Gender Roles In Moby Dick And The Yellow Wall-Paper
For many decades, women lived under the suppression of men. In fact, many people still argue this today. There are many facts that support the idea that men are privileged over women in today’s society. However, these gender issues were much more overt and much more of a problem in the past. Many authors have touched upon these issues in their works. Some do so in a very subtle fashion and some do so quite overtly. Two novels that address gender issues are Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-Paper. Moby Dick was written in 1951 and The Yellow Wall-Paper was written in 1892. Melville addresses gender roles much more subtlety than Gilman, who addresses these issues overtly. This is nearly a six-decade difference
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As she analyzes and thinks deeper about the wallpaper, she begins to believe there is a woman trapped within. This woman is a symbol of herself. She is so bored and mentally deranged in this uncomfortable living situation of hers that she convinces herself that there is a literal woman trapped within the wallpaper who cannot get out. This is parallel to her being trapped within this estate and being unable to get out because of her femininity. Before they are set to leave the house, she plants in her mind the idea that she must set this woman free. She goes into her room and starts tearing off the wall paper declaring that she is now …show more content…
In Moby Dick, gender roles are seen through the act of whaling, the whole idea of the “men’s world” on the ship, and arguably seen through the character Ishmael, even though he is a man. In The Yellow Wall-Paper, gender roles are seen through John’s dominance and suppression of his wife and the results of this dominance affected her mentally and emotionally. In general, Moby Dick is primarily about the male gender role and The Yellow Wall-Paper addresses the relationship and issue between male and female gender roles. Although these are two totally different novels, written in two totally different decades, they both address gender roles in very affective fashions through showing male domination and female
As she analyzes and thinks deeper about the wallpaper, she begins to believe there is a woman trapped within. This woman is a symbol of herself. She is so bored and mentally deranged in this uncomfortable living situation of hers that she convinces herself that there is a literal woman trapped within the wallpaper who cannot get out. This is parallel to her being trapped within this estate and being unable to get out because of her femininity. Before they are set to leave the house, she plants in her mind the idea that she must set this woman free. She goes into her room and starts tearing off the wall paper declaring that she is now …show more content…
In Moby Dick, gender roles are seen through the act of whaling, the whole idea of the “men’s world” on the ship, and arguably seen through the character Ishmael, even though he is a man. In The Yellow Wall-Paper, gender roles are seen through John’s dominance and suppression of his wife and the results of this dominance affected her mentally and emotionally. In general, Moby Dick is primarily about the male gender role and The Yellow Wall-Paper addresses the relationship and issue between male and female gender roles. Although these are two totally different novels, written in two totally different decades, they both address gender roles in very affective fashions through showing male domination and female