"The Yellow Wallpaper", written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story of a woman, her psychological difficulties and her husband's so called therapeutic treatment of her aliments during the late 1800s. The story begins with a young woman and her husband traveling to the country for the summer and for the healing powers of being away from writing which just seems to worsen her condition. Upon reading this intense description of an almost prison like prescription for overcoming "temporary nervous depression" the reader is permeated with the idea the men are nothing more than the wardens in the lives of women. Gilman, does well throughout the story to show with descriptive phrases just how easily and effectively, the man 'seemingly' wields his 'maleness' to control the woman. But, with further interpretation and insight I believe Gilman succeeds in nothing more than showing the weakness of women, of the day, as active persons in their own as well as society's decision making processes instead of the strength of men as women dominating machines.
From the beginning of the story forward the narrator speaks of how her husband and other influential men in her life direct her so that she will recover quickly and I believe this to be
The proceeding assessment of the final moments of the story could quite possibly be a successful way in which the author intended to say much, after the fact, of how she understood the need for a woman to stand up for her rights even in the face of a man's believed superiority. This is an astute revelation considering that at that time men were still the magistrates and governors of women's lives and for the author to make such an observation was in itself unorthodox for the day. This passage serves a two-fold purpose. The ability to lock the door restores the narrator's power over her environment at the very least, and possibly her inner domains as well. The husband having to pay attention to the wife so that he may once again be with her also displays that she may finally be getting through to her husband, that the manner in which he can help her most is to listen to her and try to understand her.
All papers and essays are for research and reference purposes only!
Copyright 2002-2009
Direct Essays , LLC. All Rights Reserved. DMCA Webmasters make $$$$