Реферат: Yellow Wall Paper And Women Role Essay

, Research Paper

In the nineteenth century, women in literature were often portrayed as

submissive to men. Literature of the period often characterized women as

oppressed by society, as well as by the male influences in their lives. The

Yellow Wallpaper presents the tragic story of a woman’s descent into depression

and madness. Gilman once wrote "Women’s subordination will only end when

women lead the struggle for their own autonomy, thereby freeing man as well as

themselves, because man suffers from the distortions that come from dominance,

just as women are scarred by the subjugation imposed upon them" (Lane 5).

The Yellow Wallpaper brilliantly illustrates this philosophy. The narrator’s

declining mental health is reflected through the characteristics of the house

she is trapped in and her husband, while trying to protect her, is actually

destroying her. The narrator of the story goes with her doctor/husband to stay

in a colonial mansion for the summer. The house is supposed to be a place where

she can recover from severe postpartum depression. She loves her baby, but knows

she is not able to take care of him. "It is fortunate Mary is so good with

the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so

nervous" (Gilman 642). The symbolism utilized by Gilman is somewhat askew

from the conventional. A house usually symbolizes security. In this story the

opposite is true. The protagonist, whose name we never learn, feels trapped by

the walls of the house, just as she is trapped by her mental illness. The

windows of her room, which normally would symbolize a sense of freedom, are

barred, holding her in. (Biedermann 179, 382). From the outset the reader is

given a sense of the domineering tendencies of the narrator’s husband, John. The

narrator tells us: "John is a physician, and perhaps ? (I would not say

it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my

mind) ? perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster" (Gilman

640). It is painfully obvious that she feels trapped and unable to express her

fears to her husband. "You see, he does not believe I am sick. And what can

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