The work of Gillman ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a feminist fiction that talks about a woman diagnosed by her husband and the suggested treatment is bed rest with minimal brain and physical activities. The woman in hopes of getting better moves to a big house where she is faced by her inner self. Gilman tries to highlight the domestic and gender suppression constantly faced by women of the society This paper would shine the light on the sensitive issue of gender quality and the effects it has.
Being imprisoned on the basis of an absurd cure imposed on by the narrator’s husband and his beliefs for what he think is the best for his wife, Gilman brings to the reader’s attention the brutal realities faced by the women in the fight for their freedom due to the society and male dominance. She reflects the time period of the 19th century where women were not given any kind will power over her own thoughts and action. This topic is highlighted in the story when the narrator couldn’t communicate and make her husband understand that her needs and wants are important enough to be considered into account if he wishes for her well-being. This symbolizes the extent to which the women voices was heard. Even though she knew the ‘rest therapy’ wasn’t working for her, she could bring herself up to
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It could mainly be because women were considered hysterical and emotional or just because men did not consider them to be of equal standing to have a say in the matters of their own lives. It was expected of women of that era to find their place at home and that’s where they must be confined to. Whereas the male secured higher positions in the society and had the power. This made them believe that they should have the last word and the decision they make would be the ultimate one. The writer shows the reflection of this in the attitude of John as
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” tells the story of a woman suffering from post-partum depression, undergoing the sexist psychological treatments of mental health, that took place during the late nineteenth century. The narrator in Gilman’s story writes about being forced to do nothing, and how that she feels that is the worst possible treatment for her. In this particular scene, the narrator writes that she thinks normal work would do her some good, and that writing allows her to vent, and get across her ideas that no one seems to listen to. Gilman’s use of the rhetorical appeal pathos, first-person point of view, and forceful tone convey her message that confinement is not a good cure for mental health, and that writing,
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a fictionalized autobiographical account that illustrates the emotional and intellectual deterioration of the female narrator who is also a wife and mother. The woman, who seemingly is suffering from post-partum depression, searches for some sort of peace in her male dominated world. She is given a “rest cure” from her husband/neurologist doctor that requires strict bed rest and an imposed reprieve form any mental stimulation. As a result of her husband’s controlling edicts, the woman develops an obsessive attachment to the intricate details of the wallpaper on her bedroom wall. The woman’s increasingly intense obsession with
The narrator finds herself economically and emotionally dependent on her husband, John. Many times she questions to herself why she stays in the room all of the time. She then answers herself by saying, " John says it is good for me" (Gilman, 665). She thinks of her husband as much wiser and more important than she, which is the way that society treated males during the time period the story was written. During this era, women were discouraged from joining the work force and were thought to be better suited as a mother, and wife rather than an employee. This is the common stereotype that women tried to overcome during the women's movement.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known as the first American writer who has feminist approach. Gilman criticises inequality between male and female during her life, hence it is mostly possible to see the traces of feminist approach in her works. She deals with the struggles and obstacles which women face in patriarchal society. Moreover, Gilman argues that marriages cause the subordination of women, because male is active, whereas female plays a domestic role in the marriage. Gilman also argues that the situation should change; therefore women are only able to accomplish full development of their identities. At this point, The Yellow Wallpaper is a crucial example that shows repressed woman’s awakening. It is a story of a woman who
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a creative woman whose talents are suppressed by her dominant husband. His efforts to oppress her in order to keep her within society's norms of what a wife is supposed to act like, only lead to her mental destruction. He is more concerned with societal norms than the mental health of his wife. In trying to become independent and overcome her own suppressed thoughts, and her husbands false diagnosis of her; she loses her sanity. One way the story illustrates his dominance is by the way he, a well-know and
The role of women in society was displayed quite clearly by the entrance of John’s sister. The woman writes, “There comes John’s sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfectionist and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!” John’s sister is representative of the typical woman. A woman who is pleased with her life, and wishes for no more. John’s wife, however, is rebelling on her place in society by writing. This is why she includes the statement; “…I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!”
Women in the eighteenth century were confined by their husbands, and imprisoned in their own homes. Women had no rights to their own lives, or a say so in how to live it. Women at this time struggled for equality, and they were unable to think or live for themselves. If they showed any signs of being unhappy they were condemned by society and their master. In this process many women transcended into severe nervous depression. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, we observe a woman’s descent into madness, and we can better understand how women of this time suffered with oppression. This story is a glimpse of Gilman’s real life struggle with gender roles, inner conflict,
In her story, The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman expresses exasperation towards the separate male and female roles expected of her society, and the evident repressed rights of a woman versus the active duties of a man. The story depicts the methods taken to cure a woman of her psychological state during Gilman’s time, and delineates the dominant cure of the time period, “the resting cure,” which encouraged the restraint of the imagination ("The Yellow Wallpaper: Looking Beyond the Boundaries") Gilman uses the unnamed narrator to represent the average repressed woman of her time and how her needs were neglected in an attempt to mark a fixed distinction between the standards and expectations of men and women. John, the narrator’s husband, take the designated and patriarchal role of a man who believes he knows everything there is to know about the human mind. His belief of his superior knowledge pushes him to condescend, overshadow, and misunderstand his wife. As a result, his wife loses control of her life and escapes into her own fantasy world, where she is able dominate her imagination, free her mind, and fall into insanity. Gilman describes her era’s approach toward female psychology in order to criticize the patriarchal society she lived in as well as to reveal its effects on the women of her time.
It was commonly casted that women during the 19th century were not to go beyond their domestic spheres. If a woman were to go beyond the norms and partake in a “male” activity and not assign to “womanly” duties, it were to take an ill effect on her, because she was designed to act merely as a mother, wife, and homemaker. The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, demonstrates the status of women in the 19th century within society, revealing that madness in this story stems from the oppressive control of gender on woman. A woman who is trying to escape from confinement may result in madness. The use of madness characterizes women as victims of society, suffering the effects of isolation brought on by oppression driving
The structure of the text, particularly evident in the author’s interactions with her husband, reveals the binary opposition between the façade of a middle-class woman living under the societal parameters of the Cult of Domesticity and the underlying suffering and dehumanization intrinsic to marriage and womanhood during the nineteenth century. While readers recognize the story for its troubling description of the way in which the yellow wallpaper morphs into a representation of the narrator’s insanity, the most interesting and telling component of the story lies apart from the wallpaper. “The Yellow Wallpaper” outwardly tells the story of a woman struggling with post-partum depression, but Charlotte Perkins Gilman snakes expressions of the true inequality faced within the daily lives of nineteenth century women throughout the story. Although the climax certainly surrounds the narrator’s overpowering obsession with the yellow wallpaper that covers the room to which her husband banished her for the summer, the moments that do not specifically concern the wallpaper or the narrator’s mania divulge a deeper and more powerful understanding of the torturous meaning of womanhood.
and "gates that lock". At the top of the stairs is a gate that keeps
We are able to see the difficulties that women were compelled to face and the torturous walls that had to be broken down. Implicitly, Gilman depicts the superiority
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who has a mental illness but cannot heal due to her husband’s lack of belief. The story appears to take place during a time period where women were oppressed. Women were treated as second rate people in society during this time period. Charlotte Perkins Gilman very accurately portrays the thought process of the society during the time period in which “The Yellow Wallpaper” is written. Using the aspects of Feminist criticism, one can analyze “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman through the dialogue through both the male and female perspective, and through the symbol found in the story.
As it was demonstrated in this essay, Gilman’s own personal experiences were the inspiration behind the story and it was her way to demand change in society. Throughout the story, she shows that the rest cure does more harm than good by taking away all healthy distraction and opportunities to deal with the problems. In addition, Gilman demonstrates that the oppression of women by men has a negative impact on women’s emotional health. She states that the controlling role of the men make women feel small and imprisoned and that depressed women often don’t get better because the men won’t listen to their needs and deny the requests that would women help feel better. Gilman used her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” to criticize the gender roles
Sexists have always considered women as weak, but pre-women’s rights movement this was a general belief. Gilman depicts the marginalization of women, especially those claiming mental illness, in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Through the treatment of the protagonist, the “woman” behind the wallpaper, and the “freedom” of the mentally afflicted, the outlook of the world on the female gender is observed.