Gender Inequality In The Yellow Wallpaper

There are many ways that The Yellow Wallpaper can be interpreted. Back then in the late 1800s gender inequality was a big topic back then. Men were more superior than women. They had more rights and were supposed to be in charge of the household. Women were expected to do all of the dirty work. Dirty work meaning take care of the house, take care of children, and just making sure that everything in the house is organized and okay. I interpreted The Yellow Wallpaper as an example of what was going on back then because often in the story the Women’s role back then and the Women’s position back then is often symbolized throughout the story.
Throughout the story the narrator often feels bad for not doing her role as a woman, this represents the
Women had many expectations within the household. There main job was to take care of their husband and children and just to basically make sure everything is flowing right in the household. This is where their wages would come from. If they weren’t doing their job they didn’t feel right. They would feel like they were doing the wrong thing. The author of Article 4 says, “For many women (though fortunately not for me), such feelings of frustration and isolation lead to outright depression, not to mention the burden of lost wages and other financial costs.”( Article 4) This was the source of money for women and this what they relied on. When they wouldn’t do their job there was most definitely also a financial cost. By this leading to depression this just goes to show the amount of stress women had on their mind each day to take care of the household. Towards the beginning of “ The Yellow Wallpaper” you really start to see the stress get to the narrator. She mentions that,“ It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!”(1) When she is saying this she is basically saying that she is no idea what she would do without Mary. After that she really praises Mary for what she is doing. This is surprising to see that she is even worrying about this in the condition that she is in. But, this is the actual amount of stress that women had back then. She is so worried about if everything is going good in the household. Men did not have to worry about this because they were the ones being taken care of and getting the attention. So, women were provided with an unnecessary amount of work that caused a great amount of stress and when they weren’t able to do that work it lead to