Traditionally, men have held the power in society. Women have been treated as a second class of citizens with neither the legal rights nor the respect of their male counterparts. Culture has contributed to these gender roles by conditioning to these gender roles by conditioning women to accept their subordinate status while encouraging young men to lead and control. Feminist criticism contends that literature either supports society's patriarchal structure or provides social criticism in order to change this hierarchy. "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts one women's struggle against the traditional female role into which society attempts to force her and the societal reaction to this act.

From the beginning of this work, the woman is shown to have gone mad. We are given no insight into the past, and we do not know why she has been driven to the brink of insanity. The "beautiful...English place" that the woman sees in her minds eye is the way men have traditionally wanted women to see their role in society. As the woman says, "It is quite alone standing well back from the road...It makes me think of English places...for there are hedges and walls and gat

The woman begins to creep at times, but only by the nights. The woman writes, "...she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight." The pressure of a society is weighing down heavily on our protagonist now, and she is breaking free, but only when no one is around to see her rebellion.

Men often times did not know much about their wife, or care to sit down and talk with her. They did not take great care to know how she was doing, or why she was feeling the way she was. The woman says, "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him." The woman is showing a small amount of frustration towards her husband, because he does not concern himself with such "small things".

In the final moments of this story, the woman's husband returns to see her. She writes, "He stopped short by the door. 'What is the matter?' he cried. 'For God's sake, what are you doing!' I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. 'I've got out at last,' said I, 'in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!' Now why should that man have fainted, but he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time!'" This final passage shows that, when this woman rebels, and "escapes the wallpaper", it is not highly looked upon. The woman made a power statement, by telling her husband that she had, in essence, found a new role in life, and he can not push her back. When he can not handle her actions, she continues her new ways right over him.

The role of women in society was displayed quite clearly by the entrance of John's sister. The woman writes, "There comes John's sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfectionist and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily bel

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1304
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)