The Yellow Wallpaper Patriarchal Oppression
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman uses the narrator’s social status of a woman and her husbands patriarchal oppression to show how, people who control others deprive them from self expression.
In the story the narrator was patriarchally oppressed by her husbands over controlling power. His words were very authoritative that he would have the last word in anything. He even was the one that determined whether his wife felt sick or not. She proclaimed, “He does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?” (565). She had no voice or say because of her social status and it didn't matter if she was suffering from illness or pain. Because of the husband's power to control, the woman was restricted from her personal opinions and thoughts. She was only commanded to obey all her husband's orders, with pleasure. …show more content…
In addition, the husband's containment over her, deprived her from her own ideas.
With the deprivation and the oppression, his wife obtained a mental illness. Through the husbands authority and governance he gave the order for her to be stationed in the nursery from the new home, which was not a pleasant room to stay in. As she describes, “ The paint and paper…are stripped off...in great patches...I never saw a worse paper in my life” (566). Although the room was in harsh conditions, she was given that room by her husbands commands and all she had to do was obey and deal with where she was placed. Through her husband's oppression she was not able to express herself . She could have simply told him that she detested having that room as her living space, when in the first place there was other rooms to sleep in, yet because she was a woman the only thing that was at her favor was to abide to her husband's
commands.
Furthermore, the husband also governed his wife by making sure she would not read or write. If women of that era were educated, men would feel subordinate. For that case, her husband ensured that she was not reading or writing during her spare time. She would only do so when he was away at work. She explains in worry, “There comes John, and I must put this away-he hates to have me write a word” (566). His power to control ruled over her personal ability to express oneself. She was no longer able to express her thoughts through writing or able to correlate her ideas to a book. The woman was continually oppressed by her husband which withdraws her from her self expression.
In the story the narrator was patriarchally oppressed by her husbands over controlling power. His words were very authoritative that he would have the last word in anything. He even was the one that determined whether his wife felt sick or not. She proclaimed, “He does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?” (565). She had no voice or say because of her social status and it didn't matter if she was suffering from illness or pain. Because of the husband's power to control, the woman was restricted from her personal opinions and thoughts. She was only commanded to obey all her husband's orders, with pleasure. …show more content…
In addition, the husband's containment over her, deprived her from her own ideas.
With the deprivation and the oppression, his wife obtained a mental illness. Through the husbands authority and governance he gave the order for her to be stationed in the nursery from the new home, which was not a pleasant room to stay in. As she describes, “ The paint and paper…are stripped off...in great patches...I never saw a worse paper in my life” (566). Although the room was in harsh conditions, she was given that room by her husbands commands and all she had to do was obey and deal with where she was placed. Through her husband's oppression she was not able to express herself . She could have simply told him that she detested having that room as her living space, when in the first place there was other rooms to sleep in, yet because she was a woman the only thing that was at her favor was to abide to her husband's
commands.
Furthermore, the husband also governed his wife by making sure she would not read or write. If women of that era were educated, men would feel subordinate. For that case, her husband ensured that she was not reading or writing during her spare time. She would only do so when he was away at work. She explains in worry, “There comes John, and I must put this away-he hates to have me write a word” (566). His power to control ruled over her personal ability to express oneself. She was no longer able to express her thoughts through writing or able to correlate her ideas to a book. The woman was continually oppressed by her husband which withdraws her from her self expression.