What Is The Role Of Women In The Yellow Wallpaper

The social standing of women is a primary theme in feminist writing, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is no exception. What is exceptional is the fact that Gilman was willing to voice her thoughts by writing this story 1892 – a time when men were expected to be the head of the household, and women were thought to be the gentler sex with little need for fulfillment beyond being a homemaker and mother. Currently, modern day women now have many options to work outside of the home, and it is economically necessary for many. However, there is now an expectation that women “should” work outside of the home in order to be fulfilled. While The Yellow Wallpaper is a story about how women were not encouraged to work at that

time, the deeper meaning is not only about women being allowed to work, but also how women are affected by feeling the need to bend to the expectations of society instead living in a way that works for each individual.
Gilman uses many forms of symbolism in an effort to illustrate how a male dominated society and overly defined gender roles caused many women to experience feelings of self-doubt, inadequacy, and uselessness. In the beginning of the story, she writes about the disparity of power between the main character, who is also the narrator, and her physician husband who “assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with [her] but temporary nervous depression.” This emphasizes that his opinion carries enough importance, as both husband and doctor, that he can undermine the main character’s confidence in her own feelings and perception. The main character’s brother is also a physician and agrees with the husband’s diagnosis, which further promotes the main character’s self-doubt.
It is also ironic that Gilman casts the main character’s husband, John, as a doctor. The primary role of a doctor is to