The Role of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins

Hence, it served a purpose as a source of her strength and hope that she has humanity throughout

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a feminist and writer. She lived from 1860 to 1935 , fighting for women injustice. From the 19th and early 20th century she fought for woman's rights. She advocated child-care centers and communal kitchens so women could earn money outside the house. Gilman was a role model in the start of women's rights but her life was not a easy journey in the beginning.

The home as a place of comfort does not exist for the narrator; companionship with her husband is lost. Her only real conversations occur on paper, as no one else speaks to her of anything other than her condition. She is stripped of her role as a wife, robbed of her role as a mother, and is reduced to an object of her husband's.

makes her feel so “silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim” while she is

The key words in this line are “three months”. These words mean the narrator has to stay in the room with the barred windows and hideous, yellow wallpaper for a total of three months. These keywords might be missed if read over too quickly. The quote needs to be read slowly to realize what is happening. The reason they are only there for three months is because the treatment John has given her is going to take three months. The narrator does not realize this. Under his rule, she cannot stop the treatment.

The story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story about control. In the late 1800's, women were looked upon as having no effect on society other than bearing children and keeping house. It was difficult for women to express themselves in a world dominated by males. The men held the jobs, the men held the knowledge, the men held the key to the lock known as society . . . or so they thought. The narrator in "The Wallpaper" is under this kind of control from her husband, John. Although most readers believe this story is about a woman who goes insane, it is actually about a woman’s quest for control of her life.

Shortly after the passage above, there is another change in the mental state of the narrator. She begins to show symptoms of paranoia, another classic sign of schizophrenia. Speaking of how glad she is that her baby does not have to stay in the room with the yellow wallpaper, the narrator says "Of course I never mention it to them any more— I am too wise,— but I keep watch of it all the same" (Gilman 430). She again shows her mistrust of the people who are caring for her when she says "The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look" (Gilman 431). At one point she catches Jennie looking at the yellow wallpaper. She says "I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself!" (Gilman 432). This kind of paranoia is a solid indicator that the narrator's psychological state is deteriorating towards schizophrenia.

  The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can by read in many different ways.  Some think of it as a tragic horror story while others may find it to be a tale of a woman trying to find her identity in a male-dominated society.  The story is based on an episode in Gilman's life when she suffered from a nervous disease called melancholia.  A male specialist advised her to "live a domestic a life as far as possible.. and never to touch a pen, brush or pencil..."   (Gilman, 669).   She lived by these guidelines for three months until she came close to suffering from a nervous breakdown.  Gilman then decided to continue writing, despite the physicians advice, and overcame her illness.

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

It is as if she is hiding a secret that she wants to tell but knows that she should keep to herself.

remains true to who she is so that she cannot be accepted with her personalities; moreover, her

that she may remain a housewife, but change the way she caters to her family. Despite all of the

For centuries women in literature have been depicted as weak, subservient, and unthinking characters. Before the 19th century, they usually were not given interesting personalities and were always the proper, perfect and supportive character to the main manly characters. However, one person, in order to defy and mock the norm of woman characterization and the demeaning mindsets about women, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." This story, through well crafted symbolisms, brought to surface the troubles that real women face. Her character deals with the feeling of being trapped by the expectations of her husband, with the need to do something creative or constructive, and to have a mind and will of her own. These feelings

Most woman are a like in many ways, or they are categorized by their personalities. It's

This is displayed in the same way mentioned above. Also, just in her dialogue you can tell she is very ambitious. We see this when she states “the one error that people make early on in their careers is that they are very selective about opportunities so they avoid some, prefer others. I always accepted all