The short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was published in 1892 and is considered to be a very important work of feminist literature. In this paper the short story will be analyzed in regard to the critical theory of feminism. The main part will give special attention to stereotypes of women represented in the story, namely the perfect housewife and the hysterical woman, as well as the traditional gender power structure in the late nineteenth century. However, at the beginning there will be a brief explanation of the aspects of feminism as a critical literary theory. The following part will pay close attention to symbols like the bedroom to demonstrate how they reflect the social and emotional state of the narrator and what they reveal about her defeat or liberation. Additionally, it will illustrate the main characters of the short story, specifically the unknown narrator herself, and which stereotypes of people from the Victorian era they represent. The narrator tells the reader about her life as a wife and mother. She has great problems in fulfilling her duty as a mother because of depression since the birth of her child. The narrator and her husband stay in an old mansion house so that she can recover, but her husband does not really think that she is sick. He leaves her alone almost every day, supposedly because of his work, but this emotional loneliness and the absent of her family and friends, lead her to break down at the end of the story. But is the short story The Yellow Wallpaper really about depression or does it actually reveal something about the woman`s role in society in the late nineteenth century?
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Feminism as literary criticism
3. The Yellow Wall-Paper
3.1 Images of women
3.1.1 The perfect housewife
3.1.2 The hysterical woman
3.2 Symbols
3.2.1 Garden
3.2.2 House
3.2.2.1 Bedroom
3.2.2.2 Windows
3.2.2.3 Wallpaper
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper aims to analyze Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" through the lens of feminist literary theory, exploring how the text critiques the patriarchal structures and gender stereotypes of the late nineteenth century.
- Examination of the "perfect housewife" and "hysterical woman" archetypes.
- Analysis of Victorian power dynamics within marriage.
- Symbolic interpretation of domestic spaces like the nursery and the garden.
- Critique of medicalization and the treatment of female psychological distress.
- The role of the narrator’s writing as a form of resistance against social oppression.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 The perfect housewife
In the nineteenth century, when the American industrialization was growing, particularly white, middle-class women began to suffer because new and higher standards for them appeared. The people believed that the new economy provided men with more opportunities for spare time away from home and after a long day of work, men would need to return to a tranquil and familiar space that would intensify their morality. In the anxiety experienced by most Americans as a result of this growing industrialization, advice givers like Catherine Beecher were concerned that the home was no longer considered sacred and women were not being appreciated for their role maintaining ‘the light of home’ (cf. Rodriguez).
An example from these advice givers' books is taken by the Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms (1888) where it says,
Whatever have been the cares of the day, greet your husband with a smile when he returns. Make your personal appearance just as beautiful as possible. Let him enter rooms so attractive and sunny that all the recollections of his home, when away from the same, shall attract him back.
Also very famous of that time was the historian Barbara Welter with her article, The Cult of True Womanhood. She stated that a True Woman should have exhibited and mastered with ease domesticity, piety, purity, and submissiveness. This Cult of True Womanhood was an ideal placed upon nineteenth century women of how they should conduct their lives. It lead to the situation that women only had a social, decorative and childbearing role to perform (cf. Stubbs). They were imprisoned in the home or private sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family. So, the Victorian feminine role required the suppression of one's own needs in favor of service to offer individuals, especially one's family members.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the significance of "The Yellow Wallpaper" as feminist literature and sets the focus on analyzing gender stereotypes and symbolism.
2. Feminism as literary criticism: Explains the theoretical foundations of feminist literary criticism and its application in analyzing patriarchal oppression.
3. The Yellow Wall-Paper: Provides a detailed analysis of the story's representation of women and the symbolic significance of the protagonist's environment.
3.1 Images of women: Discusses the societal expectations placed upon women during the Victorian era through specific character archetypes.
3.1.1 The perfect housewife: Examines the pressure on women to fulfill domestic roles and maintain a "True Womanhood" ideal.
3.1.2 The hysterical woman: Explores the medicalized pathologization of female depression and social rebellion in the late nineteenth century.
3.2 Symbols: Interprets the recurring motifs in the story as reflections of the narrator's emotional state and captivity.
3.2.1 Garden: Analyzes how the garden serves as a projection of the narrator's confined romantic and mystical desires.
3.2.2 House: Discusses the home as a site of both domesticity and patriarchal isolation.
3.2.2.1 Bedroom: Details how the bedroom reflects the infantilization of the narrator and her lack of agency.
3.2.2.2 Windows: Examines the windows as symbols of thwarted freedom and observed social restrictions.
3.2.2.3 Wallpaper: Interprets the color and pattern of the wallpaper as a metaphor for the narrator's psychological emergency and resistance.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes how the story reflects the struggle of women against the societal constraints of the late nineteenth century.
Keywords
Feminism, The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Victorian Era, Patriarchy, Hysteria, Gender Roles, Literary Criticism, Symbolism, Domesticity, Oppression, True Womanhood, Female Identity, Postpartum Depression, Social Control.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" through the critical lens of feminism, examining how the work critiques the repressive Victorian social order.
What central themes are explored in the text?
Key themes include the role of women in the domestic sphere, the pathologization of female emotions through "hysteria," patriarchal control, and the search for identity and agency.
What is the primary objective of this study?
The goal is to demonstrate how the story's characters and symbols reveal the systemic oppression and marginalization of women in the late nineteenth century.
Which theoretical approach is applied?
The paper utilizes feminist literary criticism to investigate how the literature reflects and challenges patriarchal ideology.
What does the main part of the work cover?
The main section analyzes character stereotypes like the "perfect housewife," the medical treatment of the "hysterical woman," and the deep symbolic significance of the setting, specifically the wallpaper and the room.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Keywords such as Patriarchy, Hysteria, Gender Roles, Domesticity, and Female Identity are central to the analysis presented.
How does the author interpret the role of Jennie in the story?
Jennie is portrayed as a "conjugal collaborator" who supports the patriarchal structure, serving as a foil to the narrator by fully embodying the role of the submissive, efficient housewife.
Why is the "therapy of immobilization" critical to the analysis?
The author argues that this treatment, prescribed by physicians of the time, was a tool for patriarchal control that intensified the narrator’s mental anguish rather than curing it.
What is the significance of the wallpaper pattern?
The pattern is interpreted as a metaphor for the complex and "torturing" expectations placed upon women, where the narrator’s obsession with it reflects her struggle to liberate herself from a "creeping" state of repression.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2009, The Yellow Wallpaper, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/196323
