Yellow Wallpaper

Some men tell us we must be patient and persuasive; that we must be womanly. My friends, what is a man's idea of womanliness? It is to have a manner which pleases him, quiet, deferential, submissive, approaching him as a subject does a master. He wants no self-assertion on our part, no defiance, no vehement arraignment of him as a robber and a criminal. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Womanliness 1890)

A fictional narrative is a powerful literary tool. It allows an author to tell a story which otherwise might be too horrific or unbelievable to tell. It makes it possible for the unspeakable to be spoken. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the story The Yellow Wall-Paper to give a voice to the oppressed masses of women during the 1890's. The Yellow Wall-Paper is an indictment of misogynists America circa 1890. In her story she allows the reader to see America through three different lenses: The paternal chauvinist John, the empathetic and submissive Jennie, and the unnamed protagonist, who becomes increasingly disillusioned as she becomes more aware of her surroundings. By deconstructing the three "lenses" Gilman's vision of women's role in a misogynist America becomes clear.

The protagonist's husband, John, is the symbolic representation of the paternal hegemony that existed during Gilman's lifetime. Gilman's choice to use the ubiquitous name "John" can be emblematic of the wide spread problem of the oppression of women. The way that John acts towards his wife is microcosm of gender inequality in society. John treats her as if she is his child and in no way his equal. He is a physician and unable to believe anything that he cannot see. The protagonist says of John's disbelief, "These nervous conditions are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him."(Gilman p.14) He has no knowledge of the inner-workings of the feminine psyche. So he treats his wife's disobedience and depression the same way one would deal with a petulant child; he locks her in her room.

John believes that if wife is indeed it is the result of feminine hypochondria and the negative influence of creativity. He stops his wife from writing. Writing had been something that his wife had found happiness in. John subscribes to the "Pedestal" philosophy. In that women are the moral guardian of society and that a women is corrupted by things like creativity or competition.