Through the Eye of a Feminist - Assignment Example

 Through the Eye of a Feminist The central theme of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” published in 1892, is the subordination of women in marriage during the early 1900s in the U.S. The events in the story constitute a reflection of three things – a similar experience in the life of the author, the discriminatory attitude of society towards women and the feminism revolution that was spreading in the country at that time. Gilman uses her story to criticize Anglo-American societal attitudes toward married women in the U.S. She depicts the traditional nineteenth century societal view of marriage among middle class Anglo-American individuals that involved a clear-cut distinction between the responsibilities of a man and his wife. The man was engaged in active employment and provided for the family. The wife was expected to provide physical satisfaction to her husband, bear children, look after her husband and children and take care of all the household chores {Gilman wrote more directly on this subject in her book ‘Women and Economics’ [1898] (DiGrazia)}. The first discriminatory societal norm was that women were not expected to voice their opinion; if they did, the content was dismissed as trivial and inconsequential. At the beginning of the story, the narrator gives her opinion about the summer vacation house to which her husband brought her. She admires its grandeur, romantically calling it “a colonial mansion” and even “a haunted house” (Gilman 729), wondering why it was untenanted for so long, and comes to the conclusion that something is not right about it. When she questions John as to why such an elegant property is rented so cheaply, he dismisses her remarks as trivia, not allowing her to indulge in self-expression (Voth). While John’s overall aim is commendable {to treat his wife’s depression in the best way he knows}, his failing is his self-awarded overwhelming authority that makes him convinced his diagnosis is correct. This causes him to turn a blind eye to his her views on the subject (Adrien). As an offshoot of this attitude, John does not take her seriously when she dares to voice her displeasure about the yellow wallpaper. On the contrary, he chides her by saying she is being paranoid about it. When she persists about her displeasure and requests him to repaper the room, he refuses, saying she was “letting it get the better” of her (Gilman 734) and “she should fight against it” (Adrien). The second discriminatory societal norm was that husbands misjudged their wives. The misjudgment was based on the conviction that the women did not possess sufficient intellect to assess situations correctly. John brings his wife to the summer vacation house to help her recover from “temporary nervous depression” (Gilman 730). A doctor by profession, he diagnoses his wife’s ailment as curable by rest. When she persists in claiming that the ‘rest’ cure is not working, he becomes impatient and irritated, snapping that the “worst thing” she could do was to “think about her condition” (Gilman 730) and threatening to send her to see a specialist named Weir Mitchell. The poor woman is terrified of exacerbating her condition by visiting Mitchell because she has heard disparaging reports about him from a friend who said he was not extraordinary but just like any other doctor (Gilman 737). The narrator’s deteriorating condition manifests itself in her growing fixation and displeasure about the yellow wallpaper as she begins seeing imaginary patterns of “a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern,” going on to add “I don’t like it one bit” (Gilman 739). John totally misjudges his wife by not bothering to listen to her increasingly agitated remarks about the wallpaper, instead telling her to snap out of it and not let “any silly fancies run away” with her (Gilman 739). John is aware of her increasing obsession with the wallpaper but does nothing to try and alleviate her increasing problem (Adrien). The third discriminatory societal norm was to consider women incapable of being highly educated, and that literary concepts or creative writings taxed their delicate nature with “excited fancies” (Gilman, 6). Societal reaction tended to be particularly displeased if women tried to break this tradition and engage in writing {due to this, 19th century female authors like Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte wrote under the male pseudonym Currer, Ellis and Action Bell (Hawoth-Village.org.uk) This discriminatory societal attitude is reflected in events where the writer hurries to hide her journal whenever John or his sister Jennie enter the room for fear that it will be snatched from her. She is particularly afraid of John’s disapproval if he finds out about her writing either directly “I must put this away, he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 733) or if she is caught doing it by Jennie and she reports it to him “I must not let her find me writing” (Gilman 736). A side effect of this intellectual repression was to give women an inferiority complex, making them think their well-educated husbands were superior to them. In the story, the narrator tamely submits to the superiority of her husband, “acknowledging she is inferior” (Voth). Instead of being angry with John for not listening to explanation of her medical problem, she makes excuses for him “It is so hard to talk with John about my case because he is so wise” (Gilman, 738) and belittles herself by saying she is a “comparative burden” to her husband (Gilman 734). The fourth discriminatory societal norm was the notion that women belonged within the boundaries of their houses and they belonged to their husbands. The narrator becomes stifled by her continuous confinement, “trapped in this atrocious nursery” (Gilman 734). She vows to herself that she would never allow “a child of mine to live in such a room for worlds” (Gilman 739). An intellectual in her own right, she struggles against societal perception. “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work with excitement and change would do me good. But what is one to do” (Gilman, 731). John displays the possessive trend by his patronizing attitude towards the narrator. He treats her like a small child {“John gathered me up in his arms and just carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed” (Gilman, 739)} (Adrien). In a vivid depiction of “how accepted patterns of behavior could have disastrous effects on women no matter what the objectives of the purveyors” (Ames), the effect of the four discriminatory societal norms on the narrator is to make her struggle to break free from its increasingly repressive hold on her. When she disintegrates into hallucinations even becoming quite “fond of the room” (Gilman 738) by the end and finally, into madness, she turns into the imaginary woman trapped in the wallpaper, a transposing of her self image of one who is trying to break out of the restraining bars of discriminatory societal norms that are stifling her. She ultimately becomes a victim of her unfulfilled craving for self-expression, seeming to foreshadow her destiny by the words she uses to describe the patterns of the wallpaper: “suddenly committing suicide [by] destroying themselves in unheard of contradictions” (Voth), meaning her fate, a descent into madness, will mark a revolt against societal traditions that expected her to go on docilely submitting to the oppressive will of her husband. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a reflection of events in Gilman’s personal life that occurred in 1886. While she married in compliance with societal norms, she secretly dreaded it could spell the end of her career aspirations (Beekman). Soon after her marriage and birth of her daughter, she suffered a serious bout of depression which she described in her 1935 book “The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman” as a period dominated by “utter prostration, unbearable inner misery and ceaseless tears” (Adrien). She took treatment from Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell {the same named specialist in her story} that involved a ‘rest cure’ based on his conviction that women’s depression was the result of excessive mental activity and insufficient attention to domestic chores (Adrien). Mitchell’s ‘rest cure,’ developed in 1873, involved total rest, good feeding and electrical/manual massage for 6 weeks. He reportedly treated famous female intellectuals like Jane Addams and Edith Wharton (Showalter). The ‘rest cure’ badly misfired on Gilman, causing her to suffer a mental breakdown during which she resorted to creeping under beds and into cupboards while desperately clasping a rag doll. Her recovery began when she stopped the ‘rest cure,’ and identifying the real problem as her suppression and confinement to the house (Adrien), took a bold decision to divorce her husband, leave their child with him – thereby flaunting societal norms - and embark on a new chapter in life (Ames). Bereft of financial support, she began writing as a means of livelihood (Beekman). She went on to exercise her talent as a journalist, lecturer and publisher. It was then she wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” using her personal experience to create a story of the destiny of creative women trapped and repressed in a paternalistic society (Adrien). The First Wave of Feminism that swept through Britain and the United States dominated the political scenario during Gilman’s lifetime, calling for women to be granted the same political, social and human rights as men (Ames). Among the famous feminist leaders were three paternal great-aunts of Gilman – Catherine Beecher {strong advocator of domestic feminism}, Isabella Beecher Hooker {staunch proponent of the female right to vote} (DiGrazia}, and Harriet Beecher Stowe {an abolitionist and author of the famous book ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’} (Beekman). Her paternal genes {the Beechers were well known for their radicalism} and the fact that Gilman spent a lot of time with her great-aunts both contributed towards her own feminist views. Apart from this book and ‘Women and Economics,’ Gilman published her feminist ideas in essays, books and a journal named ‘The Forerunner’ that she single handedly wrote and published (Ames). The First Wave of Feminism succeeded in bringing about female access to higher education, professions and employment also succeeding in getting the U.S. Congress to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1919 that officially sanctioned women’s vote. By propagating her feminist views through her various publications, Gilman is considered a significant contributor to ultimate success of the feminist movement. While “The Yellow Wallpaper” was looked upon as a powerfully shocking story when it was published in 1892, it has the power to shock its readers even today (Adrien). However, there is a significant difference. The readers {predominantly white of course} in 1892 were shocked at the boldness of a woman {that too an African-American} who dared to posit their societal norms as grievous flaws. Modern readers, on the contrary, are shocked at the blatantly discriminatory way women were treated by society during that period. Discrimination in all forms {be it color, religion, class or gender} provokes the interest of readers because it is a commonly encountered problem even in the modern world of today. It is the general tendency of human beings to oppose discrimination and champion struggles initiated against it. It is because of this reason that “The Yellow Wallpaper” will continue posing an evergreen attraction to viewers. Reference used: Ames, William. “On Feminism and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Gilman.” The Poet’s Forum. 2007. 11 Dec. 2007. Ardoin, Adrian. “Sparknote on ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Sparknotes.com. 2007. 11 Dec. 2007. Beekman, Mary. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935).” Webster.edu. (N.d). 11 Dec. 2007. “The Bronte Sisters Biography.” Hawoth-Village.org.uk. 2007. 15 Dec. 2007. DiGrazia, Jodi. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1860-1935.” The College of Staten Island. 1998. 11 Dec. 2007. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings.” USA: Bantam Classic Books. 1989. Showalter, Elaine. “Rest Cure.” Geocities.com. 1985. 15 Dec. 2007. Voth, Lori. “Literary Analysis: ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” Associated Content. 2005. 11 Dec. 2007. Read More