If
you will excuse my pun, I believe that The
Yellow Wallpaper is a creepy story.
In all seriousness, however, the story is a very good insight to the
treatment of women and the mentally insane in the nineteenth century. The
narrator (who might be named Jane) is kept in isolation by her husband because
he believes that it is for her own good: “I sometimes fancy that in my
condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus — but John
says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition…” (Gilman 2).
In today’s society, a husband keeping his wife in a room that has bars over the
window could get him arrested for abuse, but in the nineteenth century, it
seems that such treatment was not uncommon. Other novels of the era like Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea depict similar treatments of women. In the
gender-equal world of today, a woman is not considered to be the property of
her husband, nor do social conventions require her to obey his every command. Also,
modern women can write if they wish to, unlike the narrator, whose husband
“hates to have [her] write a word” (Gilman 3).
Therefore, due to the vast differences of
social conduct between Victorian-era England and modern society, this story can
only truly make sense when studying it in the context of nineteenth century.
The reader must understand that women in that time period had much less rights
than they do today in order to learn more in depth about the social conventions
of the era. If the reader does understand some of the story’s context, he or
she will gain great insight about the treatment of women and mentally ill in
the nineteenth century.
Work Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. N.p., n.d. United
States Library of Medicine. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
I agree with you completely, Cade. The story can in no way be fully understood without taking the historical context into deep consideration. I'm pretty glad that I can't be legally be trapped inside a room with barred windows. I think that any one could go crazy under those conditions. "Jane" literally had nothing to do accept for look at this wallpaper, and I think that is what caused her to completely lose it. Who knows, maybe if John just let her write a couple hours a day it would have been totally different.
ReplyDeleteCade, I both agree and disagree with your central claim that the story could only happen in its time…it's definitely true that this particular situation would not happen in modern America, and that women can now write if they wish. But what if we were to interview a woman joining a house of firefighters about ten years ago--wouldn't she likely share with us that at least the initial attitude she met with was resistance? It's important to keep in mind that the story at least on one level is about how ideologies and social constructs can constrain our thinking--even when we don't realize it's happening. The world that imprisoned and broke Jane (and tried to break Charlotte Perkins Gilman) was one in which very strongly held beliefs kept even "sane" women from "breaking out of the nursery" in a very real way. We may no longer be fully constrained by those same beliefs, but we accept many others that limit our thinking.
ReplyDeleteVery good post, Cade! I agree that a huge aspect of the story is its emphasis on the role of women for that time. I especially like your point of women being treated as property, and how that would not be allowed present day. Do you think there are others ways in which men today can make their women feel as imprisoned as the woman in the story? It is interesting to think about the story in modern context, for some of the same instances still happen. Men can mentally control their women to such an extent that the woman may go crazy just as in the story. Overall, great post and insight!
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