The Yellow Wallpaper vs The Awakening
AP English
4 November 2013
Femininity in The Yellow-Awakening Just before the turn of the 19th century, two works were published in 1899, regarding similar topics associated with feminism such as the subordination of women and the importance of their self-expressions in the midst of the subordination. The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening are narrated from the point of view of a female protagonist, revealing the difficulties she and other women face due to commonly held views of female inferiority during this time period. With these similarities aside, the two seemingly similar texts differ in how the female protagonists handle their situation of confinement within strict social conventions. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman unveil the expectations of certain characteristics that women should possess by men such as, obedience, submissiveness, beauty, passivity, and purity. The husband, John, portrayed in this short-story treats the narrator, or his wife, as if she is oblivious and as if she is merely a child evident in his diction. He refers to her as a “little girl” and therefore does not take her opinions into serious consideration and simply overlooks her requests. To coerce his own opinions upon the narrator, he sugarcoats his thoughts as an attempt to make them appeal to her: “My darling,” said he, “I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as for your own, and that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind!” The narrator is sent to an asylum due to her mental condition while her actions are restricted by John as a part of her treatment. The narrator makes it evident that she is severely repressed by her husband’s authority, as she interrupts her own train of thought with her husband’s instructions for treatment. As she neglects her own thoughts and turns her attention to John’s authority, she enters the process of increasing obsession and madness: “So I will let it alone and talk about the house.” The
4 November 2013
Femininity in The Yellow-Awakening Just before the turn of the 19th century, two works were published in 1899, regarding similar topics associated with feminism such as the subordination of women and the importance of their self-expressions in the midst of the subordination. The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening are narrated from the point of view of a female protagonist, revealing the difficulties she and other women face due to commonly held views of female inferiority during this time period. With these similarities aside, the two seemingly similar texts differ in how the female protagonists handle their situation of confinement within strict social conventions. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman unveil the expectations of certain characteristics that women should possess by men such as, obedience, submissiveness, beauty, passivity, and purity. The husband, John, portrayed in this short-story treats the narrator, or his wife, as if she is oblivious and as if she is merely a child evident in his diction. He refers to her as a “little girl” and therefore does not take her opinions into serious consideration and simply overlooks her requests. To coerce his own opinions upon the narrator, he sugarcoats his thoughts as an attempt to make them appeal to her: “My darling,” said he, “I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as for your own, and that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind!” The narrator is sent to an asylum due to her mental condition while her actions are restricted by John as a part of her treatment. The narrator makes it evident that she is severely repressed by her husband’s authority, as she interrupts her own train of thought with her husband’s instructions for treatment. As she neglects her own thoughts and turns her attention to John’s authority, she enters the process of increasing obsession and madness: “So I will let it alone and talk about the house.” The