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Gender and sexuality
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The “Yellow Wallpaper” offers a critique of the traditional gender roles based on how the
society then define it. The author, Charlotte Perkins, in her writing was a feminist who rejected
the traditional trappings by publishing extensively about the role of women in society. At the
time of her writing, gender roles, particularly for women were so horrible and stifling. By
dealing with the theme of gender roles and sexuality, the novel also expound on the theme of
oppression of women because by demeaning women, the text categorically present how women
are subjugation as lesser being to men (Lone Star College, 2021). The Goblin Market is a poem
that takes the form of narration about two girls who probably happen to be sisters and are
presented in a way that they ought to endure carnal desire for them to embrace the most
significant and most pure realm of sexuality which is marriage. Brought out as a story of the
formal rejection of marriage, it does not deny the body and its desires since the body, and its
desires are fundamental requirements in embracing the spiritual nature of the soul. From this, the
protagonists in the poem, Lizzie and Laura, are forced to embrace both spiritual and earthly
natures in traditional Victorian marriage. This essay will analyze the theme of oppression of
women based in how society defines gender and sexuality of women.
Through reflection of society, it obvious that women in works of literature are often
portrayed in position that mostly male dominated. Particularly during the nineteenth century,
women were oppressed and mostly their gender roles role defined by men. In the Charlotte
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Perkins, “the Yellow Wallpaper” the protagonist is oppressed and therefore represent the impact
of oppression of women in the society. This kind of oppression is mandated by the application
of complex symbols like window, the wallpaper and the house which facilitate the oppression
(Perkins, 1892). Christina successfully acknowledges female sexuality and desire in her poem
“Goblin Market," which is less a reflection of the oppression of women in Victorian society. The
Victorian society exhibited many gender inequalities where men had a lot of freedom and
opportunity to express themselves sexually, unlike their female counterparts. It was expected of
women to remain sexually innocent or face severe repercussions if they failed. Christina uses her
poem to deconstruct the social constructs that unfairly treat women and put them at a
disadvantageous position. She challenges these social constructs by allowing the character Laura
to come out as a victor at the end of the story despite the transgressions she puts herself in.
Sexual desire spreads throughout the story as elaborated, "Lizzie veiled her blushes: Crouching
close together/ in the cooling weather/ with clasping arms and cautioning lips/ with tingling
cheeks and fingertips. (Rossetti 35-39). The behavior of Lizzie is a clear indication of a person
who is sexually aroused, an indicator of how the two girls early in the poem had already had
encounters with some touch of sexual desire. Laura cannot take control of her desires. Hence, she
lets them escalate to a point where she enters a wild realm that the goblins inhabit.
Further look into the encounter at the Goblin’s habitat, Rossetti’s description of the
events that occurred is explicitly sensual (Casey, 2021). “She sucked and sucked and sucked the
more, fruits which unknown orchard bore, she sucked until her lips were sore" (Rossetti 134-
136). Laura cannot control her desire and appetite; hence, she purchases the Goblin's fruits with
the lock of her hair, an act that can be alluded to as prostitution. As a result of women's
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Running Head: OPPRESSION OF WOMEN
ignorance about their sexuality, they are left vulnerable to preying men who use flattery charms
on them and end up trashing them just like the goblin men did to Jeanie, a friend of Lizzie.
Lizzie is fully aware of the risks that will be incurred should one associate with the goblin men.
She explains to Laura that they should not partake of the goblin men's fruits, and from that, she
cautions her sister using the story of Jeanie, who ended up withering after eating the Goblin's
fruits. innocently eating the fruits.
Besides presenting women as innocent and easily susceptible to temptation, Rossetti also
explores the differences in oppression across gender. She presents the woman- folk as the most
vulnerable to punishment that comes after falling into sexual temptation. She strongly criticizes
the unfair treatment of society's double standards that tend to punish women for engaging in
sexual activities before marriage severely. All the women in the story suffer some ordeal due to
sexual seduction from the goblin men. Laura is at the point of dying before her sister saves her;
Lizzie also comes across challenges when she is forced to partake of the fruit when she had gone
to purchase the fruit that would help cure Laura, lastly Jeanie withers and dies as a result of the
goblin fruit. On the other hand, the goblin men do not pay for their brutal and harsh treatment of
the three girls. While the whole idea of punishment lie solely on oppression of women, the only
way to go is for women to look out for each other since the Victorian culture does not protect
them in any way (Scharnhorst, 1985).
Charlotte Perkins has followed a similar trajectory in her poem "The Yellow Wallpaper.
Both narratives are by women exploring women's oppression and gender role they play amid
men during the Victorian era. Both Perkins and Rossetti seek to address the plight of women
using their literary works. Just like the female characters in “Goblin Market,” who have been
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denied the opportunity to explore their sexuality and are required to remain sexually innocent
and ignorant until they get married, the female character in The Yellow Wallpaper has been
denied the opportunity to explore writing yet she is a born writer. This denial leads to their
hysterical tendencies that lead to insanity in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the withering of life of
both Laura and Jeanie and the unfortunate death of Jeanie in the Goblin Market. This denial of
exposure in both texts leads to grave consequences at the end of both narrations. In both
narrations, women go through unfortunate occurrences that ruin their lives, and they both try to
find some way out. The women in “Yellow Wallpaper” seeks to exonerate herself through the
keen analysis of the woman in the yellow wallpaper who seems to be behind bars. She crawls out
of the seeming bars, and at that point, her husband finds her crawling on the floor (Cabra 201).
Unfortunately, she does not get a happy ending since she ends up being mad due to her
encounters in the so-called haunted house.
Both authors establish their credibility by addressing the issues that affect women during
the Victorian era. The subjugation of women and severe punishment are issues that are primarily
explored, especially in the context of marriage. This is an exposé of the struggles that women go
through in the quest to deliberate themselves from the shackles that social constructs entangle
them in regarding marital affairs. Women are not allowed to make decisions even in matters
about their health. This aspect is equivalent to the harsh punishment that womenfolk receive due
to their irrational sexual desires. Both works are credible in the sense that they seek to exonerate
women from the labyrinth of subjugation that encompasses their lives and inaccessibility to
explore their sexual desires without punishment, just like the menfolk.
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In conclusion, both Rossetti and Perkins explore the theme of oppression based on how
society assigned gender role and sexuality of women during the Victorian era. The two have
addressed the grave issue of the lack of freedom and opportunity to explore and express
themselves sexually. Women have been portrayed as weak and easily susceptible to temptations
presented to them through the lens of Laura and Janie.
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Works Cited
Cabra, Carrie. (2019). Understanding the Yellow Paper: Summary and Analysis. PrepScholar.
P1.Retrieved from: https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-summary-analysis
Casey, Janet Galligani. (2021). “The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti's ‘Goblin
Market.’” Victorian Poetry, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 63–78. JSTOR, Retrieved from:
www.jstor.org/stable/40002055
Lone Star College. (2021). Feminist Gothic in the Yellow Wallpaper. Retrieved from:
https://www.lonestar.edu/yellow-wallpaper.htm
Perkins, Charlotte. (1892). the Yellow Wallpaper.
Rossetti, Christina G, and Martin Ware. (2020). Goblin Market. London: V. Gollancz. P134-
136. Retrieved from:
https://webpages.scu.edu/ftp/lgarber/courses/eng67F10texts/RossettiGoblinMarket
Scharnhorst, Gary. (1985).“‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Boston:
Twayne. 15-20.
