Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a great piece of fiction that shows gender inequality and the unfair social norms of the 19th century. Author Gilman used this story to speak for all the women in the 19th century who felt suppressed within their own homes because of the social imposition of femininity that they had to follow. She used her own personal experience with her physician Dr. Mitchell and his ‘rest cure’ treatment to write the story to speak about the cases of hysteria or nervous disorders and how it affected women. Dr. Mitchell’s treatment for nervous disorders was to make patients give up all sorts of activities; including being around their loved ones. The story describes the narrator losing her mental stability because of her husband’s restrictions in the name of “treatment”.
The Yellow Wallpaper tells a story of a married woman suffering from a nervous disorder after giving birth to her child who ends up losing her sanity because of the social imposition of femininity on her. The narrator starts hallucinating a woman enslaved behind the yellow wallpaper of the room she is “locked in” by her husband. Though the narrator does not mention any specific cause of her nervous disorder, the journal entries of her everyday life and her relationship with her husband portray a very clear image of what the social norms were for women in the 19th century. Many literatures, historical and cultural works from the 19th century show how women were imprisoned in their own homes because they were confined under the ‘perfect womanhood’ model. In the article, “Reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” as Post-Traumatic Writing’ by Mahinur Aksehir, the author states, ‘A perfect woman carried out ‘vital’ tasks in the family...a woman is first and foremost a daughter/mother/ wife’”. Since women were oppressed to maintain the ideal model of femininity, they were restricted from any outdoor activity which resulted in women being unable to develop into their own independent conscious self. Women’s lack of opinion and knowledge in society led men to claim that women are “intellectually weak”, “unhealthy” and “underdeveloped”. Because of these labels, in order for a woman to present herself as “healthy” to society, she had to “adjust” to accept these social norms. Women who could not and did not “adjust” themself to follow these stereotypes were considered “mad”. Aksehir also mentions, “considering such women as “mad” degraded women.. crucial facts” (Aksehir 3). By degrading women, men were able to control them and keep them away from gaining any power.
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In the story, the narrator constantly speaks about her husband being very “loving” and “careful” and hardly lets her stir without special direction (Gilman 648) but she finds herself being unable to talk to her husband about her feelings because he portrays himself as a wiser one. The husband in the story doesn’t even let the narrator choose the room she will stay in! He doesn’t allow her to engage in any activity and he does in it such a matter that she believes it’s his loving behavior and he is protecting herself. He sets her daily schedule and tells her what she should do for the day, what to eat when to eat, and sleep. He also prevents her from participating in any intellectual activity that would need her to use her conscious mind. This brings back the concept of men degrading women and controlling them. Even though the narrator is educated, she is prevented from expressing her creativity. As her husband knows that her writings will give her some power to be independent, he convinces her to focus on her domestic life and that any sort of creativity is bad for her case of hysteria. The narrator believes her husband is taking care of her and is being “protective” so that she gets better soon. He also threatens her by saying that she needs to get well soon, and if she fails he will send her to Weir Mitchell who is even worse and strict. The narrator writes in her journal that the physicians in the society have power over the patients and there is nothing one can do about it. In the article “The Helpless Angel in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper” by Chalak Raouf, the author mentions a term that was used for Victorian women; “The angel in the house”. This term was used to define and identify women’s roles and duties in society. Women were called “angels” to signify their roles at the time; sacrificing themselves for their families. Angels are said to be sympathetic, self-sacrificing, graceful, pious, and pure. An ideal woman was expected to be sacrificing, passive, powerless, and pure just like an angel. The word ‘house’ in the term was used to limit the space for women’s activities. The article also states “The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper is one of these women or one of these helpless angels who were kept at home and prevented from having any kind of creativity that embraces her talents. He uses his language to convince her that she is made for domestic life and any type of writing is going to be bad for her condition”. From this quotation, it can be seen that John, the narrator’s husband uses his language to make her feel guilty about how much he’s doing for her and how she should not question any of his actions because he is doing it for her good. Her husband’s supposed “protection” eventually leads her to feel imprisoned and lost.
Charlotte Gilman used her writings to speak about unspoken issues like the absence of happiness in women’s lives in the 19th century. She talked about the unfair roles of the patriarchal society and masculine dominance. The Yellow Wallpaper was written to show how women were locked within their own homes where they weren’t even allowed to use their creativity or talents. Living in an environment where there was no freedom or happiness led to women feeling suicidal or as the story states, “trying to break free”. The narrator’s husband has full control over her and makes her think she truly is incapable of doing anything on her own. He treats her like a little child and not his wife. He calls her names like “little girl” or a “little goose”. He doesn’t give her the slightest of freedom or let her make the smallest decision like choosing her own room. Her husband locks her in a room that once used to be a nursery for children. The narrator writes in her journal “It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was a nursery first and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls. The paint and paper look as if a boys' school had used it.” (Gilman 649). Analyzing the description of the room, it can be concluded that she was locked in a nursery for kids whereas she wanted to stay in the room downstairs. When the narrator tries to talk to her husband about this matter, he shuts her down. On top of that, by saying he has to whitewash the room and they are only here for a few months, he makes her think that moving would make him uncomfortable even though she is the one who is not comfortable in the room she is staying in! This shows how much power the husband has over his wife. In the article “Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper: An Assertion of Gender Equality and Liberation” by Dr. G Priya, it is said, “John’s diagnosis and treatment of the narrator serve to control her speech.. private journal”. (Priya 4) John does not let her have any power over their family or even in her own life. He makes all the decisions for her and doesn’t take her seriously when she tries to talk to him. She tries to talk to him about the wallpaper as it was affecting her mind negatively but he laughs at her and shuts her down because the patriarchal society of that time believed women are incapable of making their own decisions. Since she can not talk to her husband freely, she finds comfort in writing secretly in her journal.
Again, the Yellow Wallpaper portrays the struggle of a woman who is emotionally vulnerable as she not only has a nervous disorder but she also has limitations on how much she is allowed to do. Her husband’s “rest cure” restrictions on her ultimately drive her to madness. The repeated theme in this story is how a woman feels oppressed in this male-dominated society and how negativity it affects her. In the writing, “Women’s Liberation: The Effects of patriarchal oppression on Women’s Mind’ the author Naheed Qasim writes, ‘The narrator wanted to bring together her loss and achievement through her writing. Her artistic creativity is hampered by her husband. He did not allow her to write which is a great barrier in terms of her emotional recovery. She thought she can avert her mind from her nervous breakdowns through writing but her husband and sister-in-law’s constant surveillance prevented her from doing so.’ (Qasim 390). The narrator says how her nervous troubles are very depressing and nobody would believe how much effort she puts into just getting ready for the day (Gilman 649). The narrator believes if she starts writing again, her condition will get better but she gives up hope of getting better and writing again because she fails to make her husband understand her feelings. She tries to talk to him multiple times but he shuts her down every time. Her husband also cautioned her to change her habit of story-making because it will lead her to have excited fancies which is why she can’t use her brain or write anything. She also thinks her husband will never understand how much she suffers from being locked up and not being able to write because he “knows” there is no reason for her to suffer and that “satisfies” him.
Having nothing to do in the house, and being locked inside a room the narrator starts overthinking and hallucinating. She starts staring at the yellow wallpaper of her room which she despises very much. She starts seeing dim shapes outside the pattern which gets clearer to her every day and she believes she’s the only person who can see them. (Gilman 652) At this point in the story, the narrator beings to see the reflection of her own misery as a woman creeping behind the wallpaper who wants to break free. She also starts believing her life is getting more exciting as she starts fantasizing about the wallpaper even more. She looks at patterns, she looks at the color and she waits for the woman to come out. She feels happier because she starts taking control of her life even though it’s through her imagination. After a few weeks, she notices that the woman starts creeping during the day as well. She feels surprised and mentions how “most women do not creep by daylight”. (Gilman 654) This part of the story signifies how women feel oppressed to follow rules during the day so there is no freedom for women at this time of the day. The narrator stays up the entire night & sleeps during the day which is also another symbol of how she feels free at night and during the day she feels tired and depressed as she has to obey the restrictions her husband set for her. The narrator adds that she sometimes sees more than one woman who tries to shake the wallpaper and tries to break free. Through this metaphor, it can be presumed that she sees more than one woman because there are many women like her who are suffering within their homes because of the restrictions given by their husbands. These women are locked up in their homes just like the narrator of this story. Women were locked up and were prevented from speaking their minds, or even doing anything that uses their brains because men believed these women are not capable of making decisions, nor did they know what is good for them and for society.
The story ends with the husband fainting after seeing his wife’s condition. He faints because he realizes that she is not under his control anymore and he won’t be able to control her again. Her act of getting her freedom is considered as her going “mad” because she finally frees herself from her husband’s restriction and society’s norms. In the article, “The Helpless Angel in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper” author Raouf mentions, “Mills also states that “those women who rebelled against the social.. mentally ill” (Raouf 135). The narrator in this story is one of those rebellious women because, behind her madness, her resistance appears.
Charlotte Gilman’s story reveals how the women in the 19th century suffered because of the experiences and restrictions they had to overcome. Society tried to set patriarchal beliefs in the minds of women by calling them the ‘Angel in the House’. This term made women believe their role in this society is to be mothers and housewives only. This false belief led to many women feeling confined, demonized, and deprived of their rights. The Yellow Wallpaper not only reveals the suffering of one woman who feels imprisoned in her own house but it also reveals how these experiences were common for all women including Gilman herself.
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