preview

Women In The Yellow Wallpaper

Good Essays

Women’s struggle in order to be heard Women are often described as they are less than men. In the 19th century women were dominated by men and treated unequal, this made them feel lonely and isolated. Seeing that the 19th century society is different from today, because women were not permitted to work, they could not vote and even worst they could not have a word in anything. The short story "The Yellow Wallpaper” and also the narrator represent the impact of abuse of women in society. The narrator of the “Yellow Wallpaper” suffers from depression and her husband John is a physician. John as her husband and physician makes all decisions for her; this really bothers her, “but the narrator admits: if a physician of high standing, …show more content…

Women in the 19th century where pretty much controlled by their husbands, they had no voice in anything. Also the well secured windows can represent the powerful, societal, and psychological prison women of that time were retained. This characteristic represents her trapped feelings and her limitation to communicate. A window usually symbolizes a view of possibilities, but for her it has become a view of things she doesn’t want to see “she writes: I don’t like to look out of the windows even-there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast” (16). The narrator knows that she has to hide. At some point she sneaks to become part of society, when she looks through the window she sees the reflection of herself in many other women, she refuses to look through the window. “she says: most women do not creep by daylight” (13), this indicates the reality of women hiding in the shadows; they try to do things without being noticed. She doesn’t see the window as a getaway anymore; “the bars are holding her in”, that world of opportunity and beautiful things she used to see on the other side of the window will not belong to her. Even if she escaped from the barred windows she will still be controlled and forced to restrain her self-expression. She will still be forced to sneak, and hide from everybody. …show more content…

The Victorian Age had a profound impact on the social values in the United States” (Wilson, 18). The inability to communicate in a significant way takes her to understand the woman in the wallpaper, because the woman behind the wallpaper is also trapped behind bars, isolated literally in a cage. At the end the narrator tears up the wallpaper, because she wants to let the woman behind the paper free but not only that, she thinks if she lets the women behind the wallpaper free she would also be free. The narrator uses symbols and imagery in the story to emphasis the struggle for equality. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a powerful story that inspired women to fight for better life, to be treated better and have equal

Get Access