The Oppressed Gender

654 Words2 Pages

Imagine if you were a woman in nineteenth century America, what do you think life would be like? The obvious answer is that one would be subjected to being a housewife and only a housewife, but there was something else that went far beneath this surface oppression. For women, the nineteenth century was a dark period. Not only were they thought of as glorified maids, but they were also greatly oppressed and subjected to the rule of man. At this time, women weren’t allowed to vote and it was socially unacceptable for a woman to do much without the proper consent of her husband or father. In the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the reader explores the idea of how deeply this oppression affected the average woman. In the story, the main character is denied the simple right of her own sanity and peace of mind wherever she expressed desires to be free. The nineteenth century was not a pleasant time for women, especially for those who were brave enough to ask to be treated like a man. The beginning of The Yellow Wallpaper offers an introduction to the two main characters, the narrator and her husband, John. The narrator takes the time to describe herself and her husband’s relationship from the start, giving the reader an idea of their less than perfect marriage. John, a physician, believe that there is something wrong with his wife, but denies the fact that her problems could be psychological. Instead, he diagnosis’ her with a “temporary nervous depression” and prescribes bed rest in a room where she would be forced to stay in for most of the story. The narrator objects to this decision, but there was not much she could do to convince her husband otherwise. She realizes just this fact, feeling hopeless with the... ... middle of paper ... ...,” (Gilman, 649). John’s complete lack of interest in his wife’s well-being is a whole new form of oppression that even borders on abuse. She had been dependent on him for so long, and then, in her greatest time of need, he abandoned her. The nineteenth century was not an optimal time. Although we may look at the past through romantic ideal, we are truly only seeing it through rose colored glass. For women, especially the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, this was a time of hardship and oppression, just simply because they were women. They lived under the rule of man, and we taught to obey. Women were never to stray, never to have a free thought. That is why if a woman ever thought it right that she might be able to live her own life, she was called absurd, and told to continue to simply serve. A woman wasn’t a human in the nineteenth century, they were servants.

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