Who Is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Discourse Of Gender In The Yellow Wallpaper

644 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in the 19th century

Within every story, there is a certain way in which it portrays the discourse of class, gender or race. Each changes depending on the time period the story takes place in and ultimately the decision the author makes when writing the story. One story, in particular, The Yellow Wallpaper, interacts with the discourse of gender in an interesting manner. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author of the short story, discusses the gender roles of that time period and how many women were subjected to feel and behave. The comparison of Gilman’s discourse of the gender norms back then to today’s discourse in regard to gender norms is completely contrasting. Throughout the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, there are many examples within the passages that touch …show more content…

This type of behavior while seemingly small is an accurate reflection of how many husbands, and men in general, viewed women during this time frame. Women were disregarded and degraded by all men, especially those in a position of “power.” This idea of power came from the roles in which men typically held. Men were the ones to work, solely support the family, support the household and essentially owned the property. The term property most often went beyond just owning the household the family lived in; the husband owned the wife, and kids as his property as well. Women had very little say in decision making, or just in general and often had their ideas and opinions censored by their husbands. The story goes on to talk about how John is a physician, and a good one at that. The narrator is apparently ill and her husband is her primary doctor and caretaker. This places John in a position of great power. Not only does this set John up within the story to have a say in what his wife does and

Show More
Related

  • Figurative Language In The Yellow Wallpaper

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the time Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” she was considered a prominent feminist writer. This piece of background information allows the readers to see Gilman’s views on women’s rights and roles in the 18th century; “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that women in the 18th century were suppressed into society’s marital gender roles. Gilman uses the setting and figurative language, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors to convey the theme across.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Susan B Anthony The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan B. Anthony, a woman’s rights pioneer, once said, “Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done” (“Women’s Voices Magazine”). Women’s rights is a hot button issue in the United States today, and it has been debated for years. In the late 1800’s an individual named Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote literature to try and paint a picture in the audience’s mind that gender inferiority is both unjust and horrific. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman makes the ultimate argument that women should not be seen as subordinate to men, but as equal.

    Read More

  • Jane's Perseverance in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

    1013 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ideas expressed by Gilman are femininity, socialization, individuality and freedom in the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman uses these ideas to help readers understand what women lost during the 1900’s. She also let her readers understand how her character Jane escaped the wrath of her husband. She uses her own mind over the matter. She expresses these ideas in the form of the character Jane. Gilman uses an assortment of ways to convey how women and men of the 1900’s have rules pertaining to their marriages. Women are the homemakers while the husbands are the breadwinners. Men treated women as objects, as a result not giving them their own sound mind.

    Read More

  • Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    “‘Too Terribly Good to be Printed’: Charlotte Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’” by Conrad Shumaker places an interesting analysis of the short story written by Gilman. The purpose of the article is to highlight the feminist role Gilman wanted to deliver through writing. Shumaker even refers to her as “an avowed feminist.” (Shumaker 589) Shumaker hopes the readers of his article see the feminist side of Gilman’s story.

    Read More

  • Tess Hutchinson Feminist Analysis

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    If women were to lead their family it would be a disgrace to the husband's manhood, and the only way a women led her family was if she was a widow. Although this would be very apparent to everybody in the village. This was a time where women were oppressed and had no choice but to follow societal rules, and if they did not it would be even worse for them. Lastly, the author validates feminism by showing the neglect that the men put on the

    Read More

  • The Movement for Women's Rights Inside The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Patriarchal Society In The Yellow Wallpaper

    1334 Words  | 3 Pages

    Immediately, in the story Charlotte Perkins Gilman makes a statement regarding the patriarchal society. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (75). So very early we notice the outlook the woman has on herself. As they arrive at the mansion, the purpose starts to unravel slowly. As John takes her to the “room” with the yellow wallpaper, we realize this is more of a trap rather than a getaway. We find out she is “sick” because her husband and brother, who are high standing physicians tell her so. The woman says that the she is forbidden to work yet right after that she states, “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me no good” (76). Therefore, this shows that the woman has opinions and thinks there are better ways to cope with her “sickness” but yet she just accepts what her husband tells her and does not ask questions. So, I believe this a good example of how the patriarchal society has affected the woman and how she simply lives her everyday life. As the woman becomes more and more attached to the wallpaper in her room, “the wallpaper elicits from her voluntary compliance with her husband’s prescriptions” (Neely para 3). He then opposes her writing, refuses to let her see friends, and eventually refuses all communication with her

    Read More

  • The Relationship of The Yellow Wallpaper to the Life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    "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?" (Gilman 1). Many women in the 1800's and 1900's faced hardship when it came to standing up for themselves to their fathers, brothers and then husbands. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator of the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", is married to a physician, who rented a colonial house for the summer to nurse her back to health after her husband thinks she has neurasthenia, but actually suffers from postpartum depression. He suggested the 'rest cure'. She should not be doing any sort of mental or major physical activity, her only job was to relax and not worry about anything. Charlotte was a writer and missed writing. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is significant to literature in the sense that, the author addresses the issues of the rest cure that Dr. S. Weir Mitchell prescribed for his patients, especially to women with neurasthenia, is ineffective and leads to severe depression. This paper includes the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in relation to women rights and her contribution to literature as one of her best short story writings.

    Read More

  • Feminist Expression in The Yellow Wallpaper

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men, Charlotte Perkins Gilman speaks to the “female condition” in her 1892 short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, by writing about the life of a woman and what caused her to lose her sanity. The narrator goes crazy due partially to her prescribed role as a woman in 1892 being severely limited. One example is her being forbidden by her husband to “work” which includes working and writing. This restricts her from begin able to express how she truly feels. While she is forbidden to work her husband on the other hand is still able to do his job as a physician. This makes the narrator inferior to her husband and males in general. The narrator is unable to be who she wants, do what she wants, and say what she wants without her husband’s permission. This causes the narrator to feel trapped and have no way out, except through the yellow wallpaper in the bedroom.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Setting Analysis

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    This explains why the woman felt like she couldn’t do anything but obey her husband because women really didn’t have a say so back then. The time period from the setting shows the historical and cultural aspect of it because during that time women were fighting for equality since they were treated as less than during that time in

    Read More

  • Social Criticism in The Yellow-Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Traditionally, men have held the power in society. Women have been treated as a second class of citizens with neither the legal rights nor the respect of their male counterparts. Culture has contributed to these gender roles by conditioning women to accept their subordinate status while encouraging young men to lead and control. Feminist criticism contends that literature either supports society’s patriarchal structure or provides social criticism in order to change this hierarchy. “The Yellow Wallpaper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts one women’s struggle against the traditional female role into which society attempts to force her and the societal reaction to this act.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Women Oppression in Gilman's 'The Yellow Paper'

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a powerful short story that explores the ideas of female oppression. The speaker of this story longed to be freed from the constraints of living in a male-dominated society, and she symbolically found her freedom in the tearing down of the wallpaper. Gilman uses the story to urge society to take a reflective look at how women are treated and to inspire her fellow women to break free of the stifling gender roles that have placed upon

    Read More

  • Gender as Portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper”

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender roles seem to be as old as time and have undergone constant, but sometime subtle, revisions throughout generations. Gender roles can be defined as the expectations for the behaviors, duties and attitudes of male and female members of a society, by that society. The story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is a great example of this. There are clear divisions between genders. The story takes place in the late nineteenth century where a rigid distinction between the domestic role of women and the active working role of men exists (“Sparknotes”). The protagonist and female antagonists of the story exemplify the women of their time; trapped in a submissive, controlled, and isolated domestic sphere, where they are treated as fragile and unstable children while the men dominate the public working sphere.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator and her husband John can be seen as strong representations of the effects society’s stereotypical gender roles as the dominant male and submissive female have within a marriage. Because John’s wife takes on the role as the submissive female, John essentially controlled all aspects of his wife’s life, resulting in the failure of the couple to properly communicate and understand each other. The story is intended to revolve around late 19th century America, however it still occurs today. Most marriages still follow the traditional gender stereotypes, potentially resulting in a majority of couples to uphold an unhealthy relationship or file for divorce. By comparing the “The yellow wallpaper” with the article “Eroticizing Inequality in the United States: The Consequences and Determinants of Traditional Gender Role Adherence in Intimate Relationships”, the similarities between the 19th century and 21st century marriage injustice can further be examined. If more couples were able to separate the power between the male and female, America would have less unhappy marriages and divorces.

    Read More

More about Who Is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Discourse Of Gender In The Yellow Wallpaper

Open Document