The Feminism in the Yellow Wallpaper
The Feminism in The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson was set in the 19th century,USA.It was mainly about a hysterical woman took the rest cure in an ancestral hall,and was finally driven mad by a piece of yellow wallpaper in her room. In The Yellow Wallpaper,the author demonstrates the idea that in the 19th century US,women were suffered from male hegemony.They were in an inferior position,and their position needed to be improved.
To begin with,women were forbidden to write in the 19th century US.Obviously it was a mental restriction since writing was an efficient way to release emotions.The narrator said that no one knew how much she suffered,and she hadn’t felt like writing before since that first day.（p143）But she had to put her writing away when her husband came in(p143).She could do nothing except focus on the yellow wallpaper,and that led to a worse situation in some way.
Second,women received little substancial attention and care from the society.In the article,the narrator was physically restrained like a prisoner.She was locked in a room with bars on the window.(p143)The bed was nailed down and couldn’t move.(p146)On the surface,her husband was very careful and loving,(p144)but he didn’t give her the concern she really needed,and hardly let her stir without special direction.(p142)He even wanted to control her thoughts,by saying ‘you will never for instant let that idea enter your mind’.(p149)And the controlling of husband to wife can reflect a male dominant society.
The last point I want to stress is that if women’s inferior condition didn’t alter,women would sink into a desperate mind and be insane.The narrator created the illusion that she could see a woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper struggle to come out.(p152)At last , she successfully took the wallpaper off and “let the woman out”.(p154)Indeed she crept like her and made her husband fainted.(p155)The male dominance had destroyed her at last.
The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson was set in the 19th century,USA.It was mainly about a hysterical woman took the rest cure in an ancestral hall,and was finally driven mad by a piece of yellow wallpaper in her room. In The Yellow Wallpaper,the author demonstrates the idea that in the 19th century US,women were suffered from male hegemony.They were in an inferior position,and their position needed to be improved.
To begin with,women were forbidden to write in the 19th century US.Obviously it was a mental restriction since writing was an efficient way to release emotions.The narrator said that no one knew how much she suffered,and she hadn’t felt like writing before since that first day.（p143）But she had to put her writing away when her husband came in(p143).She could do nothing except focus on the yellow wallpaper,and that led to a worse situation in some way.
Second,women received little substancial attention and care from the society.In the article,the narrator was physically restrained like a prisoner.She was locked in a room with bars on the window.(p143)The bed was nailed down and couldn’t move.(p146)On the surface,her husband was very careful and loving,(p144)but he didn’t give her the concern she really needed,and hardly let her stir without special direction.(p142)He even wanted to control her thoughts,by saying ‘you will never for instant let that idea enter your mind’.(p149)And the controlling of husband to wife can reflect a male dominant society.
The last point I want to stress is that if women’s inferior condition didn’t alter,women would sink into a desperate mind and be insane.The narrator created the illusion that she could see a woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper struggle to come out.(p152)At last , she successfully took the wallpaper off and “let the woman out”.(p154)Indeed she crept like her and made her husband fainted.(p155)The male dominance had destroyed her at last.