The Yellow Wallpaper: A Feminist Analysis

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In 1973, a publishing house with the name of The Feminist Press reprinted Charlotte Perkins’ The Yellow Wallpaper, which was first published in 1892 by the New England Magazine. It was not until the rediscovery of the story in the early 1970’s that The Yellow Wallpaper was recognized as an early feminist reading. Examining the author’s history provides a better explanation to the story. Author Charlotte Perkins was born in a time where women who were driven to madness were given a “rest-cure,” which was a period of inactivity to cure the hysteria and nervous conditions in women. This cure was prescribed to Perkins himself by Dr.Weir Mitchell. Perkins was also driven to madness, for which she then wrote her story, The Yellow Wallpaper to protest …show more content…

The narrator protagonist becomes obsessed with the room’s wallpaper, which she describes as repelling and infuriating. In her imaginary realm she finds that there is a woman who is trapped behind the wallpaper and destroys it to free the woman. When examining The Yellow Wallpaper through a feminist lens, it is clear that Perkins’ highlights a young woman’s path to insanity by showing man’s ability to force woman into submission, gender roles in marriage, and women’s dependence. The feminist lens allows the reader to analyze the text to see how women are portrayed and presented in comparison to men.
Biologically, males are proven to be stronger than females. This does not mean though that natural strength should be taken advantage of. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator’s husband, John takes advantage of his power and forces his wife into submission. The narrator becomes disappointed when her husband, decides to put her in the same room she refused to live in. She has complained to her husband many times about the room and the wallpaper, but he simply ignores her by assuring that her condition is nothing but a temporary

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