“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay

Introduction

The Yellow Wallpaper is the famous short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicting the terrible mental stance of the main character. It is one of the outstanding literature works with socially progressive background in its plot. The story is based on the real life case through which the author went, while being in a deep depression for some period of her life.

The value of the composition lies in the progressive moral it brought to the world of literature as well as social views, redirecting the social mind from the old patriarchal foundations to the recognition of the new social reality. The Yellow Wallpaper gave impulse to the rethink of the position of woman in the society. Along with many other literature and art compositions of the beginning of the XX century, the short story of Charlotte Perkins Gilman became one of the powerful drivers of the women emancipation.

The Place of Woman in the American Society of the Turn of the Century

In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narration is led by young woman, the wife of the doctor, who became seriously diseased with mental illness. She tells the readers her story of being isolated from the surrounding world in her room which was considered by her husband as the place of her depression treatment and which essentially became the place of her mental pressure.

The story gives us an idea of what position woman took in the American society of the turn of the century. The mental disorder of the main character resulted from the pressure of the American reality of that period. At the time, when the technological progress and rapid industry development led to the accelerating speed of life, the development of new communication systems and the increase in the business activity, men were more and more engaged in the business sphere of life spending the majority of their time at work. However, the situation was different for women. It should be emphasized that the end of XIX century – the beginning of the XX century became a period of the social and gender inequality sharpening.

The Defeat of Patriarchal Order by the Main Character of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Short Story

Turning back to the plot of The Yellow Wallpaper, it would be logical to compare the life style and the ensuing attitudes of wife and husband to the surrounding reality. He is a successful physician, enjoying his work. He has a beloved wife who moves with him to the colonial mansion. The wife says that “he is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” (Perkins Gilman 12). It can be said that to some extent she describes the order of the traditional relationships between husband and wife in the, at the first glance, stable family. However, her situation was not so sweet.

Suffering from depression, she becomes isolated in the room and, although she had a right to express her negative attitude to the room, it was inadmissibly for the wife to protest and to say a final word. The absence of the real decision making opportunity made hard pressure on her.

The room is depicted as follows, “It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls” (Perkins Gilman 12).

The choice of the exactly this room was made by her husband. He argued that she can fully relax there, keep calm and enjoy the garden outside the window. When making his treatment prescriptions, he says that “your exercise depends on your strength, my dear, and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the time.” (Perkins Gilman 12). In this phrase the patriarchal order of that time can be noticed. He naively thinks that he can cure her mental disease by taking care of only the physical aspects. Furthermore, the “air she can absorb all the time” (Perkins Gilman 12) will not give her a chance to breathe deeply in the isolated atmosphere. The real “air” for her is the ability to live a meaningful life.

The yellow wallpaper irritates her in this room. She became focused on not only its color but rather on its strange pattern which makes her stance even worse. However, after some time she found the wallpaper the most interesting element of the room, because a strange pattern made her thinking, giving her the opportunity for the intellectual activity and a chance for being occupied with something.

The story ends with the episode when the wife decided that it would be better for her to become a part of many of the patterns elements, than to turn back to the reality. Her husband could not do anything at that time as she locked the door of her room. In this episode the author figuratively tells us that the wife locked the door of her room like the society closed the entry to the American industrial reality for women.

Conclusion

To summarize all above mentioned, it should be said that The Yellow Wallpaper belongs to the masterpieces of not only American but the world literature. It reflected the progressive ideas of the beginning of the XX century and had given the rise to the social transformations, the discussion about the gender inequality and the rights of people. The author make people think about the place of women in the society of that time and the importance for everyone to be occupied.

Works Cited

Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper, New York: Feminist Press, 1996. Print.