Society's Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an interpretation how women areoppressed by males in society. Gilman attempts to reveal this oppression through her use of maleimposed confinement. One woman's struggle with both mental and physical confinement,represents the greater battles between women and men. Confinement represents classic maleoppression and the woman represents all women and their struggle to break free from maledominance. The significance of the confinement is seen in both the vivid descriptions whichsymbolize the male dominance and the woman's subsequent reaction to this incarceration. The yellow wallpaper paints a distinct picture of confinement in both the physical andsymbolic sense. Physically the house itself serves to lead to feelings of isolation. It represents theclassic institution, that part of society which attempts to constrain the individual. T
Symbolically the narrator being confined to the room by her husband is representative ofthe ideals in society at the time. As the narratorstares at the wallpaper day in and day out as she sits in physical confinement she begins to seeimages within the wallpaper. He exemplified the dominancemen had over women, the ability to ensure a woman's dependence on a man through exerting thepower provided to him merely based on sex. The woman shesees behind the bars is representative of herself and women as a whole within society. The yellowwallpaper which dominates the nursery torments the woman. It is in thisnursery that the narrator slowly slips into insanity. Within the confines of this dungeon-like roomthe woman gradually is subjected to male oppression symbolic of that which occurs within society. It is in effect another symbol of themale dominance in society and their confinement of women to subservient roles. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back. She has broken free of themale dominated society even if just for a moment and she has through tearing the paper downbegan to tear down the walls of female oppression that exist to this day. It is surrounded by walls and a gate,ensuring complete isolation. A process whichlikewise began within society during this time, although it still has not been completed. Through his diagnosing her with a "temporarynervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency", John demeans his wife, oppressing her to theplace men felt women belonged. While confined however, the narrator through the yellow wallpaper is able to symbolicallybegin to break free from the shackles of a male dominated society.
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