Analysis of the themes of “The Yellow Wallpaper”
The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, presents the theme repression of women by men, especially their husbands during the time period in which the story was written. A married woman, who remains unnamed, narrates the story to give the reader her perspective as to what she feels and why she reacts the way she does to her surroundings. She feels sick, and initially turns for help to her husband, John, as a doctor, but he dismisses her mental illness as "a slight hysterical tendency" (pg. 291). John responds by isolating his wife from the outside world by taking her to a secluded house with no other human contact other than Jennie, John’s sister, and himself, who both view her illness in the same way. On the surface, the theme appears to be that insanity married woman, is portrayed as confined mainly based on oppressive patriarchal society where women are confined by strong masculine power and set in the lower class of hierarchy. The narrator portrays rebellious women conflicting with the society ruling them. The central conflict in the story focuses on the conflict between the narrator and her husband, John. The relationship between the narrator and her husband gives evidence of the conflict in the society between old patriarchal ways and the pressures that resulted against them. These pressures and conflicts in this story are evident through the old-fashioned methods used by John, and the mental anguish expressed by the narrator throughout her struggle. the controls of society and the structure of marriage at the time the story was written were so constricting that it could drive a woman insane. By focusing on the male dominance over the narrator, Gilman shows that a troubled mind, with no outlet, has no defense but to retreat to its inner sanctum.
The husband uses his masculine power as a doctor to control her. The husband can be seen as a father figure who...