The role of gender plays a huge piece in any literary work. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s
“The Yellow Wall-paper” is a classic work, written by a woman, about feminism and gives great insight into what the gender roles were during “The Feminist Phase”. The fact that this work was written by a woman, is important because she was attempting to highlight the issues that women were facing during this time period. This was before woman’s suffrage and was considered outside of the box thinking. During the early 20th century, women were not thought of as equals. At the beginning of this story, Perkins Gilman makes it known who plays the dominant role in this marriage. When she says “John and myself”, it shows that she is being respectful to …show more content…
To have something as minute as this, gives you a glimpse into their real life and sets the tone for how their relationship will be portrayed throughout the remainder of the story. As the story develops, male dominance is shown in other ways. “John laughs at me, of course” gives us the reader another glimpse into her mind. She is not accustomed to having her thoughts taken seriously. She is looked at as less than equal, solely due to her being a female.
Even when it comes to something so simple as one’s own health, she feels that John doesn’t take her seriously. “He doesn’t believe I’m sick”. John has not given approval for her to be sick. She appears to be scared to actually be sick, because it is not approved by the dominant male in her life. John has been so controlling over her for their relationship, that he even expects her to change her personal thoughts. She dare not disagree with her husband, and is fearful of speaking up against him. Her feelings don’t matter. She attempted to give the readers something positive about John, “He is so careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction”. Even when she is ‘stirring’, he has to be in control and give directions. She needs
“The Yellow Wall-paper” is a classic work, written by a woman, about feminism and gives great insight into what the gender roles were during “The Feminist Phase”. The fact that this work was written by a woman, is important because she was attempting to highlight the issues that women were facing during this time period. This was before woman’s suffrage and was considered outside of the box thinking. During the early 20th century, women were not thought of as equals. At the beginning of this story, Perkins Gilman makes it known who plays the dominant role in this marriage. When she says “John and myself”, it shows that she is being respectful to …show more content…
To have something as minute as this, gives you a glimpse into their real life and sets the tone for how their relationship will be portrayed throughout the remainder of the story. As the story develops, male dominance is shown in other ways. “John laughs at me, of course” gives us the reader another glimpse into her mind. She is not accustomed to having her thoughts taken seriously. She is looked at as less than equal, solely due to her being a female.
Even when it comes to something so simple as one’s own health, she feels that John doesn’t take her seriously. “He doesn’t believe I’m sick”. John has not given approval for her to be sick. She appears to be scared to actually be sick, because it is not approved by the dominant male in her life. John has been so controlling over her for their relationship, that he even expects her to change her personal thoughts. She dare not disagree with her husband, and is fearful of speaking up against him. Her feelings don’t matter. She attempted to give the readers something positive about John, “He is so careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction”. Even when she is ‘stirring’, he has to be in control and give directions. She needs