Oppression of Women Depicted in The Yellow Wallpaper

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman shows that the American principle of liberty did not apply to all Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Specifically it shows that this principle was not given to women. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman shows that American society at the time was oppressive toward women and that it was dangerous for women to fight back. She establishes a female narrator that is oppressed literally and symbolically by the men in her life and the society she lives in. This oppression causes the narrator, who is suffering from what is probably a post-partum depression, to sink lower and lower into the depths of insanity. Her cries for help go unheeded by her husband and she†¦show more content†¦Her husbands numerous attempts to restrain and confine her only serve to worsen her condition. Throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman shows not only the restraint and confinement of the narrator, but also, symbolically, the restraint and confinement of females in American society of the time. The narrator is imprisoned in the room that contains the yellow wallpaper. The house that contains it is surrounded by hedges and gates that lock. At the top of the stairs is a gate that keeps the narrator from leaving the t op floor. The windows of the room itself are barred. The narrator is kept in this room without possibility for escape, much as women of American society at the time were kept in their place without possibility for escape. She is kept to a rigid schedule each day that she is not allowed to deviate from. Both the narrator and women of the time were often considered to not know enough to make intelligent decisions for them. Women in general and the narrator specifically, were considered to be childlike, hysterical and physically weak. The narrator is placed in a childs nursery. She is considered to be suffering from female hysteria. Her husband has to physically carry her up the stairs at one point. She is considered to be silly and unintelligent. . . . he . . . called me a blessed little goose . .. These thoughts were extendedShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wall Paper By Charlotte Gilman1139 Words   |  5 PagesThe story â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† written by Charlotte Gilman . It brings to light how much the narrator hates wallpaper and is a significant symbol portrayal of awful state. The yellow wallpaper can have a representation of many conditions and ideas, among them, the mental state of the narrator. The paper is going to survey what the yellow wallpaper represents and notice how it is being depicted over the progression of the story. 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