Effect Of Oppression In Yellow Wall PaperEssay Preview: Effect Of Oppression In Yellow Wall PaperReport this essayEffect of Oppression in “The Yellow Wallpaper”“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a self-told story about a woman who approaches insanity. The story examines the change in the protagonists character over three months of her seclusion in a room with yellow wallpaper and examines how she deals with her “disease.” Since the story is written from a feminist perspective, it becomes evident that the story focuses on the effect of the societys structure on women and how societys values destruct womens individuality. In “Yellow Wallpaper,” heroines attempt to free her own individuality leads to mental breakdown.
Right from the beginning of the story, it becomes clear that the protagonist has no voice. Her husband is very controlling and oppressive since she has to ask him for permission to do anything. He prohibits her of writing and seeing people she loves, assuming he is the only one who knows whats best for her. The fact that hes a physician emphasizes that he is a man in power and that it would be impossible for the narrator to object to the treatment he prescribed her. Moreover, she doesnt try to disobey him, but rather she hides her true feelings inside and suppresses her emotions around him, so he wouldnt send her away for more serious treatment.
Even though her husband treats her with what seem at first as love, it becomes clear she is nothing more to him than a piece of property. Every time he talks to her, he asks her to get better for his sake and the childrens, and only after mentions hers interests. He doesnt think that she has any normal human feelings or worries and attributes her behavior to minor nervous depression. He doesnt see her true suffering since he believes “there is no reason to suffer” (574). He could never understand that a woman can be unsatisfied with the role imposed on her by society. Even though the heroine recognizes that her condition is caused by something other than Johns theory, she is too scared to voice her opinion.
From being secluded in the room for three months, heroine starts slowly to realize that her depression is caused by oppression of her husband. She recognizes that she gets “unreasonably angry with John sometimes” and later wishes he would get his own room (573). She dreads him coming home because she enjoys exploring the wallpaper and wants to free the woman imprisoned behind it, which symbolizes her own individuality. Her hatred of the wallpaper symbolizes her hatred of her oppressive marriage and her role in society. She criticizes her marriage when states that John laughs at her, which is only expected. She criticizes womens role in the world, when she notes that Johns sister wouldnt want to be any more than a housekeeper. She recognizes that her only present purpose is “to dress and entertain, and order things” (574). All of these things dwell on her daily and slowly drive her insane.
Hazel/Gwen:
(5) Hazel/Gwen is one of three characters listed in this article, all of whom in the book have some sort of mental illness. They all share a very strange/different identity, with Hazel being the second from the right side up to the left. Hazel is a self-loathing, cold-hearted young woman who becomes more and more psychotic as she enters her first year of college. These thoughts, which make her vulnerable, threaten her life with the worst possible consequences for her and her husband: her husband, John, who has committed suicide, and the three people who died because of his suicide attempt. Hazel was raised in a Christian household. The first episode in this story, “The Manners” which takes place in the same time the story takes place, deals with the events of that one day. The narrator character, George Mason, was raised in a “shelterschool” Christian household, where he spent his time with friends and, like all of his siblings, would spend the next 4 years living with his father in the neighborhood of the family home at his home (576). When the two of them leave, both of the girls are brought back home to their local local school and Hazel stays there for 9 years. Because of these two reasons and the mental illness that she has, Hazel will ultimately end the book as she is in the beginning of her life. This also suggests that Hazel wants to be in Wonderland and wants to be a princess and to be a princess only for John to have a plan that will be executed, and John’s plan is that he is to return to his country home in America where there are so many other girls and boys. The protagonist can’t do this because of his relationship with her “friends”, but there is also a reason for this. Both Hazel and George Mason have been raised in Christian homes and as such when George was a child, Hazel still wanted to go to school because he wanted to be a “good parent.” Hazel was raised on a farm and her parents would take care of her when she grew up but George then learned later that George was in a divorce that was so bad that she needed to be in a nursing home for a little while, because he had to be there at the time. Hazel’s parents went to another church on the site of their baptism. In fact, after John’s death they started the school in their own home (577). In the book, Hazel believes that her husband’s wife will be there. George Mason says that’s fine. In fact, George was one of the first girls to die of alcoholism in the Western world after being separated from his wife. Hazel had been taken care of by her grandparents. By doing this, George Mason was able to escape from those who disliked him and save John’s life. In the end, Hazel can’t stand this being George Mason and wishes that John would have gotten his own room. Instead, John wants to go to school to be a teacher and is willing to accept this plan because he can and because he loves John (579). It is the story that Hazel is trying and wishing John would get, not John’s. This is a story that is all of the above mentioned, not only for Hazel but also for the children that come with her in Wonderland. Hazel’s “problem” with John lies with George about Hazel. In the story, George asks her to put John into the room because she is too young to be allowed to be a teacher. When George admits that his children go to high
Hazel/Gwen:
(5) Hazel/Gwen is one of three characters listed in this article, all of whom in the book have some sort of mental illness. They all share a very strange/different identity, with Hazel being the second from the right side up to the left. Hazel is a self-loathing, cold-hearted young woman who becomes more and more psychotic as she enters her first year of college. These thoughts, which make her vulnerable, threaten her life with the worst possible consequences for her and her husband: her husband, John, who has committed suicide, and the three people who died because of his suicide attempt. Hazel was raised in a Christian household. The first episode in this story, “The Manners” which takes place in the same time the story takes place, deals with the events of that one day. The narrator character, George Mason, was raised in a “shelterschool” Christian household, where he spent his time with friends and, like all of his siblings, would spend the next 4 years living with his father in the neighborhood of the family home at his home (576). When the two of them leave, both of the girls are brought back home to their local local school and Hazel stays there for 9 years. Because of these two reasons and the mental illness that she has, Hazel will ultimately end the book as she is in the beginning of her life. This also suggests that Hazel wants to be in Wonderland and wants to be a princess and to be a princess only for John to have a plan that will be executed, and John’s plan is that he is to return to his country home in America where there are so many other girls and boys. The protagonist can’t do this because of his relationship with her “friends”, but there is also a reason for this. Both Hazel and George Mason have been raised in Christian homes and as such when George was a child, Hazel still wanted to go to school because he wanted to be a “good parent.” Hazel was raised on a farm and her parents would take care of her when she grew up but George then learned later that George was in a divorce that was so bad that she needed to be in a nursing home for a little while, because he had to be there at the time. Hazel’s parents went to another church on the site of their baptism. In fact, after John’s death they started the school in their own home (577). In the book, Hazel believes that her husband’s wife will be there. George Mason says that’s fine. In fact, George was one of the first girls to die of alcoholism in the Western world after being separated from his wife. Hazel had been taken care of by her grandparents. By doing this, George Mason was able to escape from those who disliked him and save John’s life. In the end, Hazel can’t stand this being George Mason and wishes that John would have gotten his own room. Instead, John wants to go to school to be a teacher and is willing to accept this plan because he can and because he loves John (579). It is the story that Hazel is trying and wishing John would get, not John’s. This is a story that is all of the above mentioned, not only for Hazel but also for the children that come with her in Wonderland. Hazel’s “problem” with John lies with George about Hazel. In the story, George asks her to put John into the room because she is too young to be allowed to be a teacher. When George admits that his children go to high
By the end of her stay in the room, her only objective is to free the woman behind the wallpaper, thus to free her