The story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, demonstrates the relationship between a man and a woman in the mid nineteenth century. In modern day relationships, the husband and wife are treated as equals, but during the nineteenth century, the man is seen as powerful and the wife as weak. Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper”, there are clear examples of the roles men and women fall into, the power difference between men and women, and the effect it causes on the relationship.
During the mid nineteenth century, there are typical roles that men and women fall into. Men are the ones that make money and pursue careers, while the women are left to sit at home and care for the children. This is because men were seen as more powerful, …show more content…
The husband was seen as the superior, and the wife as the subordinate. In this story, John, the husband, demonstrates this power difference very well. For example, in the beginning, when the couple arrives at the house, the wife says, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage”(808). Laughing at someone is, in a sense, putting them down. Here, John laughs at his wife because he does not agree with her, and therefore becomes the dominant. Another example of this is when the narrator is thinking about the strange house, and how afraid it makes her. She says, “I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window”(809). Again, John is putting her down and assuming a more powerful role by saying what she felt was a “draught”. John thinks he knows what is going on with her because he is a physician of high standing, so he does not listen to her. He does this again later on when his wife is telling him about how the wallpaper bothers her. After telling John about how horrible it is, she says, “He laughs at me so about this wall-paper”(810)! Once again, John laughs at his wife making him become …show more content…
After she rips the wallpaper off, she says, “I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back”(819)! The narrator in fact feels like she was the trapped woman. When she rips off the wallpaper, she tells John that she can’t be put back, which can be interpreted as being put back into her subordinate role. To the other characters in the story, this is seen as ‘crazy’, however what is actually ‘crazy’ is how she is disassociating herself from her wifely, submissive
During the mid nineteenth century, there are typical roles that men and women fall into. Men are the ones that make money and pursue careers, while the women are left to sit at home and care for the children. This is because men were seen as more powerful, …show more content…
The husband was seen as the superior, and the wife as the subordinate. In this story, John, the husband, demonstrates this power difference very well. For example, in the beginning, when the couple arrives at the house, the wife says, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage”(808). Laughing at someone is, in a sense, putting them down. Here, John laughs at his wife because he does not agree with her, and therefore becomes the dominant. Another example of this is when the narrator is thinking about the strange house, and how afraid it makes her. She says, “I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window”(809). Again, John is putting her down and assuming a more powerful role by saying what she felt was a “draught”. John thinks he knows what is going on with her because he is a physician of high standing, so he does not listen to her. He does this again later on when his wife is telling him about how the wallpaper bothers her. After telling John about how horrible it is, she says, “He laughs at me so about this wall-paper”(810)! Once again, John laughs at his wife making him become …show more content…
After she rips the wallpaper off, she says, “I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back”(819)! The narrator in fact feels like she was the trapped woman. When she rips off the wallpaper, she tells John that she can’t be put back, which can be interpreted as being put back into her subordinate role. To the other characters in the story, this is seen as ‘crazy’, however what is actually ‘crazy’ is how she is disassociating herself from her wifely, submissive