The Yellow Wallpaper a Stifling Relationship - 1609 Words

Husband-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 and querulous (Jeannette and Morris, 25). In addition, she writes, I cry at nothing and cry most of the time (Jeannette and Morris, 23). However, as the term postpartum depression was not in the vocabulary of this time period, John, Janes†¦show more content†¦However, the text of Janes diary not only reveals Janes awareness that John is manipulating her, it also provides evidence that she has learned to turn the tables on his supposed authority. As Greg Johnson has pointed out, Janes descriptions of John are typically sarcastic and mocking (524). For instance, even as Gilman makes it clear that Jane recognizes Johns forced captivity as mainly to blame for her continued illnessÂâ€"I wish he would take me away from here!Ââ€"immediately after this entreaty, Jane writes It is so hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so (Roudiez). For John, that of which he is not in strict control, such as Janes writing (Kristeva), is considered absurd precisely because it reduces his power. The idea that there is such a thing, for example, as ghostliness is inconceivable to John because it cannot be felt and seen. Therefore, he refuses to even listen to Janes thoughts on the topic. For instance, when she tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how [she] wish[ed] he would let [her] go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia (Kristeva), John disallows such an action as it would constitute a break in the schedule he had, in his patronizing belief that Father knows best, set for her. Rather than consider the potential validity of Janes suggestion, dear John gathered me up in hisShow MoreRelated 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 More`` The Yellow Wallpaper `` And `` It s A Girl ``1651 Words   |  7 PagesPerkins Gilmans, who wrote â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† to challenge the ideals of society and their treatment towards women. Gilman, faced with the discriminatory and prejudiced challenges of her gender, her childhood shadowed and pelted on with poverty, and her mind plagued with the constant, deafening humming of nervous postpartum depression, unambiguously determined that she was going to raise her voice against constant chattering of chauvinist v alues. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a direct echo of Gilman’sRead MoreThe Witch Trail Of The Salem Witch Trails1529 Words   |  7 Pagesthis time, shows that although middle class women had the freedom to pursue domestic endeavors, they still remain subjugated by patriarchal standards. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Gilman shows that the narrator is oppressed, through expectations of marriage, relationships with her husband and her sister in law, and her connection to the wallpaper. First, Gillman uses the marriage between the protagonist and her husband John to illustrate oppression through control. John’s role as her husband and physicianRead MoreComparison between The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily969 Words   |  4 Pagesstories, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, both female protagonists, experience a time of seclusion leading to self- realization. Hence, both of these pieces of literature illustrate the troubles of women in a male-dominated society. As a result, both characters experience oppression by overbearing male influences and are physically and emotionally isolated. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† take place inRead More The Yellow Wall-Paper1302 Words   |  6 PagesIn the â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper,† the author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writes about a struggling mentally ill woman, named Jane, trying to work through her individuality and her own depression. This story is centered around her bedroom, her mental state, and the yellow wall-paper on the walls in her room. The reader can easily feel the pain, anguish, despair, and struggles of a woman going through a depressive state. Gilman writes about the individual succession of the woman’s mental state throughRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1442 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the most prominent feminists of her century. She brilliantly created a haunting and gothic allegory in her short story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† It was difficult for women to express themselves in a male dominant society, and they would often try to seek greater fulfillment. Gilman takes her audience through her unnamed character’s journey of emotional deterioration, and her quest for control over her own life. The author’s allegory for theRead MoreBehind The Walls Of A Bad Marriage1425 Words   |  6 PagesAmy Paul English 1B Lerma 3 March 2015 Word Count: 1407 Behind the Walls of a Bad Marriage Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a startling representation of 19th century gender inequality and how it affected women in their marriages. It illustrates the way women of the 19th century were treated as subordinates in their relationships with men, and the negative psychological side effects this often had. The narrator, who remains nameless throughout the story, finds herself trappedRead MoreThe Influence of Masculine Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper1697 Words   |  7 PagesInterpretive Essay on The Yellow Wallpaper The Yellow Wallpaper tells the story of a woman living in the nineteenth century who suffers from postpartum depression. The true meaning implicit in Charlottes story goes beyond a simple psychological speculation. The story consists of a series of cleverly constructed short paragraphs, in which the author illustrates, through the unnamed protagonists experiences, the possible outcome of womens acceptance of mens supposed intellectual superiorityRead MoreCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper†: the Use of Symbolism to Express the Psychological, Sexual, and Creative Oppression Experienced by Women in the Twentieth Century3480 Words   |  14 PagesAmber Gonzalez 12/6/11 English 2213 Melissa Whitney Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†: The Use of Symbolism to Express The Psychological, Sexual, and Creative Oppression Experienced by Women In The Twentieth Century Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† in the late 1800’s while being treating by the very trusted Weir Mitchell. During this time women were commonly admitted into the care of doctors by their husbands without their given consent. At this timeRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper and Feminism2126 Words   |  9 Pagesshortcomings that history has given them. In Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s short story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† the dominance of a patriarchal society is exposed. The verisimilitude of Gilman’s imagery of the setting lengthily describes the isolation and confinement of the narrator and their effects on her. The house she is staying in is her own prison, and is a symbol of her isolation from society. Her room with the yellow wallpaper is another representation of the narrator’s oppression and her ambition to break