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The nineteenth century was a period in which women had the obligation to act according to the norms of society where men were predominant. In this period, society expects women to be submissive, obedient, and they could not complain about what was given to her. According to what was asked from women, it can be said that the Nineteen century was a patriarchal society. Living in a patriarchal society seems to be complicated for women to speak up and be heard.
Also, a patriarchy society limited women to be free since men held all the power over women. The Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s text “The Yellow Wall-Paper” shows the story of a woman who went through many circumstances because of her husband’s control over her, and the time period. Even though the conditions the unnamed character went through in Gilman’s text, she found the strength to overcome the oppression over her and to speak up throughout a wall yellow paper.
From the first page of the text, the readers can see the oppression that the unnamed character is suffering and the control that her husband exercises over her.
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
The husband, John is an outstanding physician that has diagnosed his wife with “nervous depression.” Because of her illness, her husband has decided to take her away from her daily life and locked her up in a house that is described by the author as a “hunter house.” The unnamed character believes that “congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (166).
Since women did not have the power to decide what is best for them, they find a way to justify their husband decision. Unfortunately, because her husband has control over her life, she has to follow his demand as she expresses “what is one to do” referring that even though she knows a better way to recover, the control that her husband possess over her, would not have led her to do anything.
Gilman’s unnamed character struggles against depression and male dominance, which was common in the nineteenth century since she was not allowed to read, write, or to see her new baby. The only thing she could do was sleep and breath in the fresh air of the country estate. John manages to keep his wife in a subordinate role and make her think she did not have the ability to make her own decisions. The unnamed character is being held captive by John, locked away from the outside world because he believes that this is the best remedy to make her well. Once again the unnamed character is expressing that her husband’s way to cure her is not exactly what she wants but it is what she needs to follow when she exclaims “I sometimes fancy in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus-but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition…” (167). Besides the control that her husband has over her, the readers can also see a sense of manipulation in how John plays with her wife’s mind in order for him to make her do what he demands.
Moreover, “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be examined from the aspect of how men in the nineteenth century were superior. The men are portrayed to be in power over women and they see women as children more than as individuals. This can be seen when the unnamed character says, “he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose, and said he would go down to the cellar, if I wished, and have it Whitewashed into the bargain” (169). “Little goose” is the key phrase in the quote where John treats his wife like a child and speaks to her as such. This shows how much lower are the women’s intelligence compared to the husband. He degrades his wife by using terms that one would typically use to speak to little children. Gilman clearly demonstrates how oppressed women were during this specific time period through dialogue from the perspective of men.
In addition to the special treatment that John has towards his wife when it comes to the way he talks to her, John continues denying her wife’s wishes to transform the room in which she spends most of the time in the “hunter house” to a better living place. The wife, the unnamed character does not like the room design and the yellow wallpaper that the room has. “John does not know how much I really suffer”(169) therefore she asks her husband to do some remodeling but her husband says “you know the place is doing you good ...and really, dear, I don’t care to renovate the house...” (169). In this part is seems how the men strongly believes that his wife is being overly dramatic and there is nothing wrong with the place they are, and making the wife feel oppressed on his decision at the same time. Furthermore, we can see the wife’s circumstance in which she is living because she has to follow her husband demands since that is what needs to be done in the patriarchal society.
However, this yellow wallpaper played an important part in John’s wife because thanks to it, she was able to overcome the oppression that her husband exercised over her. This wallpaper symbolizes women crying for help. Also, the color yellow is associated with a woman’s oppression by man according the period and time. After John’s negation of removing the yellow wallpaper, it becomes the unnamed character’s best friend. The wallpaper reflects the wife's feelings and emotions, but most important of all, the circumstance in which she was living. Also, the wallpaper represents family, medicine, and tradition in the wife’s life, in which she finds herself trapped. The wife feels related to the yellow wallpaper because as the yellow wallpaper is trapped in its painting, she also feels trapped in the house since she has no way to get out. In the house, the windows are barred as in the woman in the wallpaper is behind bars. Also, in the wife’s heart she believes she is behind bars too.
The unnamed character gets to a point where she was enjoying, looking and playing with the wallpaper as if it is her best friend, and she does not care what anyone thinks, even John. Afterwards she let her emotions to run, she has decided to make a choice without John by tearing down the wallpaper giving her the sense of freedom. “I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it” (181). In the end, Gilman’s unnamed character has triumphed against her male oppressor and realizes her opportunities for her own personal choice and growth. During her experience in the room, she experiences a transformation in her life. At the beginning of the story, the unnamed character is treated as a child, but in the end, she has internal strength and confidence to proclaim her own identity without restrictions from her husband as she proclaims “I’ve got out at last… I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” (182). With this finals words said by the unnamed character, she is letting her husband knows that from that exact moment, she is a new person who has decided to rise up.
To conclude, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman demonstrates the struggles that women had to go through in order to be heard. Also, The Yellow Wallpaperit deep character analysis how in the nineteenth century women had to be obedient, ignorant of intellectual opinion, and followed what their husband commanded. But, most important of all, it is to see how this wall yellow paper started as a simple dislike painting on a wall, and then brought the sufficient strength to the unnamed character, whose name was Jane. The room gave Jane courage to stand up for what she believes in. Through those struggles and oppression from her husband, Jane experiences a wonderful change. At the beginning of the story, Jane began as a helpless child obeying what her husband command her to do, and then she became into a grown mature adult without restrictions. By tearing down the wallpaper, Jane forms her own and new identity which John does not have control over her.
Work cited
The Yellow Wallpaper Character Analysis Through Gilman’s Text. (2024, Feb 22). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-character-analysis-through-gilman-s-text-essay
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