The Yellow Wallpaper A Feminist Cry - 843 Words

The Yellow Wallpaper: A Feminist Cry Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, portrays a woman who has postpartum depression and is confined to her bedroom with atrocious yellow wallpaper. Gilman writes from a time when women were oppressed and not taken seriously in social context. Her depiction of a depressed woman who is imprisoned in a room by her husband represents the societal oppression of women in the patriarchal society of the American nineteenth century. This story is not merely a gothic horror as many critics have stated; although, the story does hold aspects like a broken mind and imprisonment, the story is not completely a gothic horror. Paula A. Treichler also interpreted this story as as a feminist cry rather than a gothic horror when she stated the story is â€Å"a fictional challenge to the patriarchal diagnosis of women’s condition, it is also a public critique of a real medical treatment.† (â€Å"Escaping the Sentence† 70). The author depic ts a feminist story that brings to light the social inequality women faced through descriptive diction of the husband, setting both within and outside of the bedroom, and the structure and symbolism of nine breaks in the story. The author chose diction to portray the husband as a controlling man to represent the inequality women felt in marriages in the nineteenth century. John, the husband and physician of the sick woman, downplayed the severity of his wife’s illness which, made her illness intensify.Show MoreRelatedComparison of the Yellow Wallpaper, Story of an Hour, and Gaslight960 Words   |  4 Pagespast century, contemporary feminist movements continue to blossom as gender expectations and stereotypes remain deeply embedded in our culture. Today and in the past, feminist notions about the social norms that limit womens possibilities have yearned for expression and have found this through various artistic outlets. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin, and the 1944 Film Gaslight are three artistic works that relay feminist themes in a unique way.Read MoreFeminist Perspective on Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper1274 Words   |  6 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper, Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is comprised as an assortment of journal entries written in first person, by a woman who has been confined to a room by her physician husband who he believes suffers a temporary nervous depression, when she is actually suffering from postpartum depression. He prescribes her a â€Å"rest cure†. The woman remains anonymous throughout the story. She becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her in the room, and engages in some outrageousRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman999 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a story of a woman s psychological breakdown, which is shown through an imaginative conversation with the wallpaper. The relationship between the female narrator and the wallpaper reveals the inner condition of the narrator and also symbolically shows how women are oppressed in society. The story, read through a feminist lens, reflects a woman s struggle against the patriarchal power structure. In the â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the wallpaperRead More The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality by Judith Lorber1120 Words   |  5 PagesThere are many branches of feministic theorems. As Judith Lorber wrote in her article, The Variety of Feminisms and their Contributions to Gender Equality feminist denominations arose from different views, making many contributions to improve women’s status. Lorber discusses the views of, â€Å"gender reform feminisms, gender resistant feminis ms, and gender revolution feminisms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (1) etcetera, all which have fought to improve women’s rights. Though there are many different aspects of viewing feminism,Read MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman790 Words   |  3 Pages1100 The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman creates a narrator who rents out a mansion in the summer with her husband. The main reason for their summer retreat is because the narrator is â€Å"ill† and suffering from what her husband calls â€Å"a slight hysterical tendency.† The narrator’s husband places her in a big airy sunlit room with hideous yellow wallpaper asserting she be confined to bed rest. As time goes by, the woman becomes infatuated with the yellow wallpaperRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper: a Stifling Relationship1609 Words   |  7 PagesHusband-Doctor: A Stifling Relationship In Gilmans the Yellow Wallpaper At the beginning of The Yellow Wallpaper, the protagonist, Jane, has just given birth to a baby boy. Although for most mothers a newborn infant is a joyous time, for others, like Jane, it becomes a trying emotional period that is now popularly understood to be the common disorder, postpartum depression. For example, Jane describes herself as feeling a lack of strength (Colm, 3) and as becoming dreadfully fretful andRead More The Yellow Wallpaper: A Stifling Relationship1551 Words   |  7 Pages Husband-Doctor: A Stifling Relationship In Gilman’s â€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper† At the beginning of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, the protagonist, Jane, has just given birth to a baby boy. Although for most mothers a newborn infant is a joyous time, for others, like Jane, it becomes a trying emotional period that is now popularly understood to be the common disorder, postpartum depression. For example, Jane describes herself as feeling a â€Å"lack of strength† (Colm, 3) and as becoming â€Å"dreadfully fretful andRead MoreThe Women Behind The Yellow Wallpaper1675 Words   |  7 PagesBehind the Yellow Wallpaper â€Å" Be plain in dress, and sober in diet; In short, my deary, kiss me, and be quiet.† -Mary Wortley Montagu In a male dominated society, women had little choice when it came to the path of life they would trek upon until death. From the first words of the doctor when they announce, â€Å"it’s a girl†, amidst cries of the baby and the relief of the mother, the path a woman shall take has already been predetermined. Chalotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a harrowingRead More The Depiction of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Chrysanthemums2254 Words   |  10 PagesThe Depiction of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Chrysanthemums, by John Steinbeck Identical twins have the same genes that make both of them look, think, and feel the same. Their likes and dislikes are the same; for instance, when one likes yellow, the other will like yellow. However, their fortunes are different; for instance, when one dies, the other will not die. Similarly, in literature, different authors have created a twin character in different erasRead MoreCharlotte Gilman s The Yellow Wallpaper1603 Words   |  7 PagesCharlotte Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator breaks away from society’s view on women because she compares how her husband treats her to how all men treat women. Charlotte Gilman was known for being an advocate for gender equality and feminism. Although there is no certainty that this story is about her life, it was safe to assume that parts of this story were pulled from her personal life. This story critiques society’s view on women and gives more of a feminist view on the entire concept