The Yellow Wallpaper: Oppression Of Women During The 19th Century

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The Yellow Wallpaper portrays the oppression women had regardless of class during the 19th century. We are shown examples of this through both the male and female perspectives of the story. Men treated women as children. They talked down to them and took care of them similar to the way you would with a child. This is made clear whenever John addresses his wife he calls her by pet names and belittles her opinion with his own. , Additionally, John would belittle his wife whenever they discuss the seriousness of her condition. The Yellow Wall-Paper is a short story about a high-class woman who is married to a doctor. John, her husband, self-diagnosis her with nervous depression. John represents the archetype of the 19th century white male. John…show more content…
During 19th century, women were oppressed. They were treated more like pets instead of human beings. Women were believed not able to handle many things due to them being too sensitive. Whenever a woman would become emotional it would often be misconstrued as being hysterical and doctors believed that this state of mind could cause mental illnesses. During the 19th century, women did not have most of the rights men had. Women could not receive higher education, work, or vote. Women were only given the opportunity to be a mother or a wife. They were expected to clean the house and care for their children anything other than that was men’s work. All women during the 19th century could achieve was a healthy married, well kept house, and well behaved children. During the 19th century, women’s rights advocates were gaining momentum to start fighting for equality. They were fighting for the rights men took for granted. Women were able to partially been seen as equals on 1920 when they were given the right to…show more content…
During this time period, women had two different sides. Through the perspective of main character in The Yellow Wall Paper we see the agreeable side. This side the women conform to men’s beliefs. This is shown when the wife says,” I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!”(Gilman) She feels guilty for being such a burden on her husband by complaining about the wallpaper so much even though he says he will not remove it or let her change rooms. This makes her feel as though her husband sees her as ungrateful because she doesn’t like the room her husband has given her to live in. The other side of women during the 19th century is the nonconformist side. Women are force to become disagreeable due to the lack of respect. This is shown at the end of The Yellow Wall Paper when the woman finally breaks free from the attic and from her husband’s rules. There is usage of symbolism in The Yellow Wall Paper. The wallpaper represents captivity. Gilman shows this when the woman says, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.”(Gilman) The representation of symbolism is created when the women repetitively asks to remove the wallpaper but is not allowed to by her stubborn husband and is eventually locked in the room with the thing she despises most. The quote
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