The Yellow Wallpaper as an Attack on Radical Feminism

The Yellow Wallpaper as an Attack on Radical Feminism â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† explores mental illness and, through this exploration, presents a critique of the place of women in a patriarchal society. Interestingly, Charlotte Perkins Gilman never intended the latter. The primary intent of her short story is to criticize of a physician prescribed treatment called rest cure. The treatment, which she underwent, required female patients to â€Å"’live as domestic a life as possible’† (Gilman). This oppressive treatment, however, parallels the oppression of women. As such, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† has been interpreted as a feminist work. In the story, Gilman comments on the status of women, the nature and source of their confinement†¦show more content†¦Though John seems to love his wife, his actions towards her are repressive and, unfortunately, without compassion for his wife. Gilman, by way of the narrator, endows John with all the qualities of the typical nineteenth century man. John is â€Å"practical in the extreme,† â€Å"has no patience with faith,† and â€Å"scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures.† He is a man of reason, born from the ideals of the Enlightenment. John takes active measures to confine and restrict his wife, though he does so with good intention. He makes out a â€Å"schedule prescription for each hour in the day.† He decides who will be entertained and when the social engagements will take place. He teaches his wife to repress her â€Å"imaginative power and habit of story-making† and encourages â€Å"real earnest reasonable talk.† And, the most damaging of all, he restricts any creative endeavours, including writing. Moreover, John, though it does not seem to be out of spite, condescends to his wife by calling her a â€Å"blessed little goose† and addressing her in the third person (132-134). John exerts total control over his wife and virtually elimi nates all modes of self-expression. He is the source of the narrator’s confinement. Having no outlet for the tumult of emotions, desires and passions, the narrator’s observations and feelings about the yellow wallpaper and the woman trapped behind it become her mode of self-expression. WithShow MoreRelatedFeminism in Novel Makaan of Paigham Afaqui1301 Words   |  6 Pages Femisnism in novel Makaan of Paigham Afaqui Feminist literature, as the name suggests, is based on the principles of feminism, and refers to any literary work that centers on the struggle of a woman for equality, and to be accepted as a human being, before being cast into a gender stereotype. Not all these works follow a direct approach towards this goal of equality. It is only through such media that women believed a change was possible in the way they were perceived in society. Not all feminist