise in living expenses. Commonly, there are many types of renewable energy available in our world such as wind power, biomass energy, solar energy, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy. However, the main three example of renewable energy are hydroelectric power, solar and biomass energy (Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
South Africa wastes lots of money on non renewable energy sources in order to create electricity for example coal. The building of Wind Turbines, Hydroelectric power plants etc. Are costly, but once built are free as they use renewable energy sources. They do not contribute to global warming unlike nuclear power plant which is extremely bad for the air. There is also a risk of an accident such as the Chernobyl accident.