What Is John's Role In The Yellow Wallpaper

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“The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, follows the narrator, a woman, who is said to be sick by her family surrounding her. Her husband on other hand works. Eventually, she goes mad and goes against what her husband says for her to do. More than just being a well-written work, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is piece that speaks upon women in society. Through the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, one can see the contrasting roles of men and women, within a patriarchal society, portrayed and defined as well as Gilman’s own life and time period’s sexist struggles. To begin, one should look upon the gender roles established within the story. John, the narrator’s husband, undertakes the masculine role and demonstrates his male dominance/importance. This can be seen as he controls…show more content…
The same benefits that John holds in his role do not appear within the narrator’s. Within her role, she is suppressed and manipulated. But overall, she is owned. This is largely, if not completely, based upon her being the opposite sex as her society has defined the roles of men and women as being different. For instance, she does not control any part of her life. “I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day” (Gilman). Unlike John, her role is to be supervised and not allowed to make independent choices. John even restricts her from moving around. “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” (Gilman). This simply demonstrates her gender role within society, which seems to be to submit to a male force happily. This can be seen as she accepts and compliments John for his excessive governing behavior. Due to this, the narrator has to hide her thoughts, passions such as writing, and live within her own head, which ultimately leads to her breakdown. Overall, the narrator shows the reader that the female role amid Gilman’s era was restrained, guarded, and supervised by a leading man
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