Sigmund Freud once said, “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier way” This is incredibly true when it comes to this story, the narrator’s mental state declines due to the fact that the narrator was not allowed to express her emotions only causing her depression to get
The depression was something common in women of the time, especially in more upper class women with little to do. The antidote " the cure" was developed by a Weir Mitchell, for psychoneurosies, in theory a women should inhibit herself from any kind of work or thinking and to get as much fresh air as possible. The heroine is subjected to this cure. Having been confined to a room in the house she starts imagining things in the wallpaper that she hates so much. However, as the story progresses it i... ... middle of paper ... ...it to show that kind of diversity.
“If a physician of high standing and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression [...]” (154). Since her husband is a professional doctor, she cannot fight back with John about her illness. She believes that John’s higher education is putting more pressure on her as his wife. This shows that one higher education can be a pressure of others in a family. The levels of education make marriage become an oppressive re... ... middle of paper ... ...and Economics, a theoretical treatise which argued, among other things, that women are subjugated by men, that motherhood should not preclude a woman from working outside the home, and that housekeeping, cooking, and child care, would be professionalized”.
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. The theme of this story is feminism. Having gone through postpartum depression herself, Gilman?s story was strongly personal. During the time period that she wrote it, woman?s rights were limited.
Jane's treatment leads her to insanity. When this story was written, there was neither the medicine nor the treatment methods that we have today. If Jane was in today's time, then she possibly would not have gotten as bad as she did. Readers may become sympathetic for Jane because they know that there is more help today than there was then. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a compassionate story about a new mother that goes through postpartum depression, and the results of not having it treated correctly.
Women rights has flourished this past decade. They have came a long way to get to where they are today. For instance, our nation is on the verge to having our very first female president. The amount of feminist accomplishments that has occurred further highlights the transition our women’s rights today compared to back then. “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, an American writer best known for her feminist stories about the lives of daring women, portrays women’s lack of freedom in the 1800s by addressing the concerns of feminism.
However, this ‘mental disorder’ is only a way that the narrator actively rebels against society and how patriarchy has restricted her into becoming a heap of insecure thoughts. In the introduction of the story the unnamed narrator describes her ‘illness’ and the ‘conditions’ she faces, however through the analysis of her writing she begins to reveal the oppression that she is forced to submit to. Much of the protagonist’s oppression comes from her husband, as he does not believe she is sick at all. Because she is timid and is subdued by her spouse she believes, like the rest of society, that a male’s qualifications can automatically make him right. The narrator tends to question her husband’s view, but then covers it up with his credentials in her private journal entries, “You see he does not believe I am sick!
Feminism refers to the body of thought on the cause and nature of women's disadvantaged and subordinate position in society, and efforts to minimize and eliminate the subordination (Hughes, 2002:160). Understanding that the need for independency and self-respect is not a real disease, it is just a metaphor for how women go about trying to achieve them. "For nearly one hundred and fifty years, women have fought for equality and been oppressed by men, and no matter what they do, they will never be considered equals" (Hughes, 2002:161). Feminism focuses on the relations between genders and how both male and female become classified as distinct groups rather than a team united as one. The preceding was what feminists and historians want us believe, however, this is not always the case and quite possibly, it has never been the case.
Gilman creates a horrific tone that helps explore the idea of freedom and confinement within a certain place. The story is created to follow the situation of the narrator and how slowly she begins to deteriorate psychologically due to the wallpaper. The narrator is never assigned a name, therefore it can be assumed that the story is suppose to serve as a voice for the women who have been in a similar situation and have lost their freedom and say on their own lives. However, the narrator appears to come from a wealthy family with privilege so there cannot be this idea that all women who have been through this form of depression and inequalities have experienced it in the same form. Through the use of imagery, the reader was able to understand and clearly visualize the situation in which the narrator is in and see how she has begun to slowly deteriorate, even though she is finally freed in the end of the story, or at least that is what is assumed.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writer and feminist, was witness to many major social changes in her lifetime including the Women’s movement. She spoke out in regard to evolving social orders, especially those which affected the status of women. She supported the idea that women should separate career and family yet be free to fulfill both (Women's Intellectual Contributions). The Yellow Wallpaper, the writing which followed her nervous breakdown, was a controversial piece for its time (Gilman 745). The story dives into the human psyche and takes us on a mental journey thru the silent suffering the narrator is experiencing while desperately trying to escape from her demons.