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Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper's Impact Then And Now

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The Yellow Wallpaper’s Impact Then And Now. Society’s judgments for men and women and their expectations are constantly changing, but there are certain ideals that are deeply rooted in our history. The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which is regarded as important feminist literary work which commentates on women's mental and physical health. Written from a first person narrative, the main protagonist Jane takes the reader through her descent into insanity after her husband isolates her from a nursery room to cure her “nervous disorder”. Jane becomes increasingly obsessed with the yellow wallpaper of the room as she is deprived of any companionship, exercise, and intellectual stimulation. This …show more content…

Demonstrated in this story, Jane has a desire to be more than the constraint of her role as a mother, but her aspirations are diminished by her husband's treatment prescribed to her. Rather than women working alongside the men in family businesses, the 19th century saw an increase in men commuting away to their places of work, leaving the women home all day to oversee the household (Social Life in Victorian England | British Literature Wiki). Society’s pressure for women to do domestic work is still occurring in areas of today's society. In the domestic viewpoints of women, they are expected to provide health care by attending to the physical needs of those with whom they live. They obtain food, provide and dispose of the remains of meals, clean the home, buy or make and wash and repair clothing, and take personal care of those who are too young or too old, or too sick or too busy to take care of their own physical needs (Ann Oakley 30). By placing Jane under the rest of her treatment, her husband John is providing Jane with a way to “heal” so that she can return to her domestic duties as a mother. Her frustration from the isolation and dependence on others drives her to the insanity levels Jane reaches. Society still to this day has a deep rooted

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During the 1800s, women were supposed to adhere to the ideas of a patriarchal society. According to scholar Rula Quawas, womanhood during this time period consisted of “a sharp dichotomy between the home and the economic world outside that paralleled a sharp contrast between female and male nature; the designation of the home as the female's only proper sphere … and the idealization of her function as a mother and a wife” (Quawas 44). While men were expected to leave home and make money for their families, women were encourage to work in the house and take care of their children. These narrow expectations for women caused them to be economically and intellectually dependent on men. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the character Jennie embodies this stereotypical function of a woman.

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She is not allowed to leave her room, she cannot write or draw let alone function as a human all because her husband is a famous physician, and he tells her that if she rests enough it will go away. Gilman writes, “John is a physician, and perhaps-(I would not say this to a living soul.)-perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (330). The narrator picks up on her husband's reluctance to trust her illness but she is so afraid to speak out against him because the repercussions would be horrifying. He effectively traps the narrator and keeps her held captive in a room-(which would truly turn anyone who set eyes upon it insane)-where she eventually loses herself to her mental illness and destroys the room.

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How Does Withington Treat Women In The 19th Century?

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In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to John and our protagonist. Jane speaks of her husband in a fond light, as if he is herald as someone greater then herself. During the 19th century, women were often expected to be caretakers

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What Is The Cause Of Jane's Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper

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Throughout the story, Jane completely disagrees with John’s prognosis and form of treatment. This is shown when Jane says, “So I take phosphates or phosphites - whichever it is, and tonics and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to ‘work’ until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas.” (page ) As the story continues Jane makes suggestions to John about what she thinks would improve her health.

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1117 Words | 5 Pages

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Unfortunately during that time, Jane had to endure this type of treatment when she needed someone the most. For example, she had led this double life because she wasn’t satisfied in her relationship. To others she seemed happy in her marriage, but in reality she felt alone and empty inside. Even though Jane had everything she wanted, but she still yearned for something that didn’t

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During the three month stay at the mansion, Jane constantly debates her inner thoughts; the need to be the woman she was expected to be, versus having the freedom she longs for. Jane begins to hallucinate about a woman trapped behind the yellow wallpaper that covers the walls of her room and subsequently has a mental breakdown. One can conclude, that the cause of Jane’s breakdown was the oppression she suffered at the hands of her husband.

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She was robbed her of passion for writing, so she had to deceive her husband into her being able to write because he wouldn’t let her. She was in need of that release and usually when one is in need of a certain release and they are told that they can’t get that, they’ll deceive a person into getting that very thing they are told they cannot have. Jane was also suffered depression because her husband only wanted her to rest. She was locked up in bed and was not let outside to help allivate her nervous condition. Jane delevops an attachment to the wallpaper and this shows us that her condition is only leading her to a mess.

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Jane has become so insane that she thinks the yellow wallpaper in the room that she is locked in has a woman trapped inside it who is moving around. “The front pattern does move—and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!” (Perkins 654). Over the time that Jane has been in the room the women trapped inside the yellow wallpaper that keeps moving drives her more and more insane.

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The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

903 Words | 4 Pages

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The Yellow Wallpaper and Feminism "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written by the American feminist writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. The story used first person narrative technique to reveal an American woman who suffered from postpartum depression was kept in an ancestral house for a "rest therapy" by her husband who was self-proclaimed to be a "high-standing" physician. This "rest therapy" force her to leave her baby, forbid her from leaving, writing, and do things she likes. At the beginning when the heroine was still mentally stable, she doubted the effectiveness of the therapy " Personally, I disagree with their ideas" (Gilman, 1892). and tried to persuade her husband that "congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good."

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Charlotte Perkins Gilman was not just an author but a great feminist. Gillam inspired countless women to seek indecency with her work like "The Yellow Wallpaper. " The story is a fictionalized short story of a woman who is descending into madness while dealing with her mental illness and cannot heal due to her husband 's lack of belief. At the same time, the woman also known as the narrator feels imprisoned in her marriage. The story takes place during a time were women and had no independence and were not able to voice their own opinion.

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