Introduction
“The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892. The story focuses on the issues in the perception and treatment of postpartum depression that were widespread in the late 19th century. The main character, who is also a narrator, is a woman going through the condition.
Her husband, John, is a physician who tries to treat his wife to avoid a breakdown. He prescribes the narrator’s abstinence from any creative and physical activity. It is meant as a rest therapy as the woman is only allowed to sleep.
However, John does not believe that his wife is sick with a real condition. He was convinced that the narrator had hysteria, which he believed was the woman’s desire to neglect their domestic duties. Complete isolation and boredom eventually led the narrator to lose her mind. Therefore, John represents the ignorant beliefs of 19th-century people about the position of women in marriage and their role in society.
Gender Roles and the Suppression of Women’s Health
The story presented by the author reveals the problem of a lack of choice that women of the 19th century had. All the decisions were made for them by men, whether they were fathers, brothers, or husbands. The narrator’s condition is not considered serious by her husband. Although the woman suffers, she tries to convince herself that everything is in order, as John thinks. She rushes about in her emotions, “John does not know how much I really suffer… Of course it is only nervousness” (Perkins 669).
Marriage in the 19th century was one of the social institutions that secured social status for women. At the time, women were meant to be an example of good morality, staying optimistic in all negative situations to “raise their children as virtuous individuals” (Alkan 1230). Men occupied the public sphere, while women were concerned predominantly with private life. They were destined to provide emotional and spiritual support for their husbands to reduce the stress they experienced in the public domain (Alkan 1230). Therefore, nervousness cannot be a part of the personality of 19th-century women, as it disturbs men in their private lives.
Marriage as a Social Trap for Women
Marriage was considered the only option for maintaining social status at the time, which deprived women of freedom of choice. Lanser compares marriage depicted in the story with a prison that 19th-century women could not possibly escape (Perkins 634). Eventually, women tend to mistake oppression and control for care and love from their husbands. They cannot change their position, so they try to comfort themselves with false perceptions.
The narrator of the story notes speaking about her husband, “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special directions” (Perkins 648). She cannot resist the situation in any way; therefore, she perceives her husband’s desire to place her in a limited space as a concern for her health. She does not realize that her condition causes discomfort to John, who is used to a wife who fulfills all his desires and orders. He probably really believes that isolation will help the narrator get better. However, his estrangement from his wife shows the woman’s position in 19th-century darkness as a household item rather than a partner.
Being unhealthy, the narrator could not fulfill her duties as a mother and wife. John was convinced that his wife had hysteria, which in the 19th century was “associated with women who willfully violated their responsibilities in the domestic sphere” (Hood 5). Therefore, he represents the norm of society, which does not allow women to neglect their domestic duties. The narrator starts to gradually lose her mind in the desire to get free from her prison.
However, she cannot achieve that, begging, “I wish John would take me away from here!” (Perkins 652). John did not try to understand his wife’s condition and feelings, as she was meant to be perfect. He could not realize that there was a possibility that she would have her own desires and thoughts. Women were intended to be mothers and wives without any problems to handle. This complete ignorance of society led the narrator to the edge of insanity due to the isolation and boredom that she experienced.
Conclusion
The overall story tells about the beliefs of the 19th century, where women were assigned specific gender roles. They were meant to be good wives and mothers without flaws or problems. Their husbands had separate public and private lives, which gave them freedom. They decided that their wives would be domestic property, which had no free will.
This situation led many women to be trapped in marriage as the only way to maintain their social status. Young girls were taught by society that they were destined to be wives and mothers. Any emotional or mental breakdown was considered an unwillingness to fulfill their domestic duties.
Works Cited
Alkan, Halit. “A Liberal Feminist Approach to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.” Ulakbilge, vol. 65, pp. 1229-236.
Hood, Rebekah. “Invisible Voices: Revising Feminist Approaches to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Including the Narrative of Mental Illness.” All Theses and Dissertations, Web.
Lanser, Susan. “Feminist Criticism, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and the Politics of Color in America.” Feminist Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 415-441.
Perkins, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” National Library of Medicine. Web.