Women In The Yellow Wall-Paper

In the 19th century, the female gender faced limited opportunity and the widespread belief of inferiority to the male gender. Women were viewed as being frail, weak, and in constant need of a man to help her do even the most basic tasks. This resulted in devastating effects on the female psyche, including debasement of character and even catastrophic mental illness. Literature written by the women of the aforementioned time period conveys the isolation, humiliation, and agony experienced by the females of that time. The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, serves as an excellent example of such a piece of literature. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates subordinate standing of the female role in the 19th century and how such social conditions can have a devastating effects impact on the human mind. (Wilson)

Because of the 19th Amendment that allowed women the right to vote, Women started to gain legitimacy in the eyes of society. There was no law that made them lesser of a

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman discusses the oppression men have towards women through the story of a nameless narrator during the 19th century. In the story, the unknown narrator, a woman, is telling her struggle for freedom and her fight to escape from the subordination in her marriage with a physician. In the story, the narrator suffers an illness that prevents her from doing things she likes such as writing. Throughout her illness, the narrator slowly becomes aware of her situation and then starts to fight to change her living condition with her husband. Through the use of two major symbols established throughout the text, Gilman brings awareness of women’s struggle to end their oppression by men and their fight to change the way society is dominated by men. In addition, the symbols used by Gilman underline the way women suffrage awareness slowly began to spread during the 19th century.

Most women in America nowadays are lucky enough to consider themselves to be an independent individual, but females were not always guaranteed their freedoms. Throughout the early 1900’s, authors would characterize husbands to be controlling figures. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins demonstrates just how possessive the husband is to his wife in their marriage. This short story shows just how miserable the woman is to be in a marriage with John because John, thinks it would be best that his wife is isolated to get over her postpartum depression.“The Yellow Wallpaper” demonstrates how a male dominated society leads to the woman not being their own individual by using characterization, narrator perspective, and conflict between women and society.

Throughout history, it is seen that women were always treated like they were less than a male. While a great amount of women hid and did what they were told, some women fought for their rights and took a stand. For some women, this included getting a medical degree, or doing public speaking. During the 1800’s, there were multiple women that fought for women's rights by sticking up for themselves and not letting people down grade them for being female.

During the nineteenth century, women and men played vastly different roles. While men had the free will to choose the life paths they desired, women lacked such privileges. Women, instead, were expected to tend to domestic responsibilities. Unlike men, they were unable to voice their opinions, instead, myriads of them lived monotonous lives with their, often condescending, husbands. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, portrays a woman in the nineteenth century descending into psychosis. After the birth of her daughter, the unnamed narrator presumably endures postpartum depression and is forced into bed rest as a cure. In her male-dominated society, the narrator often feels as though she is at a loss of control over her life. Despite what she believes is best for her own betterment, her husband, John, overrides her inputs. She is stripped away from the outside world and left with nothing more than her concealed diary entries and the horrid yellow wallpaper of her bedroom. Although John seemingly wants the best for his wife, his dismissiveness towards her mental state and solicitations necessarily cause her to become deranged; her breakdown is a result of feeling powerless as she is encaged in a house she does not care for, restricted from her activities, and her inability to communicate effectively.

In the late 1800’s women were tired of being put on the back burner. Women were not able to vote, work certain jobs and some were not able to get a basic education.

Women throughout the History of the United States faced many challenges. Women were not seen as equals in the eyes of men. One reason is because men seen them to be weak. They were also looked at as servants and slaves. Women did not have the same rights as the men when it came to marriage. Whatever procession the women had became the husband. Marriage for women back then was more of them doing the entire house work and catering to the kids, and the man.

After eight harsh year of war, reconstructing a normal life was found difficult. Poets, political leaders, and even educators began writing about the question of the role of the women known as the woman question. Before the war, women were seen as “both morally and mentally inferior to men”(151). This statement began to get rejected postwar. In 1787, the first academy for women was opened and allowed women to get an education called Philadelphia Young Ladies Academy. Before the revolution, women were not allowed an education, however, “ This revolution in education was so successful that, by the end of the eighteenth century, elite society frowned upon a poorly educated young woman”(153). Women were now able to take similar courses to what

There were many things that were unequal between men and women back in the 1800’s such as education, training, general rights and how differently each gender was treated.

They could not strive to be better and they could not challenge the way society thought. This is simply not the case today. Our society has advanced to the point where there are not such defined boundaries on what a woman can achieve. Many women have accomplished achievements that early 20th century women didn’t even dream about such as voting. Voting was a right gained by women in 1920. The 19th amendment says that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This was a great victory for women. Also, women work much more now. Women are doing jobs that were historically reserved for men such as the military. Another area that women are thriving in now is sports. In the early 20th century you would never hear of women participating in sports on any level. Today women’s sports are plentiful. Women have achieved a lot over the last century.

husband's so called therapeutic treatment of her aliments during the late 1800s. The story begins

In the 19th century there were many females that had positive futures with prosperous professions.. From actresses to writers to scientists who were lost to the fact that society would never accept them or listen to what they have to say. Actresses were laughed at and told they didn't have place on a stage. Writers were silenced because their work would not be published because they were women.

Throughout much of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In the 1800s and early 1900s, women were not allowed to hold the same jobs or

Women have not always been as respected in society as they are now. In early America, women were banned from participating in most parts of society and their lives were mainly controlled by their fathers and husbands. While the women’s rights movement can be tracked as far back as 1850 is wasn’t until the early 1960s that