A Cry For Independence
In the last half of the nineteenth century, Victorian ideals still held sway in American society, at least among members of the middle and upper classes. Thus the cult of True Womanhood was still promoted which preached four cardinal virtues for women: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Women were considered far more religious than men and, therefore, they had to be pure in heart, mind, and, of course, body, not engaging in sex until marriage, and even then not finding any pleasure in it. They were also supposed to be passive responders to men's decisions, actions, and needs. The true woman's place was her home; "females were uniquely suited to raise children, care for the needs of their men folk, and devote their lives to creating a nurturing home environment." (Norton 108). However, the tensions between old and new, traditional and untraditional, were great during the last years of nineteenth century and there was a debate among male and female writers and social thinkers as to what the role of women should be. Among the female writers who devoted their work to defying their views about the woman's place in society was Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman (1860-1935) was a social activist and the
Though The Yellow Wallpaper is a fiction, it was based on Gilman's own experience after being diagnosed as a hysteric and prescribed a rest cure, which prohibited her writing. However, The Yellow Wallpaper is more than a case study in mental illness or a horror story, it is a story of a dominant/submissive relationship between husband and wife. John, the narrator's husband, never takes her seriously. At the very beginning of the story she says " John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that " (Gilman 713). Anytime the narrator would make a suggestion for her recovery, John would give her a " stern reproachful look." Although the narrator feels desperate, John tells her that there is no reason for how she feels. He treats her like a child and makes her doubt herself. John is the man of the house and he expects the narrator to trust him completely, just as small children trust in their parents. The narrator often speaks in a manner that suggests that she cannot disagree with anything her husband says. She is a typical nineteenth century submissive wife and her "What is one to do?" means that she has no authority and no control over her life. The idea of resting is not something she likes, she would rather work, but she has no choice. Still, she manages to disobey her husband and write her journal without him knowing it. There are many other evidences of dominant-submissive relationship, and one of the most convincing is when John says, " I beg of you, for my sake and our child's sake, as well as for your own" (Gilman 715) by placing himself and the baby first he is unintentionally saying that she is not important enough. orist of the women's movement at the turn of the twentieth century. She developed her feminist ideals in her novels, short stories and nonfiction books such as Women and Economics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is best known for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, (1892) which is based on her own experience. Female passion was thought to be immora
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Approximate Word count = 1339
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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