The Yellow Wallpaper Feminist Analysis

Jack Boettcher

Ms. Hall

English 175

5 April 2023

Feminism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Despite the progress that has been made in the fight for gender equality in recent years, women still face numerous obstacles and challenges in different aspects of life. Unfortunately, these challenges are not a recent circumstance as they have been present for centuries, especially in the late 1800s. In her story "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman clarifies the oppressive treatment of women by a patriarchal society. Through the character's experiences, the story illuminates the importance of women's independence and mental health in a society that contains gender-based discrimination. The story provides an affecting commentary on the significance

The narrator, who is suffering from depression, is confined to a room that she cannot stand to be in. The narrator is not allowed to move around freely. Her husband insists that she rest in bed and avoid any tiring activity, which leads to her feeling trapped and helpless. “He said we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get. “Your exercise depends on your strength, my dear,” said he, “and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time” (Gilman 479). Another example of the lack of control the narrator has is that she is not allowed to change the room's decor, despite her clear dislike of the yellow wallpaper. “It is the strangest yellow, that wallpaper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw—not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things”(Gilman 486). She is not allowed to move to another room or to leave the house, further contributing to her sense of entrapment. Not only is the narrator’s movement and the room’s decor out of her control, but her writing also shows how she has no control. The narrator secretly writes in her journal but she is not allowed to express herself freely, as her husband and sister-in-law dismiss her writing as a symptom of her illness. This contributes to her sense of isolation and powerlessness. “I don’t know why I should write this. I don’t want to. I don’t feel able.

The narrator’s husband, John, believes in the traditional gender roles where the man is the head of the household, and the woman's role is limited to taking care of the home and children. This dynamic is evident in the way John controls the narrator's movements, restricts her from writing or engaging in activities, and dismisses her opinions and feelings. The narrator struggles to compete with this gender role and maintain her own independence. “It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well John says we will ask Cousin Henry and Julia down for a long visit; but he says he would as soon put fire-works in my pillow-case as to let me have those stimulating people about now” (Gilman 480). This tension between the traditional gender roles and the narrator's desire for independence is a major theme of the story and highlights the ways in which gender inequality can be an obstacle to women's