The Yellow Wallpaper

In the late of the 19^th century, America was fulfilled with the movement of Women’s right. American literature contributed greatly to emphasize gender roles and idea of feminism. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is the short story that shows the role of women in the 19^th century from the perception of psychotic woman. Based on her own experiment, the author shows the inequality and low status of women in the society. Symbolic images in The Yellow Wallpaper shape the story to the feminism that signifies the dominance of men and subordination of women in marriage.

The rest cure prescribed by John reveals the connection of the subordination and domestic works of women who were not allowed to have intellectual or independent interaction. As the treatment of her illness, John, her husband, orders her to rest from everything and forbids the protagonist to work symbolizes absolute authority of men over women and repression of opportunity for independence and interaction with society. That the protagonist hears “The very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition” from husband implies the supremacy and domination of men over women, enforcement of inferior state of women, and oppression of self-awareness by brainwashing (303). However, the belief of the protagonist is that “congenial work…would do me good” gives the sense of women’s subliminal desire and will to express and participate in society (303). The quote also reflects the society of the 19^th century that was stirred up with the awakened women who asserted their independent interaction.

The yellow wallpaper and the nursery room where the protagonist stays in the mansion symbolize the restriction of women in the 19^th century. In the story, the protagonist, assumed to have an illness, is prescribed to take a rest by John whose job is a physician. This rest essentially imprisoned the protagonist in “the nursery at the top of the house” which suggests the feminine domestic sphere (303). Women historically took care the children and to do the housework. The nursery even has “barred” windows that give the sense of prison that restrains the independence and freedom of women in those days (303). The nursery room functions as the symbol to clarify limited, social positions of women in the 19^th century.

Restrictions placed on women are revealed not only in the furnishings of room but also in the decorations, mainly in the yellow wallpaper, which torments the protagonist. The yellow wallpaper in the nursery is depicted as “worst wallpaper in my life” by the protagonist that reveals unconscious dissatisfaction and protest against her confinement in the top floor of the house (304). Gilman uses the metaphor of the yellow wallpaper’s color and pattern to describe “hideous enough” acts of men who denounce the equality of women, “unreliable enough” hypocrisy of men pretending to respect women, and “infuriating and torturing” feeling of women in the 19^th century (309). Ironically, her husband tries to recuperate the protagonist from her madness but, it makes worsen her condition and drives her to derangement. The prescription doesn’t have any effect, furthermore, it makes the protagonist sees the phantom of a woman.

The comparison between the protagonist and the woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper emphasize her descent into madness as the result of her oppression by a male-dominated world. The protagonist, obsessed by the yellow wallpaper, begins to see a woman trapped behind the wallpaper. The protagonist describes that the woman in the cell “is as plain as can be” which indicates the low status of the women confined within the control of men without freedom (309). The woman who is trapped in the chaotic patterns in the yellow wallpaper identifies the protagonist who is imprisoned in the duty as a wife and not able to escape from the low status of society. Also, the movement of the woman behind the wallpaper is always describes as “creeping” and “crawling” that give the sense of the oppressed state of women and the great pressure of society to conform the women in the domestic life (312). In 1800s, the women are strangled by the social expectation and constraint in the domestic sphere and the limited opportunities in the society.

Women of the 19^th century struggled for their equality while the ignorance and suppression by the men who came into power. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman provides the feminist perspective to emphasize injustice and subordination of women under the dominance of men with the use of symbolic images. The significances of the rest cure, nursery, yellow wallpaper, and woman behind the cell stress the unfair state between women and men and low position of the society. Gilman’s work gives the feminist criticism of the patriarchal society and struggle against the traditional gender role. The early idea of feminism brought up the controversial and sensational issue that prompted to refine gender roles and inequality of women.