The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the author gives the audience a powerful message about feminism, women’s imprisonment because of the idea of patriarchy, and how women were being treated during this time period. The nineteenth century was a male dominated society. Men ruled everything. The Yellow Wallpaper deals with feminism and the struggles women had to fight through. Women were oppressed in this era, and states the misogynist, patriarchal power men had over their wives, girlfriends, or any women The yellow wallpaper in the story signifies the narrator’s imprisonment she encountered with her husband, his sister, and being confined by herself most days and nights.

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 is looked after by her sister-in-law, Jeannie, and after being confined and not allowed to do anything productive, her sanity breaks. This story illustrates the harmful mental effects of centuries of women being socially confined and oppressed. “The Yellow Wallpaper” cleverly disguises the perpetual persecution of women as the pattern on the wallpaper and the female gender as the women behind it. Jane is the only person who can see the woman. This symbolizes Jane’s awareness to gender

While “White Heron” exemplifies how a young girl can reject the patriarchy, “The Yellow Wallpaper” examines how women have been historically, socially and medically oppressed by men, Gilman the narrator becomes a byproduct of the patriarchy which causes the narrators complete submission to a man. Barbara A. Suess, a professor of women’s studies at William Paterson University, analyzes how “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows the gradual psychosis of a woman overruled by the powers of the patriarchy. “She[the narrator] represents women who are failing to see or becoming unduly preoccupied with the grotesque nature of their cultural and/or psychological circumstances, and move towards an increasing distorted understanding of themselves. Thus, she accepts the terms that are used to define her”(86-87). While Suess argues that women become obsessed with the way in which they are repressed culturally or psychologically, “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows how women are systematically stripped of their self identity.

During the 1890’s married women had little to no freedom or rights, the men controlled the life of the women, therefore marriage was often viewed as imprisonment and a burden. The chains of marriage would change women’s perception of reality, causing women to often question their importance in this male driven world. Kate Chopin’s Story of an Hour and Charlotte Perkins­Stenson’s The Yellow Wallpaper captures the views of these oppressed women very efficiently by using devices such as symbolism, imagery and irony, both tales center around one woman and her fall from reality and life due to the shackles of marriage. Both authors used symbolism to reflect their point of views on marriage, in The Story of an Hour, Chopin states that Mallard suffered

The roles in which gender is the main factor has been fought over but the fact of the matter is that it is still being fought over today. Not only is a gender role an old disagreement, but it is also the hidden symbolic meaning behind Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. In her short story published in 1899, author Charlotte Perkins Gilman effectively use symbolic patterns to comment on how societal oppressions create insanity. Although John thinks he is being supportive by enforcing the “rest cure” for his wife, his lack of listening reflects the roles determined by gender. Men have grown up in a society in which changing what they do not approve of, even women, is okay.

The movement for female right is one of the important social issue and it is ongoing reaction against the traditional male definition of woman. In most civilizations there was very unequal treatment between women and men with the expectation being that women should simply stay in the house and let the men support them. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, are two well-known plays that give rise to discussions over male-female relationships. In both stories, they illustrate the similar perspectives on how men repress women in their marriages; men consider that women should obey them and their respective on their wives is oppressed showing the problems in two marriages that described in two plays. Therefore, in this essay, I will compare two similar but contrast stories; A Doll's House and Trifles, focusing on how they describe the problems in marriage related to women as victims of suppressed right.

The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is ultimately gone crazy because of John’ ignorance and overconfidence. John’s bumptious treatment and care are keeping his wife from recovery. Both of the women suffer in their marriages as they are deprived of freedom and independence. The husbands are living the women’s lives. The culture and tradition cause the women stuck in unhappy marriages.

These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a... ... middle of paper ... ...ded her marriage as a full canceling of her claims upon life" (674).

The Subjugation of Women in The Yellow Wall Paper In the nineteenth century, women in literature were often portrayed as submissive to men. Literature of the period often characterized women as oppressed by society, as well as by the male influences in their lives. The Yellow Wallpaper presents the tragic story of a woman's descent into depression and madness. Gilman once wrote "Women's subordination will only end when women lead the struggle for their own autonomy, thereby freeing man as well as themselves, because man suffers from the distortions that come from dominance, just as women are scarred by the subjugation imposed upon them" (Lane 5). The Yellow Wallpaper brilliantly illustrates this philosophy.