Males have always been seen to be more superior than females in history. Women have tried expressing themselves for many years, but it seems as if they were not given the full access of their first amendment, the freedom of speech. There has been quite a number of courageous females that took a stand, with bravery to express their feelings about femininity. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s was one of the females, however, she expressed her bravery a bit differently. The once infamous, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is a strong piece of literature, written by Gilman, herself, in the first person perspectives, based on femininity and postpartum depression. Gilman uses descriptive language, which can be seen as symbolism, in her short story to express her
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The short story was originally published in January 1892, which, during the time seemed like a horror story to many, “to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the story was a horror story, but nowadays it is only read as a feminist classic,” (Beurden 3). Women were still much lower than men during the late 19th century, however, they didn’t stay at the bottom, they were rising in power and status slowly for decades, and they still are today. Rules are bent and broken to make changes, and that’s what women did to rise in power. Gilman’s husband, John, who was a physician, didn’t like it and didn’t want Gilman to write, “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word,” (Gilman 649). Of course, she would write when she speculated that no one was watching. She wrote about her feelings and how no one understood her. She got to a point where she contemplated suicide, “I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try,” (Gilman 655). During the era in which her story was published, stories like such, have been easily misunderstood because there wasn’t any scientific conclusion to what now is called, depression. Gilman gave birth to her child, and started to feel depressed, known as postpartum depression. Postpartum depression, according to WebMD, is described as the depression that some women get after giving birth to their baby, mainly because of decrease in hormone level, history of depression and/or stress (1). Gilman’s abnormal activities caused her husband to grow upset at her and lock her in a nursery room with a yellow wallpaper and jail bars on the window, which was as a solution called the “rest cure.” This might seem like a cruel solution to many today, but this cruelty was popular back in the 19th century. According to Anne Stiles, the rest cure was invented
The short story was originally published in January 1892, which, during the time seemed like a horror story to many, “to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the story was a horror story, but nowadays it is only read as a feminist classic,” (Beurden 3). Women were still much lower than men during the late 19th century, however, they didn’t stay at the bottom, they were rising in power and status slowly for decades, and they still are today. Rules are bent and broken to make changes, and that’s what women did to rise in power. Gilman’s husband, John, who was a physician, didn’t like it and didn’t want Gilman to write, “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word,” (Gilman 649). Of course, she would write when she speculated that no one was watching. She wrote about her feelings and how no one understood her. She got to a point where she contemplated suicide, “I am getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try,” (Gilman 655). During the era in which her story was published, stories like such, have been easily misunderstood because there wasn’t any scientific conclusion to what now is called, depression. Gilman gave birth to her child, and started to feel depressed, known as postpartum depression. Postpartum depression, according to WebMD, is described as the depression that some women get after giving birth to their baby, mainly because of decrease in hormone level, history of depression and/or stress (1). Gilman’s abnormal activities caused her husband to grow upset at her and lock her in a nursery room with a yellow wallpaper and jail bars on the window, which was as a solution called the “rest cure.” This might seem like a cruel solution to many today, but this cruelty was popular back in the 19th century. According to Anne Stiles, the rest cure was invented