Consequence of Limitation of Freedom - Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Essay Example

Consequence of limitation of freedom One of the most sought out aspect of human being comes out clearly as the need for expression, and to be understood in any circumstances. If that freedom is denied, depression may settle in and in extreme cases lead to anti social behaviour. The state may proceed to cause depression in involved persons and trigger a fight back mechanism. The fight back occurs implicitly or explicitly. When the fight is implicit, suicidal emotions become elicited. On the other hand, explicit fights yield revolutions. In the yellow wall paper story, the theme involves conflict of interest between John, a physician, and his wife. The setting is clear Johns wife ‘suffers nervous breakdown. According to John, the problem bears roots from her writing career and as such a prescription of medication and compulsory rest becomes imposed. Being a caring husband, John rents out a mansion for the summer. This aims at creating a vacation to help the wife get better. The woman becomes restrained from any form of work even the things she would get solace in, like writing. This presents an absolute restriction of expression on the woman who soon becomes bored(Gilman 2). Lack of consultation becomes evidenced in various occasions. Since it is the woman who needs to recuperate, she should be allowed to select a place of choice. The domineering husband goes ahead to rent the old mansion which thrives under poor maintenance and thus unfavourable for recovering patients. The woman gets a nod of disapproval when she suggests the room she should stay in or how she best thinks she can cope with her nervousness. Male chauvinistic behaviour gains expression through John and the woman’s brother. As physicians, they insist the woman is not sick. Ironically, she is under treatment. The woman in the story lives a solitary and lonely life and appears like a prisoner in the mansion. Restrictions on movement and activities are in place with access to her child being denied. Nobody respects her opinion on what could promote her quick recovery and even chatty relatives cannot be allowed to visit. Her story is that of a woman who is trapped within her own self. She is denied doing what she likes most, writing, as the husband thinks it is the cause of her nervousness. The woman in the narrative is sad and lonely for being left alone most of the time and devises a mechanism for escape through analysing the patterns of the yellow paper on the wall. This helps her reflect on the internal feelings and an alter ego develops (Gilman 24). Her personal reflection makes her see through the injustices done on women who are denied a voice and appear to be suffocated by male dominance. The husband, who is a physician, thinks he knows what is best for her and fails to give in to the voice of reason. The woman believes she can do well with writing but he insists it is the writing that has made her unwell. She receives no room for making any choice including a recuperation house. This is an expression of male chauvinism in the family setup. The physician thinks he knows what is best for a patient. The way to a fast recovery is through allowing a patient to relax, exercise and do the things they like most. It is ironic that the same physician who insists the woman is not sick is the same one who takes her on a vacation to help her recover. If she was not sick in the first place, the reader is left wondering why the woman takes medication and is not allowed to work or even attend to her baby. The imagination of women trapped in the yellow wall paper represents women suffering in silence who are not able to break through. They are suffocated by the domineering men who call the shots on their every move. They can be seen as having lost their independence. The pattern which was not changing could be a representative of the social evil in which women become deprived of speaking their mind. This trend bars root from the past. The woman develops an alter ego that is afraid of the scenery. She lacks confidence when doing her activities. Instead of understanding and offering comfort, the husband employs pretence as a tactic to feign care. The woman is sensitive enough to see that the concern and loving is faked. The woman seeks a way of letting the trapped woman out. She wants to break away from the entrapment of the mind. She is in the best position to find a remedy for her situation but her voice is made to be of no effect due to the fact that the husband is a physician. The woman’s brother reinforces the idea, which can be seen as men acting in cohort to suppress women. The issue of being trapped takes a toll on the woman at the end of the vacation as she tears at the wallpaper as a way of releasing her spirit from torment and being ignored. This is the ultimate expression of being under unbearable oppression (Gilman 7). As the negative thoughts take a toll on her, the husband’s lack of sensitivity comes to light. According to John, she appears to be doing well. In the real sense, she gets worse with the number of images in her head increasing. The yellow wallpaper in the room now leaves an impression of a creeping woman whom she desires to rescue (Gilman 8). The passion to deliver the creeping spirit turns into an obsession to be that creeping woman. This leads to thoughts of suicide where she locks herself in the room and throws the keys outside. This forms an example of how limiting a person’s freedom can drive them to unsound behaviour. This leaves an effect to those around them as expressed when John falls and faints. In Herland, the theme also surrounds women. The story tells of the adventure of here young men who find themselves in a women country. Before getting to the women only land, they pass through various regions where the mention of the women land is taboo. This is an expression of women who have liberated themselves to a self governing unit. Men view such women as a threat. The need for adventure, though, drives the three young men on a quest to find out if it is true there is such a culture (Herland 1). A lot of misconceptions develop in the mind of the adventurers and creates bias in their minds. In the minds of men, women become viewed as inferior beings without ability to defend themselves. They also become generalized as being primitive and disorganized. This is caused by their competition against each other. The writer, on her part, represents Herland as the fantasy of all women. It implies that women desire to live free to govern themselves away from the mail influence. They desire to have their own social order. Men, on the other hand, believe they can be accommodated in the women society and readily fit. When on their quest, Terry hopes he would be crowned king by the women. This is an expression of the dominating thoughts of men (Herland 3). While women are viewed as lacking organization, men carefully plan out their strategy prior to execution as seen when the explorers in Herland. Once they found the women country, the scenery turns out contradictory to the belief they held. The country level of civilization abides beyond expectation. According to the men in the story, such development cannot exist without male involvement. The power in numbers makes the men feel overpowered and threatened. Women are taken as beings not in a position to cause any kind of harm to the men regardless of their strength. Women appear as innovative in providing objects of comfort befitting the men under their spell. Only when under threat do men compromise on their masculinity and become more participative in soliciting balance in command. The writer expresses women as entities able to protect themselves. The issue of the fortress shows the level of sophistication in a woman society successful at providing protection among its kind. Men count on having leverage in a negotiation. Failure to secure a hostage while entering the woman country meant lack of bargaining power for the team of explorers. In conclusion,for a viable relationship to exist between men and women, a point of trust has to be reached. The women must be able to trust the man and hold no suspicion. Values such as respect and politeness create conducive environment for building of trust and encouraging conversation (Herland 32). Through denial of freedom, the three friends devise an escape plan from the women country only to meet with the colonels where they had left their boat. Need for communication is expressed by the women which results to exchange of cultural knowledge and a build up of trust and later love brews (Herland 38). References Gilman, Charlotte P. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Minneapolis, Minn.: Filiquarian Pub., LLC, 2007. Print. Herland. Sanfrancisco, N.Y.: Createspace Pub., 2009. Print. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesAuthorCharlotte Perkins GilmanPublisherFiliquarian Publishing Read More