A Women's Struggle for Control in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Not too long ago, a male-dominant society considered women as property and did not allow women to think or speak with freedom. In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonists lack of control is symbolized through elements in wallpaper, which inevitably results in her growing hysteria/paranoia.

Due to their behavior, both men lead their wives to rebel. John’s controlling behavior causes the narrator to abandon him by going completely mad. First, she questions John’s pronouncements. The narrator believes that congenial work, with excitement and change would do her good (p.297). Next, she focuses on the wallpaper. She describes its negative features noting that patches are gone as if school boys wore it out (p.298). Upset by her husband’s actions, the narrator decides to begin writing in secret. . It reaches the point where the narrator has to hide her writings from him, because he gets upset if she even writes a word (p.298). -After time passes, we see her obsession grow. John seems to be oblivious to the narrator’s conditions, telling her “you know the place is doing you good” (p.299). She notices that the pattern is torturing (p.303). Finally, she begins to see a woman hiding behind the pattern (p.304). Looking for the woman in the pattern gives her something to look forward to (p.305). Ultimately she comes to believe that she is the woman in the wallpaper and wants to free herself. She begins peeling off the paper through the night, and by morning removes all the paper she could while standing (p.307). The narrator even begins to contemplate jumping out of the window, but does not

The woman “jane” believes she has a condition but her husband who is a physician does not take her illness seriously. In page 648 paragraph 1 the narrator states, “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?” The narrators husband is talking bad about his wide to her own friends and refusing to take her serious and at the end as she repeats “what is one to do” clearly stating that she can not do anything about her husband badmouthing about her and making allowing her to understate herself as a woman. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (pg 647). The narrator as a woman are so used to people looking down at her and throughout the story she does not feel like herself due to her husband always shutting and controlling her make her insane that she cannot be in control of her body. Page 648 paragraph 5, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad”, as the narrator talk about her condition and herself, she then recalls her husband’s instructions, the narrator has internalized her husband’s command to the point that she virtually aurally perceives his voice in her head, telling her what to think and do. The narrator is not even a person at this point, her brain is now programmed to follow direction, to think, to feel, what her husband has recommend, she has no self-conscience anymore and for that reason she feels

The husbands reoccurring actions to keep the Narrator isolated from outside stimuli, presents the fact that he thinks isolation is a treatment for mental illness.

According to Oxford English Dictionary, patriarchy is defined as the “predominance of men in positions of power and influence in society, with cultural values and norms favoring men.” This social structure in particular was prevalent during Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s time and played a large role in her involvement with feminism and women’s rights. Along with the patriarchal influences, Gilman provides an autobiographical basis upon which she built the framework for “The Yellow Wallpaper” as she was forced to undergo the dreaded “Rest Cure” depicted in the short story. Through the eyes of the narrator, Gilman provides illumination regarding the role of women imposed by the patriarchal society of the 19th Century and the implications of such

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work, “The Yellow Wallpaper” has several major themes that were expressed. In the nineteenth century, women were responsible for doing house chores, taking care of the kids, and obeying their husbands. A general concern regarding women’s inequality during the 19th century was painted by Gilman. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman emphasizes the concerns in which society discouraged the women’s ability to self express themselves. Does the narrator listen to the man because he’s a physician or because he is her husband?

Although it has small interactions with some other peoples, we mainly see that he talks alone with her husband. John said that it must be in the room on the second floor, which must not write, you must not do much, and that must rest. There is much that John believes that he must do it. And if you are not agree, man of few reasons are enough to keep changing its idea. It is the power, no doubt. John also has a name which hardened to it. But with this common name, John can be any husband or doctor that is. Then it represents all men and makes us think that all men have this power. If he comes to the House, woman hides her diary, is still, and accept everything that John advised. When John speaks with his wife, as a baby trafficking. She wants to move into the room on the floor below, but John tells him no, and called him in diminutives as "a tontita" and "creature", or the English version "a blessed little goose" and "little girl". (Gilman) There is another part where John "took me in her arms, took me up, put me in bed and read me until I got tired head." (Gilman). Thus we see this way of talking about and care for the woman as if she were a little girl. It does not take seriously his wife. John is a doctor, and is similar to the neurologist who helped Gilman in his life - it says that a break is the best prescription for a weak

At times she can see heads, with dozens of beady eyes staring at her, while other times she can clearly distinguish a woman, creeping behind bars that hide behind the design of the wallpaper. The narrator becomes so captivated by these developments that she stays up all night deciphering the paper, watching the figures within it. She becomes so consumed in her fantasies that her two worlds begin to melt together. There comes a point in the narrator’s writings when she stops distinguishing the difference between herself and the lady in the wallpaper. This is the first sign that the narrator is separating from her physical self and giving in to the delusions of her mind.

If the husband provides the wife, the woman will be dependent and obedient. These traits are quite visible in our unnamed character, however, by the way she acts, we can say that she wants to free herself and show her nature. This fact is the obvious in the voice of the story. Her voice is not drooping voice and she tells her story not in tragic mood. She provides a lot of details, about her feelings.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes the feminist struggle against patriarchal domination. The husband-wife relationship in The Yellow Wallpaper resembles the way women are treated in the 19th century. During this time women were treated as if they were second class. This story reflects how the husbands condescending actions and tones are indicative of the time frame in which the story emerged.

She continuously shows her opposition to the things that he says, however she in unable to speak up, because she has learned that her voice is silent, and she truly believes that John is doing what is best for her, and that she just must not have the mental capabilities to keep up with his rational. John’s continuation of power makes his wife appear weaker and weaker (Crossman). When John speaks of sending her away to get help, she is so upset by it and fears it, but she tries to keep strong and be respectful towards John. John’s continuance to relay directions such as this, that make her upset build onto her mental imbalances. At this point, the narrator admits to crying even more easily, and just being upset.

John also is able to make his wife feel guilty for her postpartum depression as he tells her, “we cam here solely on my [the narrator’s] account…” thus making the woman both more grateful for her husband’s ‘care’ and guilty because of the trouble she believes she is causing him, “…I am a comparative burden already!” (794). John often treats his wife as a little child that need not be taken seriously, “…then he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose…” (794). Other times, however, John becomes the reproachable father figure, “…I began, and stopped short, for he [John] sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could no say another word”

John considers himself of far more intelligence then his wife, because he is the “man” of the house. His gender role as a man tells him to be the breadwinner, and to be in control of very situation. Since birth, as a man, he has been taught to believe he is superior to women, and, because of this belief instilled in him from birth; he oppresses his wife and drives her to her eventual insanity. As opposed to John, the narrator, who isn’t even deemed important enough to be given a name, is constantly working to be the picture of a perfect wife. She resents Jennie’s presence, because Jennie is the ideal caretaker, and that constant reminder of what the narrator should be.

Her obsession with this imprisoning pattern leads her to begin to see things, in particular a woman trapped behind the pattern who often “shakes it” (Gilman 654), trying desperately to get free. It can be assumed that the woman is not truly there, but that the narrator in her deprived state of mind is beginning to project her own inner emotions onto her surroundings. This idea is supported by the fact that when the narrator gives in to her insanity and begins to rip away at the wallpaper, freeing the woman, she exclaims “I’ve got out at last” (Gilman 656), suggesting that the woman trapped behind the wallpaper was simply a mirror image of her repressed self all along. And the final triumph is when the narrator's husband John, who has been her patronizing captor all along, walks in and sees her in her state of insanity and proceeds to pass out. When he falls to the ground, the narrator simply “had to creep over him” (Gilman

“The Yellow Wallpaper”, is a tale of a woman’s slowly departure into madness, fueled by a patriarchal society, and gender roles in the structural household. The Yellow Wallpaper was written in 1892, during a time of female oppression, and is labeled as a feminist story. I believe that, The Yellow Wallpaper is most effective too look at through a historical perspective, because during the time that the story was written, women had many restrictions in society, many were diagnosed hysteria, or other conditions, if they became overly emotional, and there was a sense of “domestic ideology,” (Women’s Sphere and the Emergence of the Women’s Rights Movement 1).