Beyond this current reality everyone finds themselves living in, could there be an alternative realm in which our inner embody is roaming around freely or even facing the troubles that one contains inside? In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the short story seems to be representing a tale of which the narrator 's mind projects into an imaginary realm where her inner self is trapped behind a dreadful wallpaper. The wallpaper signifies all the demons she faces like her husband and his high standing of being a Physician, her lack of having a say in her own life, and the judgments she faces every day on her sickness. Upon several examinations of the text, “The Yellow Wallpaper” shows stereotypical gender roles that women face, which she portrays as the women trapped behind the wallpaper. The thought of the narrator 's life of staying home all day to be taken care of by her husband and his sister, as well as having the husband go out and tarnish her reputation to her family and friends is such a dreadful thought. Apart from her husband John 's treatment is to keep her away from her family for a bit till she is better, but in order to do that he must disclose her well being with them. It is preposterous that her …show more content…
The Ugly Wallpaper represents the major things in her life that is making her feel trapped and unable to breathe. It is the lack of say she has over her own life because of her Physician husband, the schedule she is under holding her back from seeing the outside world and her family, and the judgement she faces everyday on her sickness as well as losing herself to the sickness that is consuming her due to the unethical way of treating her known as rest cure. The woman whom is truly trapped is taken to be her inner self who is trying to break free from the reality she faces, including letting out the many women behind the wallpaper who are trapped under a man 's
The narrator makes comments and observations that demonstrate her will to overcome the oppression of the male dominant society. The conflict between her views and those of the society can be seen in the way she interacts physically, mentally, and emotionally with the three most prominent aspects of her life: her husband, John, the yellow wallpaper in her room, and her illness, "temporary nervous depression. " In the end, her illness becomes a method of coping with the injustices forced upon her as a woman. As the reader delves into the narrative, a progression can be seen from the normality the narrator displays early in the passage, to the insanity she demonstrates near the conclusion.
In “the Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman used that the first feminist wave, which was the period that she raised up, for the background. Especially, she used the men’s power in the book when she started to telling the story:
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a self-told story about a woman who approaches insanity. The story examines the change in the protagonist's character over three months of her seclusion in a room with yellow wallpaper and examines how she deals with her "disease." Since the story is written from a feminist perspective, it becomes evident that the story focuses on the effect of the society's structure on women and how society's values destruct women's individuality. In "Yellow Wallpaper," heroine's attempt to free her own individuality leads to mental breakdown.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," the reader is treated to an intimate portrait of developing insanity. At the same time, the story's first person narrator provides insight into the social attitudes of the story's late Victorian time period. The story sets up a sense of gradually increasing distrust between the narrator and her husband, John, a doctor, which suggests that gender roles were strictly defined; however, as the story is just one representation of the time period, the examination of other sources is necessary to better understand the nature of American attitudes in the late 1800s. Specifically, this essay will analyze the representation of women's roles in "The Yellow Wallpaper" alongside two other texts produced during this time period, in the effort to discover whether Gilman's depiction of women accurately reflects the society that produced it.
When comparing the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Betty Friedan, and Bell Hooks, I assert that both Gilman and Friedan stress that college educated, white upper- and middle-class women should have the incentive to fight against and alter the rigid boundaries of marriage; however, Hooks in her piece From Margin to Center argues that Friedan and other feminist writers during the second wave had written or spoke shortsightedly, failing to regard women of other races and classes who face the most sexist oppression.
A woman driven crazy by post partum depression and a dangerous treatment summarizes the short story of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The story was influenced by the 19th century women’s depression and their vision of life. Through phantasmagoric symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman is able to speak volumes on the destruction and autonomy of feminist self-expression, the restrictions of gender roles, and the patriarchal paradigm.
It is written in a formal style, while using feign words. Although, the climax of the story happens when she peels the wallpaper from the wall, therefore releasing her from imprisonment; the problem isn’t resolved because she is insane now and didn’t get better. The external conflict is man versus society, the internal conflict is man versus himself, and the central conflict is man versus man. The external conflict is man versus society because of how society viewed women at that time as they were seen to be beneath man, and it showed in how they were treated. The internal conflict is man versus himself because the narrator ad to deal with depression and the treatment, which made it worse for her. The central conflict is man versus man because the narrator has to deal with the way her husband is treating her as a human and as a patient. The themes of the story are inferiority of women in marriage, expressing yourself, and effects of treatment and they are universal. The main theme is the importance of expressing yourself because if you don’t express yourself, you will lose yourself and then you won’t be who you truly are. An important symbol is the yellow wallpaper, which is in the room the narrator spends all her time in and is forced to stay in. She has nothing to do but stare at the intriguing wallpaper that has a woman trapped behind a pattern like she in trapped in her room. She also refers to the wallpaper as paper; therefore she was reading the wallpaper like a text decoding the images like
All through the story, the yellow wallpaper acts as an antagonist, causing her to become very annoyed and disturbed. There is nothing to do in the secluded room but stare at the wallpaper. The narrator tells of the haphazard pattern having no organization or symmetrical plot. Her constant examination of and reflection on the wallpaper caused her much distress.... ...
Gender roles seem to be as old as time and have undergone constant, but sometime subtle, revisions throughout generations. Gender roles can be defined as the expectations for the behaviors, duties and attitudes of male and female members of a society, by that society. The story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is a great example of this. There are clear divisions between genders. The story takes place in the late nineteenth century where a rigid distinction between the domestic role of women and the active working role of men exists (“Sparknotes”). The protagonist and female antagonists of the story exemplify the women of their time; trapped in a submissive, controlled, and isolated domestic sphere, where they are treated as fragile and unstable children while the men dominate the public working sphere.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator describes things in the room, which in way, is a symbol of male dominance in the story. The main symbolism in the story is the wallpaper. For example the horrid yellow that is on the walls represents her “illness” or depression issues diagnosed by her husband. However, the vulgar yellow wallpaper pattern shows the restrictions the narrator believed she was enforced too. During her time in the room the narrator creates an imaginative woman inside the wallpaper representing her and other women in society who are also trapped by the male-centric society. The woman in the wallpaper is trapped behind bars and shakes them violently as the narrator explains to escape from them.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" motivated the female mind of creativity and mental strength through a patriarchal order of created gender roles and male power during the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. While John represented characteristics of a typical male of his time, the yellow wallpaper represented a controlling patriarchal society; a sin of inequality that a righteous traitor needed to challenge and win. As the wallpaper deteriorates, so does the suppressing effect that male hierarchy imposed on women. Male belief in their own hierarchy was not deteriorating. Females began to think out of line, be aware of their suppression, and fight patriarchal rule. The progression of the yellow wallpaper and the narrator, through out the story, leads to a small win over John. This clearly represents and motivates the first steps of a feminist movement into the twentieth century.
As Virginia Wolfe once stated, “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman” ( ). The word female has had countless meanings throughout its lifespan. Females can be seen as lowly and cheap, regal and sophisticated, or weak and underutilized. It has only been in the last 70 years that women have gained a foothold in society, to gain the rights they deserve. In the late 1800’s a new writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman questioned society’s views on the idea of being female and tried to make them understand that females are a force to be reckoned with and not a doormat for men to step on. She would not stand to be labeled anonymous.
The Yellow Paper is a short story published in 1892, and written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Charlotte tells of a disheartening tale of a woman who struggles to free herself from postpartum depression. The Yellow Paper gives an account of an emotionally and intellectual deteriorated woman struggles to break free from a mental prison her husband had put her into, in order to find peace. The woman lived in a male dominated society and wanted indictment from it as she had been driven crazy, because of the Victorian “rest-cure” (Gilman 45). Her husband decided to force her to have a strict bed rest by separating her from her only child. He took her to recuperate in an isolated country estate all alone. The bed rest her husband forced into made her mental state develop from bad to worst. The Yellow Paper is a story that warns the readers about the consequences of fixed gender roles in a male-dominated world. In The Yellow Paper, a woman’s role was to be a dutiful wife and she should not question her husband’s authority and even whereabouts. Whereas, a man’s role was to be a husband, main decision maker, rational thinker and his authority was not to be questioned by the wife.
Feminism can be referred to as the equality of sexes through the rights of women. Feminism is the ongoing fight for equal rights among sexes and the protection of women and their legal rights. It has a long-known history throughout the world. The first thoughts towards better treatment of women started in the fifteenth century. Thus, starting the revolution of waves towards women equality. The first wave consisted of women’s suffrage in the Nineteenth century towards the early Twentieth century. In this wave woman also fought for the right to vote and have economic, sexual, and reproductive rights. However, the second wave then was produced in the early 1960s to the late 1980s. This wave consisted on ending discrimination and breaking barriers
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator and her husband John can be seen as strong representations of the effects society’s stereotypical gender roles as the dominant male and submissive female have within a marriage. Because John’s wife takes on the role as the submissive female, John essentially controlled all aspects of his wife’s life, resulting in the failure of the couple to properly communicate and understand each other. The story is intended to revolve around late 19th century America, however it still occurs today. Most marriages still follow the traditional gender stereotypes, potentially resulting in a majority of couples to uphold an unhealthy relationship or file for divorce. By comparing the “The yellow wallpaper” with the article “Eroticizing Inequality in the United States: The Consequences and Determinants of Traditional Gender Role Adherence in Intimate Relationships”, the similarities between the 19th century and 21st century marriage injustice can further be examined. If more couples were able to separate the power between the male and female, America would have less unhappy marriages and divorces.