A Feminist in Action in The Yellow Wallpaper - 1779 Words

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts a woman in isolation, struggling to cope with mental illness, which has been diagnosed by her husband, a physician. Going beyond this surface level, the reader sees the narrator as a developing feminist, struggling with the societal values of the time. As a woman writer in the late nineteenth century, Gilman herself felt the adverse effects of the male-centric society, and consequently, placed many allusions to her own personal struggles as a feminist in her writing. Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes a psychological journey that correlates with the advancement of her mental condition. The restrictions which society places on her as a woman have a worsening†¦show more content†¦This attitude that the narrator possesses is demonstrated throughout the story by her refusal to confront her husband. Although she frequently disagrees with his prescription for treating her illness, she never openly questions his skills as a physician. She writes in her journal, Personally I disagree with [his] ideas...but what is one to do? (Gilman 577). This quotation epitomizes the inability of women in previous centuries to express their thoughts and feelings. The inability of the narrator to communicate her wishes and feelings is a recurring theme in the story. The lack of expression that the woman displays plays a key role in the worsening of her illness. The narrator tells her husband that she feels uneasy in the house, but his response is that her uneasiness is the result of a draught, and he will shut the window. In another instance, the narrator expresses her dissatisfaction with the yellow wallpaper, and all her husband can respond is, You know the place is doing you good... (Gilman 579). This response from the husband contributes to the building psychosis of the narrator. The woman does what she can to make her husband see her problems, but in the end this effort is in vain because he believes, as a physician, he knows what is best for her. As a result of this fact, the woman struggles to cope with her everyday life, which in actuality is leading herShow MoreRelatedSummary Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman And The Novel The Key By Junichiro Tanizaki1694 Words   |  7 Pageseyes of women, would we see the world a different way? Would we all be considered hysterical? Or would we just all be â€Å"normal†? In the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman and the novel The Key by Junichiro Tanizaki we see the metamorphosis of two women under two very different scenarios. The unnamed woman in The Yellow Wallpaper is stuck in a room where she transforms into a completely different soul. In The Key, the wife, Ikuko appears to also transition throughout the novelRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay1208 Words   |  5 Pagesthat wallpaper as I did?† the woman behind the pattern was an image of herself. She has been the one â€Å"stooping and creeping.† The Yellow Wallpaper was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In the story, three characters are introduced, Jane (the narrator), John, and Jennie. The Yellow Wallpaper is an ironic story that takes us inside the mind and emotions of a woman suffering a slow mental breakdown. 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Although the story was correlated to actual events, many of the scenes described in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† prove to be exaggerated in comparison to the author’s experience. Similarly, the author and narrator of the story (who goes by no name)Read MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesImmediately in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† readers are able to tell that the protagonist feels trapped in the room, in which she is being placed. The female narrator also mentions to us that her husband â€Å"John is a physician, and perhaps –– (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind –– perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster† (Ste tson 1892, 129). That is to say, this statement clearly indicates thatRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1673 Words   |  7 PagesSvetlana Kryzhanovskaya Prof. Grajeda ENC 3014-MidTerm Paper March 12, 2012 Structuralism amp; Feminist Theory ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ written by Charlotte Gilman can be affectively analyzed from two schools of thought structuralism and feminist theory. Though structuralists’ deny the work of literature any connection to its author (it must be what it is, no underlying meaning) feminist theory must first and foremost be understood in its historical framework. By the turn of the century, journals