The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl." The Yellow wallpaper is a short story that was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The short story engages in stereotypes of women in society. In the story, Gilman introduces us to the character Jane, who happens to be the narrator of the short story, as a sick individual going physical pain. However, not only is she sick physically, one can see that she is disturbed about the society views on women. Gilman also introduces us to the character John, who is the narrator’s husband and doctor. John’s role in the story appears to be the role of a patriarchy because he basically overpowers the narrator, and hinders her to express herself.
…show more content…
The Cult of True Womanhood which is commonly known as the Cult of Domesticity, is the ideology that was introduced in the nineteenth century that women's nature suited them especially for tasks associated with the home. Welter Barber stated that “ The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society is divided into four cardinal virtues—piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Welter 152). In the 1800’s and 1900’s the obligation was fearful, and solemn responsibility women had to comply with. (Welter 152). Gilman used the narrator as a symbol of all women in the late eighteenth century. She is more like a prisoner in society primarily because she is a woman. Women in eighteenth were expected to bear children, prepare meals, keep the house clean, and do only as they are told especially by their husbands or any male in their household. In that time period, men were privileged enough to have education, they have jobs, and fend for their families; hence, they make all the decisions. Consequently, women were dominated by the men. Gilman uses John as a perfect representation of …show more content…
In the story Jane’s medical authority is John and he is also an authority in the sense that he is her husband. John happens to be an arrogant man, who only believes in tangible things. Although in the text, John truly wants to help his wife get better, but because he thinks he knows it all, feels superior and trying to go by the books only made him to misunderstand what Jane is actually going through. “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 958). This quote illustrates that John is blind to the emotional burden his wife carries, and he refuses to listen to her. Also John treats her like a baby, for instance, we can see this when he said “Bless her little heart!... she shall be sick as she pleases! But now let’s improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning” (Gilman 962). This quote obviously shows how John treats the narrator like a baby, he does not leave any room for her to make her own decisions or express herself. Gilman uses John’s behavior towards his wife as an expression of how men dominated and treated women and did not give them the opportunity to make their own decisions or express themselves the way they would like
The Cult of True Womanhood which is commonly known as the Cult of Domesticity, is the ideology that was introduced in the nineteenth century that women's nature suited them especially for tasks associated with the home. Welter Barber stated that “ The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors and society is divided into four cardinal virtues—piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity” (Welter 152). In the 1800’s and 1900’s the obligation was fearful, and solemn responsibility women had to comply with. (Welter 152). Gilman used the narrator as a symbol of all women in the late eighteenth century. She is more like a prisoner in society primarily because she is a woman. Women in eighteenth were expected to bear children, prepare meals, keep the house clean, and do only as they are told especially by their husbands or any male in their household. In that time period, men were privileged enough to have education, they have jobs, and fend for their families; hence, they make all the decisions. Consequently, women were dominated by the men. Gilman uses John as a perfect representation of …show more content…
In the story Jane’s medical authority is John and he is also an authority in the sense that he is her husband. John happens to be an arrogant man, who only believes in tangible things. Although in the text, John truly wants to help his wife get better, but because he thinks he knows it all, feels superior and trying to go by the books only made him to misunderstand what Jane is actually going through. “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 958). This quote illustrates that John is blind to the emotional burden his wife carries, and he refuses to listen to her. Also John treats her like a baby, for instance, we can see this when he said “Bless her little heart!... she shall be sick as she pleases! But now let’s improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning” (Gilman 962). This quote obviously shows how John treats the narrator like a baby, he does not leave any room for her to make her own decisions or express herself. Gilman uses John’s behavior towards his wife as an expression of how men dominated and treated women and did not give them the opportunity to make their own decisions or express themselves the way they would like