Marriage In The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

During the late 19th and early 20th century, women faced many hardships and challenges. Women were trying to earn their right to vote, gain equal rights with men, step away from society’s standard, etc. Four stories written by four different authors of this time show a little insight into a major challenge that women faced during the turn of the 20th century – marriage. During this time period, marriage was a representative of social class ranking and was also taking the freedom away from women and given men the opportunity to dominate their wives. In marriage, a man placing a woman in a lower position than himself was very common. The man of the house, the husband, was considered the dominate figure and in the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, this stands true. As the story unfolds there is a clear difference between the active work of the male and the domestic work of the female. John, the narrator’s husband, has the assumption that he has superior …show more content…
The story is quite short with not a lot of information about the beginning of the marriage. However, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her husband is dead, at first she is upset, but then later on in her room, she “whispers to herself over and over again, free, free, free!” (Chopin 1610). Her reaction does not show hatred toward her husband, instead she sees her husband’s death as a release into freedom. Even though Mrs. Mallard never specifically said what her husband did to dominate her, the very thoughts in her mind reveals that she was imprisoned in her marriage and robbed of her independence. But now that her husband is dead, she is free from that bondage. “But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (Chopin