Feminist Perspectives and Character Analysis in The Yellow Wallpaper

This essay analyzes Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" through a feminist lens, focusing on the oppression and silencing of women, particularly those suffering from mental illnesses in the 19th century. The story highlights the protagonist's internal and external conflicts, her struggle for freedom within a masochistic society, and her deteriorating mental state exacerbated by her husband's dismissive treatment. The essay examines the characters, particularly the protagonist's resilience and the antagonist role of the male-dominated society represented by her husband, John. It concludes by emphasizing the limited freedom and liberty women experienced in the 19th century, especially those facing mental and emotional challenges, as depicted in Gilman's narrative.

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As opined by Jing, the concept of feminism has emerged as one of the most important
ones in the contemporary times and is being widely used by the different authors for the
narration of different stories. In this regard, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman is an important one since the short story is redolent with the theme of feminism. The
short story represents the silencing as well as oppression of women particular the ones who
suffered from mental illnesses in the 19th century.
The major conflict which the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” tries to portray is
the condition of women in the 19th century. As opined by Brooks, the women of the 19th
century enjoyed limited amount of freedom not only within the framework of the society but
also within their family as well. More importantly, they had to face oppression as well as
various acts of silencing within their own family by the male members. The condition was far
worse for the women who were suffering from mental and emotional problems (Donadey
335). It is this conflict that the author Charlotte Perkins Gilman tries to highlight in the short
story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The struggle or the conflict that Gilman tries to depict in this
story not only takes place between her and the masochistic society of the 19th century but also
takes place within her as well. The inner conflict gets manifested in her struggle with
depression whereas the external conflict gets manifested in her struggle to gain freedom and
independence from the masochistic society (Jing 471).
The lines “It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women
do not creep by daylight” of the short story give an adequate description of the opinion that
men held about women in the 19th century (Gilman 54). It is pertinent to note that the major
conflict Gilman had to face as the story unravels is the oppression as well as suppression that
she had to endure at the hands of her husband within the institution of marriage (Donadey
335). More importantly, along with her gender, her mental and emotional problems directly

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contribute towards the treatment that she receives from her husband. The net result of this is
that she not only feels depression but at the same time various other kinds of mental and
emotional problems as well. In this regard, the lines of the story “But John says if I feel so I
shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself-before him, at least, and
that makes me very tired. I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs…..” are
important to note (Gilman 59).
The major protagonist of the short story is Gilman herself and the story showcases the
emotional as well as mental problems that she herself experienced herself (Jing 471). The
story does not represent a human antagonist rather the antagonist in the short story is the
masochistic society itself. The story thus represents all the male members of this society as
the antagonists and in this regard the lines “John is a physician, and perhaps…that is one
reason I do not get well faster. You see, he does not believe I am sick!” (Gilman 65). These
lines clearly indicate the disregard of John towards the illness faced by Gilman.
The most important character attribute of the protagonist is the resilience with which
she bears with the inhumanity of John (Brooks 18). For example, rather than showing her
anger and frustration towards the male dominated society or her husband she directs her
entire frustration towards the wallpaper. In this regard, the lines “Instead of confronting John
for his inhumanity, the patient channels anger at the monstrous wallpaper….” are important
to note (Gilman 61). This resilience and patience are the two most important character traits
of her personality. The need to follow the traditional job roles set for them is the fact that
motivates the protagonist to act in the manner in which she acts in the story.
The major minor character in the story is John, the husband of the protagonist (Brooks
18). He is infact one of the major contributors towards the mental and psychological
problems faced by Gilman in the story under discussion here. The character of the protagonist

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in the short story under discussion here is a fully developed one since the author describes all
facets of her character in an apt manner (Jing 471). On the other hand, John is a flat character
since his presence is mentioned in the story only with the purpose of highlighting the source
of the problem faced by the protagonist. Gilman is an example of a dynamic character
whereas John is an example of a static character. The author has special sympathy towards
the protagonist since she is her own personification. The first-person language or narrative
has been used by the author through the major part of the story and the majority of the story
has been told from the perspective of the protagonist, Gilman.
To conclude, the women in the 19th century enjoyed limited amount of freedom as
well as liberty within the male dominated society of that age. More importantly, as the short
story “The Yellow Wallpaper” of Gilman reveals the women of the 19th century had to face
oppression as well as suppression not only in the society but also within their family as well.
Furthermore, these acts of oppression and suppression became more aggravated in the
particular context of women suffering from mental or emotional illnesses.

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References
Brooks, Ashley N. "Nursery Versus Straightjacket: The Feminist Paradox of “The Yellow
Wallpaper”." Papers & Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate
Research 6.1 (2017): 18.
Donadey, Anne. "Violence and Resistance." Women in Culture: An Intersectional Anthology
for Gender and Women's Studies (2016): 335.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow wall-paper. Penguin UK, 2015.
Jing, H. E. "Same Plight, Different Struggle: A Comparison of Female Protagonists in
Hamlet and “The Yellow Wallpaper”." Journal of Literature and Art Studies 6.5
(2016): 468-472.