Woman's Sickness To Her Husband's Dominance example essay topic

In the story "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, there is a strong sense of a feminist view. A young married woman suffers from a "disease" the her doctor husband John tries to cure her from when in fact the presence of his superiority and knowledge leads her to hide her feelings and ultimately become more sick. This short story is a perfect example of the struggle of a young woman in a complicated circumstance. The bedroom of the house that this couple has just moved into is decorated with terrible yellow wallpaper and this is one of the driving forces behind her "hysterical actions". She sees a woman, behind the hideous patterns and it turns out that she is the woman trying to break free of the patterns. Her husband denies her request to change the wallpaper and that is a perfect example of her repressed feelings, the feelings that if expressed, might cure her.

Deep down she writes on her paper and tells her true feelings about how she is to trust and obey her all knowing husband. She knows he loves her and earnestly believes he is trying to help, but the only way he thinks she can get better is if she does the things he thinks will help her and that is just the thing that keeps her sick. There are many examples of male dominance in this story and there also is the underlying tone of that being the "bad" thing. Her husband John says things like "What is it little girl, don't go walking around like that, you " ll get cold" and "Bless her little heart" (yes that is in the third person).

He treats her as if she were a child who could not think for herself. On another note, writing is one of the things that help her a great deal and John hates her to write because he says it exhausts her. Again, just because he "knows" what is good for her he shuns her needs, which are the very things that could make her well again. The woman in the story is clearly made out to be the inferior character; however this is the reason for her struggle with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. Her wellness depends on ripping that disgusting wallpaper down and John believes one should not give into "such fancies as that". She finally loses it and locks herself into the room to free the woman trapped in the paper.

The author does a wonderful job of depicting a woman's struggle and victory on her own when she pretends like she is obeying what her husband asks of her. This story was written in a time where the feminist movement was very prevalent. The way that Gilman relates the woman's sickness to her husband's dominance is a perfect example of a feminist thought. In answer to the question yes, the Yellow Wallpaper is an extremely feminist work, in a beautiful and frustrating way. As I stated, it is an example of struggle that was a victory in a way because she tore down the wallpaper but a failure because she was still sick. Ultimately, leaving one to think about the bittersweet, trials and tribulations of women in that time period.