How Does Withington Treat Women In The 19th Century?

In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a recent mother Jane has been feeling quite ill and depressed. Her Husband, a physician decides the best course of action is rest. He sends her off to an estate where she is cared for by his sister. With her only contact being her husband, and his sister, she is slowly driven to madness due to lack of creative stimulation. I found it interesting how Jane spoke so fondly of her brother and Husband even though she knew that their treatment was killing her. 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

Men also saw women as bringers of solace in their homes, confidants, and more importantly, friends. A quote from “The Puritan: A Series of Essays, Critical, Moral, and Miscellaneous, Volume 2,” written by Leonard Withington explores the moral values of people during the 19th century. In this book, Withington says "For if the character of women were thoroughly understood, they would be found too good to be hated and yet not good enough to be idolized.” (Withington 152). I believe this quote means that women are here to balance the negativity brought in by men from the “outside world” and that without their ability to take on this unnecessary criticism from their husbands and brothers, then there would be no order in society. The part that many people don't realize is that in the 19th century, women were such a necessary part of life, as without them things just wouldn't work. Men wouldn't have food to eat as they're too busy earning money to be able to cook for themselves, they wouldn't be able to care for their own kids. Unfortunately, many people saw this as being sexist, as many claims that women could do the same thing men do which is true, but due to their upbringings, this is what

She slowly starts to fear her Husband, she notes how there is an odd smell that accumulates in her room, and she always references the yellow wallpaper, in that it changes in certain ways. She began to comment on how some parts of the wallpaper was torn, then she progressed to how there were bouts of fungus growing on the walls until she begins to speak of how the pattern on the wallpaper shakes because of the “woman behind it.” “Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over,” this is when her sanity is clearly broken. She moves on from talking about her husband, the daylight, and the room itself to only speaking of the women and how she moves around. This clear descent into madness is a byproduct of how she is often dismissed by her husband and brother concerning her