Literary analysis of the Yellow Wall Paper and the issues about feminism and gender inequality

1. The Yellow
Wallpaper
by
Charlotte
Perkins Gilman
Cristina Hernandez
Professor: Keith Mikos Ph.D.
Lit-502 Topics in American Literature
20 March 2021

2. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
– Born: July 3, 1860 at Hartford, Connecticut
– Childhood: She grew up in poverty, irregular and limited
education, briefly attended the Rhode Island School of
Design
– Adulthood: Married Charles W. Stetson in May 1884.
Suffers from melancholia/post-partum depression and
eventually complete nervous collapse (inspiration for her
story The Yellow Wallpaper. Moves to California 1888,
divorces in 1894. Second marriage 1900.
– Career: Writer and Activist. Involved in social reform,
feminist, lecturer and leading theorist of the women’s
movement in U.S.A.
– Died: Committed suicide on August 17, 1935 (aged 75)
Pasadena, California. (“Britannica” 1)

3. The Yellow Wallpaper and the
Issues of Gender
Analysis
– Gilman presents the concept of the misogynistic male, who ignores the wife’s
struggles with post-partum depression and asserts his dominance by forcing a
“resting cure” that only worsens her mental issues. (Gilman 648).
– Gilman also portrays the raw reality of the limited options a woman has for the
most basic need, which is her health. Her husband controls everything, even
ignoring her ailment. She seems resign to accept the control exercised by her
husband over her. This shows us the way society has groomed women into
accepting and even expecting male dominance. It seems at some point that it is
easier and wiser to let them make the decisions over the female lives.
– Gilman also shows that women are strong, stubborn and willing to find a way to
deal with their issues even if it takes going out of their minds to escape male
subjugation. In the end interestingly enough, the wife takes control of her
destiny by finding an alternative reality in the yellow wallpaper. (Gilman 656).
– Literary movement : Realism and Feminist
Gothic
– Key Idea: Social Feminist Issues late 1800’s &
early 1900’s
– Male dominance leads to reject and/or ignore
female basic human needs, such as the need to
create, work, identity and health.
– Society tends to embrace female “helplessness”
and grooms females
– Gilman’s feminist perspective, socialist tendencies
and personal experiences help shape her story
which ultimately becomes an icon in contemporary
feminist literature.

4. Key Passages
– The Yellow Wallpaper 1891
– “If a physician of high standing, and
one's own husband, assures friends
and relatives that there is really
nothing the matter with one but
temporary nervous depression - a
slight hysterical tendency - what is
one to do?” (Gilman 648).
– “What is the matter? He cried…I got
out at last…you can’t put me
back...that man fainted…right across
my path by the wall, so that I had to
creep over him every time!” (Gilman
656)
– “Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper”
1913
– Gilman suffered from post-partum
depression for three years. In1887 she
visited a famous specialist in nervous
diseases, who recommended the rest
cure (bed rest, live a domestic life, only
two hours of intellectual life a day,
never touch pen, brush or pencil again).
She followed the directions for three
months and had a mental breakdown.
She decides to ignore the doctor’s
advice and goes back to work. Wrote
The Yellow Wallpaper and sent a copy
to the doctor. (Gilman 1)

5. Conclusion
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her personal experience to write
a story that not only helps her banish her own demons, but also serves
as a feminist breakthrough regarding mental health, male dominance
and ultimate female emancipation. She displays a strong woman, who is
stubborn and willing to find a way to deal with her issues, even if it
takes going out of her mind to escape male subjugation. The last few
lines of The Yellow Wallpaper shows the reader that the wife (“helpless”
female) takes control of her destiny by finding an alternative reality in
the wallpaper decorating her room.

6. Works Cited
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman". Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 Jan. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlotte-Perkins-Gilman. Accessed
20 March 2021.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper” (1913) | The American Yawp
Reader. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/18-industrial-america/charlotte-perkins
gilman-why-i-wrote-the-yellow-wallpaper-1913/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2021.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, and Dale M. Bauer. The Yellow Wallpaper. Bedford Books, 1998.