Thursday, September 19, 2019
The Yellow Wallpaper :: Literary Analysis, Perkins Gilman
For centuries men and women have been taught from an early age how to behave. Boys are taught to play war, hunt, and other skills deemed ââ¬Å"Manlyâ⬠. Women are also taught how young ladies are to behave. Women are to tend to housework and rear children. Over the last 150 years women have fought to fight these stereotypes and break away from traditional gender roles. Forcing traditional gender roles upon women (or men), instead of allowing them to forge their own identity can be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of a woman and her family. In 1898 ââ¬Å"Declaration of Sentimentsâ⬠was published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The second paragraph begins with ââ¬Å"We hold these truths to be self evidentâ⬠(Stanton 287). This mirrors the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. It continues to say that ââ¬Å"all men and women are created equalâ⬠(Stanton 287) whereas the Declaration of Independence only mentions men. This was a way for women to be heard in a calm and rational way. Stanton goes on to describe how men have an ââ¬Å"absolute tyrannyâ⬠(Stanton 287) over women. They have no right to vote, however are subjected to the laws, and have ââ¬Å"withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men- both natives and foreignersâ⬠(Stanton 288). It clearly outlines the way women were treated (and in some societies still treated). While women have as many rights under the law as men do, they still struggle to be viewed as equals. In the ââ¬Å"Yellow Wallpaperâ⬠Charlotte Perkins Gilman shows how a woman is treated as property and frail, it follows her decline into a mental breakdown. She appears to be suffering from Post Partum Depression, and is treated by her physician husband John for ââ¬Å"temporary nervous depression ââ¬â a slight hysterical tendencyâ⬠(Gillman 130). She isnââ¬â¢t allowed any say in her care or treatment and is treated as a prisoner. The speaker describes her surroundings saying ââ¬Å"It was a nursery first and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children and there are rings in the wallsâ⬠(possibly for keeping patients restrained) (Gillman 131). She talks about the large room and how the wallpaper is ripped and the floor is gouged (Gillman 134), the ââ¬Å"great immovable bed ââ¬â itââ¬â¢s nailed downâ⬠(Gillman 135).
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