Introduction
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is one of the earliest American feminist literature that put a major spotlight on the perceived role of women in society and the need to allow them to take active roles in socio-economic activities. Narrated in the form of a collection of journal entries, the story is about a couple, a physician husband John, and his wife who is the narrator (Gilman 2). The husband believes that his wife is suffering from what he refers to as temporary nervous depression, a slight hysterical tendency (Gilman 4). The husband, being a physician, believes that the proper treatment for this condition is seclusion from the rest of society. As such, he rents a large mansion with numerous rooms but restricts the wife to only one bedroom upstairs, which he refers to as the nursery. The room is unkempt and the narrator describes its wall as having a yellow smell with a yellow smear when touched. She notes that the wall has a disturbing pattern like “an interminable string of toadstools, budding, and sprouting in endless convolutions,” (Gilman 6). However, she has no option but to remain in that terrible room because that is what her husband wants. In this paper, the focus is to discuss some of the major themes in this book.
Analysis of Themes
At the time when the author of this book published it, women in the United States could not actively participate in socio-economic and political activities. They had to rely on their husbands even when they had the capacity to provide for themselves and their families. Many states had made it possible for women to receive some form of education. However, most of them who went to school felt frustrated when they got married because they had to stay at home, just like their counterparts who never stepped into a classroom (Ketchel 67). They felt trapped in their marriages but the society was so patriarchal that the best some of them could do was to narrate their frustrations in journal entries. The narrator personifies the yellow wall and in it, she sees a trapped woman, who is actually herself, who needs her help to be liberated from the bondage. By the end of the book, she actually frees the women. It is necessary to discuss some of the major themes that come out of this book.
Male Chauvinism
One of the main themes that come out of this story is male chauvinism. The American society at this time was highly patriarchal (Santangelo 57). Women were not expected to vote, take any meaningful jobs, or have any meaningful role in society. The situation was made worse by the fact that men were at liberty to make important decisions for their wives. A husband knew what was best for his family and what women could do was obey them, however, the decision was frustrating for them. In this story, John comes up with a diagnosis for his wife and describes it as temporary nervous depression. The medication was total seclusion from the social world. As Fawcett (33) observes, anyone with depression requires social support from friends and close family members. When they share their emotional pain and get encouragement and social support, their condition is likely to improve, especially when it is a temporary condition as John described. However, his form of treatment was the complete opposite of offering her emotional support. She was secluded from the rest of her friends and family, a move that drove her to insanity.
The husband, who happens to have some medical background, expects the narrator to get healed just by being alone in the room. She feels trapped but lacks the opportunity to do as she wishes,
The narrator says, “John says if I don’t pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. But I don’t want to go there at all. I had a friend who was in his hands once, and she says he is just like John and my brother, only more so,” (Gilman 5). The husband is issuing threats that if her condition does not improve, then she will be sent to a psychiatric institution. However, the male owner of the institution is brutal and the conditions there are worse. The narrator observes that her husband, her brother, and the owner of the psychiatric institution are domineering men who feel that women have no right. It is unfortunate that the decision to go to that institution is entirely in the hands of her husband. In this society, men can do anything that they feel is right for their families without any regard for their wives, even if such an action has a direct negative effect on the woman.
The narrator says, “John thought it might do me good to see a little company, so we just had mother and Nellie and the children down for a week,” (Gilman 9). This statement demonstrates the highest level of male chauvinism in this society. John knew that a little company may be of help to his wife, especially with the perceived depression that she is going through. However, most of the time she was locked in total seclusion, in a single room, day and night. At his convenience, he allows close family members to come and visit his wife, just for one week, before she is taken back to her room, with the yellow wallpaper.
It is important to take note of the manner in which the author describes women in this story. The narrator says, “John is kept in town very often by serious cases, and Jennie is good and lets me alone when I want her to.” (Gilman 11). Unlike her husband John and her brother, Jennie is a more considerate and understanding person. When she is left to take care of the narrator, she allows her to get out of the smelly nursery and walk freely around the compound before the husband comes back. She understands her pain and frustrations and is willing to be of help whenever it is possible.
Loneliness
The narrator explains the level of loneliness that she has to suffer at the hands of her husband. In marriage, a husband and wife are expected to keep each other company. However, that is not the case in this marriage. John is so controlling and is never around most of the days. He comes back late in the evening, ready to eat and retire to bed. In some cases, John would spend some nights out of the house, explaining that there were serious cases at work that needed his attention. The narrator explains, “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious,” (Gilman 10). She has to endure days and nights of loneliness.
It is important to note the sarcasm in the phrase ‘cases are serious’. She uses it severally in the journal entries and in a way that casts doubt on the reason that John gives whenever he has to spend out of the house. She believes that in most cases, John spends these nights with friends having fun away from the stinking mansion with a yellow wall. She feels so lonely, having to stay indoors, but social norms and beliefs cannot allow her to protest. Her loneliness is worsened by the fact that Jennie, the only lady who would be in the house for most of the days, has been convinced that the narrator is mentally disturbed. Jennie’s main duty is to ensure that she does not escape and that her meals are prepared and delivered to her as expected. It means that Jennie does not view her as a normal person with whom they can be engaged in normal chats.
The best that this caretaker can do for her is to allow her to walk around the compound for some time when the male members are at work during the daytime. The caretaker is constantly concerned about the possibility of her escaping, harming herself, or causing harm to other members of the family. The online time that she had the opportunity to have a meaningful interaction with other people was when her mother and a sister visited for one week. Although the period was short, she had the opportunity to explain to her mother the fears and frustrations that she is going through, and her expectations in life.
Liberation of Women
The Yellow Wallpaper is a narrative that emphasizes the need for society to liberate women. The narrator epitomizes the pain and suffering that these women go through in their families and the indifference that men have towards their plight. In most cases, they are treated as lesser human beings who have no rights at all in society. They have to take orders without question even if they are hurting. However, the author believes that there is hope. The narrator has gone through so much pain, but she sees herself being liberated. She says, “I am sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery, and there is nothing to hinder my writing as much as I please, save lack of strength,” (Gilman 13). This is the first sign of liberation. She says that although her husband has denied her the opportunity to leave her compound and interact with the community, she has the freedom to write.
The husband does not expect her to keep these journal entries. However, she explains that once he leaves the house, which is often the case, she is granted the freedom to write. He will not be around to stop her from doing as she pleased. The only measure that she has to take is to ensure that she is not caught in the process. The narrator says, “I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already,” (Gilman 16). The narrator believes that in a liberated society, a husband and a wife should be helpers. She should be of some help to the husband, at least by taking care of domestic chores and caring for him when he comes back from work. However, that can only happen when she is also granted freedom. She needs to be allowed to work and engage other members of society instead of being misdiagnosed with a mental illness.
The more the narrator looked at the yellow wallpaper, the more she was able to mirror herself in it. She could see a woman imprisoned behind the smelly dirty yellow wallpaper. She was frustrated and looking forward to being liberated. The narrator viewed herself as the only liberator to the woman behind the wallpaper. She started ripping off the wallpaper and with every effort that she made, she could see the woman coming out of the bondage. She was determined to ensure that she was freed so she could keep her company. She could understand the level of torment the lady behind the wall was subjected to when she was restrained behind the yellow paper because she was going through the same pain. She ripped off the paper and finally the woman was freed.
When the husband came from work that evening, he requested her wife to open the door to their nursery upstairs and let him in but she refused. She no longer needed his company because she had already freed the woman behind the yellow wallpaper. At this stage, the narrator was genuinely hysterical because of her frustration and long periods of being locked in solitude. When the husband finally opened the door, he found the wife on the floor. In her mind, she was keen on protecting the freedom of the imaginary woman. She told her husband, “I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane,” (Gilman 19). In her hysterical state, she could see herself being the woman she had just freed from behind the yellow wallpaper. As such, she informed the husband that despite the pain and frustrations that he had put him through, she was finally free. The husband could not understand the actions and words of his wife. He knew that she was not having a mental condition but her actions were demonstrating that she had developed severe depression. He was so shocked that he fainted. As she creeps over him, she was the one with the power to decide as the tormentor was finally powerless.
Conclusion
The Yellow Paper took a unique angle to champion the rights of women in American society. For a long time, women had been denied the opportunity to get actively involved in the socio-economic and political developments in the country. Most of them were frustrated but the social structure of the community was so patriarchal that they had to accept their positions as being subordinates to their husbands. The story demonstrates how some husbands would go too far in ensuring that they manipulated their wives because of personal gains. John manipulated her wife so much that he could not questions his habit of regularly spending nights out of the house. The end of the story shows that if men fail to grant women the freedom they deserve, then women would free themselves at last.
Works Cited
Fawcett, Millicent. Women’s Suffrage: The History of a Great Movement. Madison & Adams Press, 2018.
Gilman, Perkins. The Yellow Wall Paper. Small Maynard & Company, 1899.
Ketchel, Mary, and Marsha Blackburn. Camilla Can Vote: Celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote. Simon and Schuster, 2020.
Santangelo, Lauren. Suffrage and the City: New York Women Battle for the Ballot. Oxford University Press, 2019.
Stanborough, Rebecca. A Women’s Suffrage Time Capsule: Artifacts of the Movement for Voting Rights. Capstone Press, 2021.