The Yellow Wallpaper from a Feminist Point of View - Essay Example

The Yellow Wallpaper from a Feminist Point of View The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story that was written by Charlotte Gilman and published in 1892. The book has a lot of feminist themes. Feminism is the assumption that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities. According to this ideology, women share the same political, social and human rights with men. They also have equal opportunities in terms of personal choices related to politics, expression and careers (Madsen 151). The Yellow wall Paper is feminist because it touches on the plight of women in a man dominated world. In her book, Gilman states her agenda for her fellow women who live in a society which is patriarchal in nature (Gilman 3). The Yellow Wallpaper is highly feminist as it not only written by a woman, it is also written in a way that clearly points out societal deficiencies in terms of equality of the sexes. The reader is acutely aware of the feminism in the story, as the main character is the main symbol of a woman’s struggle against domination by a male. Story Summary The Yellow Wallpaper is a story about a woman who has to live under a man’s male-centered thinking. The woman’s name is not very clear, but her husband’s is John. John is a physician and has kept his wife locked up because she has a nervous condition of anxiety. He does his own diagnosis of her condition and determines that she is sick. So he comes up with a remedy to his wife’s condition which is to keep her indoors and ensure that she does not perform almost any duty around the house. John deters her from doing simple things like writing. She cannot make her own decisions, john does that for her, and neither is she allowed to interact, even briefly, with the external world. His wife does not like this so called remedy, but there is nothing she can do about it (23). When John claims that her condition is improving, she does not agree with him. She hardly eats during the day and only eats a normal meal during dinner. When John sees her eating a normal meal at supper time, he concludes that that is a sign that his wife is regaining her appetite. Perhaps the biggest symbol that the writer uses to identify feminism in the story is the yellow wall paper hanging in John’s and his wife’s bedroom. John’s wife does not like the wall paper because of the images she sees in it. These images are made up of women who are creeping behind the patterns of the wall paper. At night she sees the wallpaper turning into bars behind which is a plain woman and during the day, she looks quiet, as if subdued (22). She keeps watching these images that she has made up in her mind everyday until one day she decides to free the woman by tearing down the wallpaper. Feminist Viewpoint in the Story The feminist point of view in this book cannot go unnoticed. Although Gilman wrote the story long before the age of feminism, it is quite clear that her thoughts in the book reflect a lot of what feminists believe in: equality in rights and opportunities for both men and women (Madsen 151). In the 19th century, women used to live subdued lives, and very few of them enjoyed the kind of opportunities that en used to enjoy then. In this story, there are two physicians: John and his wife’s brother both of whom have similar attitudes towards women. They both agree that John’s wife condition is serious enough to warrant her to be locked up the way she does. They know that she will not object, and she does not. The story is punctuated by statements such as “but what is one to do?’ (12), which just show how subdued John’s wife is in her own home. It is like she has learnt to accept that there is nothing she can do to contribute to her wellbeing, and so has to rely on her husband even for the most basic things. It is apparent from the yellow wallpaper that women are normally shielded from knowing the kind of things that men know about. For instance, John and his brother in law both know more about john’s wife’s condition than she does. She even does not know the medicines that she is supposed to take. The line “so I take phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is” (16) just shows how much she does not know about what she is supposed to do about her condition. It might be that she was not given a chance to pursue the kind of education that her husband and brother got that she does not differentiate between phosphates and phosphate. From a feminist point of view, subduing women the way the female character in this story was subdued can lead to them being misused and treated in a way that they are not supposed to (Giele 77). John locked his wife up, saying that her anxiety condition was very serious. He even refused to allow her to do anything since he believed that working would only worsen her condition. Although his wife knows for sure that John’s remedy is not the best for her, she still does what he tells her to do. Feminist is based on the assumption that men and women are equal and should therefore share opportunities and rights equally (Madsen 201). Gilman had observed how the society around her had treated women like they were second class citizens. They had almost no rights whatsoever, and she being a writer decided to tackle with issue in her story. Gilman believed in the fair treatment of all human beings, both males and females. She did not see any reason why a woman could not be allowed to make her own decisions. In The Yellow Wallpaper, she paints her main character as a weak woman who has to do everything that the men in her life want her to do, instead of deciding what to do on her own. This character is an indication of how society in the 19th century expected women to obey everything that they were told by men (Giele 90). If a man locked you up, then you had to stay locked up until when he decided it was time to unlock the doors. The story shows how the male dominated society could suppress the capabilities of women. John locking his wife up is a symbol that society did not expect women to explore life in the outside world the men were allowed to. John’s wife disagrees with her husband’s and brother’s remedy for her condition. She even knows what would work for her, but when John said she has to be locked up and do no work, she has to do his bidding, since that is what is expected of her. It does not matter that John’s remedy is wrong, as long as she is his wife, she must obey him without a word. When the story is ending, John’s wife tries to destroy the wallpaper so that she can free the woman she keeps seeing trapped inside. When she was finally able to get out after pulling down most of the paper, her husband was so surprised that he fainted. However, this did not deter her one bit because she was happy that she was finally free. This is the same way that Gilman tries to free the women around her through her works, which are full of feminism innuendos and themes. Gilman, through her Yellow Wallpaper, has managed to show how women have had to struggle through a patriarchal society. She has also shown that it is not impossible for women to get out of their bondage, but the effort to do so can take much time (Giele 118). In line with the last sentence in the story, it is clear that getting into and surviving in a man’s world is not easy. There will always be obstacles coming in the way of women who are trying to achieve something, but the obstacle is not permanent, it can always be removed. Conclusion Although the word feminism was an unknown term at the time Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, it is quite clear from the main themes that she wrote it from a feminist point of view. The book is full of issues that women used to face in the patriarchal society that they lived in during the 19th century. The yellow wall paper is the story has been used as the main symbol to show just how women were subdued by men. The bars in the wallpaper signify the kind of barriers that women faced in their everyday lives. John’s wife normally saw a quiet woman on the wall paper during the day. The woman normally used to look sad, to signify that she was not happy to live in the condition that she was in. it is like she wanted more but there was no way of getting it. At the end of the story, John’s wife tries to free the woman by tearing down the wall paper. This is a symbol that however much society would want to place barriers for women, that situation cannot last forever. Someone must arise and fight for what is right: the rightful place of the woman in society, and it is not being locked up and lorded over by men. Works Cited Giele, Janet Zollinger. Two Paths to Women’s Equality: Temperance, Suffrage, and the Origins of Modern Feminism. New York: Twayne, 1995. Print Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Forgotten Books, 1973. Madsen, Deborah. Feminist Theory and literary Practice. London: Pluto Press, 2000. Print Read More

The story is punctuated by statements such as “but what is one to do?’ (12), which just show how subdued John’s wife is in her own home. It is like she has learnt to accept that there is nothing she can do to contribute to her wellbeing, and so has to rely on her husband even for the most basic things. It is apparent from the yellow wallpaper that women are normally shielded from knowing the kind of things that men know about. For instance, John and his brother in law both know more about john’s wife’s condition than she does.

She even does not know the medicines that she is supposed to take. The line “so I take phosphates or phosphites- whichever it is” (16) just shows how much she does not know about what she is supposed to do about her condition. It might be that she was not given a chance to pursue the kind of education that her husband and brother got that she does not differentiate between phosphates and phosphate. From a feminist point of view, subduing women the way the female character in this story was subdued can lead to them being misused and treated in a way that they are not supposed to (Giele 77).

John locked his wife up, saying that her anxiety condition was very serious. He even refused to allow her to do anything since he believed that working would only worsen her condition. Although his wife knows for sure that John’s remedy is not the best for her, she still does what he tells her to do. Feminist is based on the assumption that men and women are equal and should therefore share opportunities and rights equally (Madsen 201). Gilman had observed how the society around her had treated women like they were second class citizens.

They had almost no rights whatsoever, and she being a writer decided to tackle with issue in her story. Gilman believed in the fair treatment of all human beings, both males and females. She did not see any reason why a woman could not be allowed to make her own decisions. In The Yellow Wallpaper, she paints her main character as a weak woman who has to do everything that the men in her life want her to do, instead of deciding what to do on her own. This character is an indication of how society in the 19th century expected women to obey everything that they were told by men (Giele 90).

If a man locked you up, then you had to stay locked up until when he decided it was time to unlock the doors. The story shows how the male dominated society could suppress the capabilities of women. John locking his wife up is a symbol that society did not expect women to explore life in the outside world the men were allowed to. John’s wife disagrees with her husband’s and brother’s remedy for her condition. She even knows what would work for her, but when John said she has to be locked up and do no work, she has to do his bidding, since that is what is expected of her.

It does not matter that John’s remedy is wrong, as long as she is his wife, she must obey him without a word. When the story is ending, John’s wife tries to destroy the wallpaper so that she can free the woman she keeps seeing trapped inside. When she was finally able to get out after pulling down most of the paper, her husband was so surprised that he fainted. However, this did not deter her one bit because she was happy that she was finally free. This is the same way that Gilman tries to free the women around her through her works, which are full of feminism innuendos and themes.

Gilman, through her Yellow Wallpaper, has managed to show how women have had to struggle through a patriarchal society. She has also shown that it is not impossible for women to get out of their bondage, but the effort to do so can take much time (Giele 118). In line with the last sentence in the story, it is clear that getting into and surviving in a man’s world is not easy. There will always be obstacles coming in the way of women who are trying to achieve something, but the obstacle is not permanent, it can always be removed.

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