Her craze for the wallpaper begins when she imagines a woman behind the bars, and eventually leads to her ripping the woman and the wallpaper off the walls completely, symbolizing her exit from oppression. The narrator’s eventual insanity was the result of the repression brought on by the patriarchic society and the suppression of her imaginative power. The authoritative voices of her husband and other doctors urge her to be voiceless and passive. John’s assumption of his own superior knowledge and maturity leads him to misjudge and control his wife, all in the name of helping her. He did not realize the severity of her condition and instructed her to instead take a break with the country air and so he isolates her.
I don 't like it a bit. I wonder I begin to think” She becomes insane or severely traumatized from this event, the wallpaper and woman represents her true self, however when she rips apart the paper on the wall she is destroying what she once was. The irony in both stories is that both protagonists must pay a price for their freedoms. Both stories revolve around the theme of confinement and oppression in marriage,
Her opinions and physical activity is constantly oppressed and dismissed by the husband. The story portrays John’s dominance over his wife. As well, her deteriorating sanity is evidence that the male discourse is not superior and, therefore, enforces feminist pedagogy. In addition, the environment in which the wife is oppressed represents the dominance forced upon her by her husband. The feminist literary lens addresses the imprisonment of women, and the imbalance of power between the two genders.
Stuck inside the room, forbidden any intellectual activity, the woman becomes delusional and likely schizophrenic. The story technically tries to prove how unsuccessful “rest cure” is for mental illnesses, which was a popular treatment method during Gilman’s time. “Turned”, on the other hand, revolves around Mrs.Marroner whose husband has committed adultery with the servant, Gerta. Struggling between whom to blame and whom to trust, she finally realizes that Mr.Marroner, in fact took advantage of Gerta's innocence and obedience; therefore, he is to blame. The story is quite controversial trying to change the social opinion that many wrong deeds involving a man and a woman are involved, are the woman’s fault.
Through the story "The Yellow Wallpaper," written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main character is driven into a state of madness as a result of isolation. The narrator explains that she is suffering from a slight nervous depression, leaving her husband to treat her with rest. She and her husband moved to a house in the country house expecting improvement. During this time, she is placed in a solitary room with walls covered in yellow wallpaper against her will. The excessive abundance of social isolation that this character experiences brings her to an inevitable mental breakdown.
The setting of the room symbolizes the loneliness the narrator is undergoing. The narrator has her mind encased that there is a woman struggling and in her solitary room, she feels its true and she is even seen fighting for her. The author used the room to symbolize what the main character was going through all alone in the isolated estate where she was brought by her husband. The yellow paper played a distinct reason for the narrator’s madness. In her writings, she explains that the more she became insane, the more the wall paper became a big issue to her that is why she smudged ultimately.
A Woman without a Voice Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” voices the struggle of an unnamed woman who loses her identity and mind. The narrator is oppressed by her husband who suppresses her voice, independence, and actions in an attempt to cure her worsening hysteria. The conflict between the two arises as the narrator attempts to break free of her submissive role and find her voice. Constant oppression by her controlling husband leads to the story’s protagonist eventually succumbing to Identity loss. “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-a slight hysterical tendency-what is one to do?” (519).
Alienation caused from the dominant patriarchal society in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," and William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily", forces both protagonists into insanity. The narrator placed in solitary confinement by her husband, Emily Grieson’s overprotective father and both women’s obsession result in their madness. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman revolves around a woman’s struggle within a patriarchal society. The story is taking place in the 1920s, where men considered themselves to be superior to women because of the role they played in the society; protector and provider of women. This male dominance led the narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper” into loneliness and eventually to a place of no return.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, women were often portrayed as submissive to men. Women were seen as oppressed by society as well as by the males in their lives. Both of Gilman’s bodies of works, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Turned”, illustrate the fight for selfhood by women in a demoralized and oppressive environment. The narrator’s escape from her unbalanced marriage and captivity is her complete loss of sanity. Mrs. Marroner overcomes her husband’s infidelity and emotional control by taking in the vulnerable Gerta and leaving her husband.
She then shouts at John saying “You can’t put me back!” (295). She had developed her own kind of sisterhood with the women behind the wallpaper, and had overthrown the patriarchal wallpaper. John fainted in response to this, seeing his power over his wife slip away (295). The many ways that John tried to help his wife actually ended up drawing her further in to her declining mental state. He used his power over her in ways that he perceived to be helpful because of his authority as a man.