“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was published in 1892 in The New England Magazine. Gilman was concerned with political inequality and social justice in general, but the primary focus of her writing was the unequal status of women within the institution of marriage. An essential part of her argument was that traditional structure of the family was incorrect; women were expected to be made into uneducated, helpless creatures with the purpose of serving the husband and raising children; the male figure was expected to be a master, responsible for making decisions. The story is based on Gilman’s own experience with a severe case of depression. Gilman narrates the story of an oppressed woman, controlled by her husband …show more content…
The narrator suffers from an episode of depression as mentioned by her husband. The husband, John, is a respected physician “of high standing” (Gilman 154) and responsible for making any decision that could possibly affect his wife. The narrator feels uncomfortable with the room her husband picked for them, but she obeys his decision out of respect. The narrator mentioned how much she enjoys writing but is forced to stop writing to please her husband, or as she described “ he hates to have me write a word” (155). As a result, the narrator becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in her room. She started to experience hallucinations and became convinced that there is a woman trapped within the paper. Finally, she decided to free the trapped woman by stripping the yellow wallpaper …show more content…
It was strongly believed that women have no sexual desires. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the concept of sexuality was indirectly presented by the immovable bed in the narrator’s room that was described as “great immovable bed-It is nailed down, I believe” (158). By saying how the bed was immovable she means that she can’t break out of the pattern of oppression and defend her rights. The nails holding the bed down represent the male figure in her life and how he is holding her back along with