Identity In The Yellow Wallpaper

Identity is formed through a variety of factors. Elements such as culture, society, and friends all have a huge influence on forming identity. However, the social pressure to fit in has especially affected the female population. For years, women have changed their identities in order to be accepted into society. While this theme is prominently seen in today’s society, it is also commonly seen in a variety of older novels. Female identity is transformed to fit male’s desire for dominance and society’s ideal image. In The Yellow Wallpaper and Wide Sargasso Sea, the relationship of male dominance over female power is displayed. In both pieces, the female protagonists identities are transformed to accompany the male’s perspective of them. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the protagonist’s identity is changed due to John’s

Rochester’s feels discomfort and weak when he arrives in first arrives in the Caribbean. While he experiences vulnerability in the environment, he feels more threatened by the powerful women he encounters. In order to impose his dominance, Rochester strips Antoinette of her confident identity. In the beginning of the novel, Antoinette is trying to determine who she is. She questions her mixed ethnicity and her ancestry of madness. However, through Rochester’s manipulation, Antoinette becomes the mad women he perceives her as. The author writes, “I scarely recognized her voice… a breathless but curiously indifferent voice” (162). The quotation supports the concept of Rochester shaping Antoinette’s identity so drastically that he does not even recognize her. In both texts, the male assumes the role as the husband, forming the notion that it is their job to fix the mad females to fit society. As shown in both examples, the male’s efforts to assimilate the “sick” women into society result in the female loosing her power and