Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wall Paper” (Essay Sample)

Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wall Paper" and Modern Androcentricm
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s book "The Yellow Wall Paper”, which was published in 1892, narrates the tale of a woman who suffers under the androcentric society of the time. Jane is a writer and housewife who constantly experiences nervous breakdowns. Her husband, who is a senior physician in the town, prescribes her bed rest and a leave from all exercises that might invoke mental strain. Her retaliation is met with objection as the authoritative doctor moves them to a summer house away from the town. While in her top floor room, Jane’s condition deteriorates as the mundane yellow wall paper covering the old room conjures the image of an oppressed woman on her fours.
Charlotte Perkins’s book is sort of based on her own experiences as a patient to a mental doctor, and explains the suffering that woman of the late 18th and early 19th century civilized world underwent under the hegemony of a male dominated world. This paper explores the oppression that women underwent using the lens of Jane’s experience as recounted in Charlotte Perkin’s book "The Yellow Wall Paper”. It also strives to investigate the presence of similar androcentric hegemony in the current society and any similarities between social-cultural predominance during Jane’s time and today.
Jane’s nervous breakdown causes her to be bedridden and denied all access to any material that might invoke mental activity. Her husband, a doctor in town, also advises her to take the rest for the sake of her mental state and to recuperate from the recent birth of their first born child. As if the bed rest and forced retirement from her daily activities is not enough, Jane’s husband goes on to retreat the entire family into a secluded part of town into an old house. He places Jane in the top bedroom where the wall paper is dull and old, and away from her ground floor room of choice. These actions demonstrate the hegemony that 18th and 19th century women had to endure under the male-dominates society of the time. Jane’s husband is totally in charge of affairs related to the family and even Jane’s health with little room for her to contribute or express her opinion. Such tight control over any opinions related to the matters is further demonstrated when John says, "it is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?" (Gilman 5.16-5.17). Therefore, John’s control over his wife’s life is evidenced from the manner in which he overruns her recovery process.
Further along the Charlotte Perkin’s story, we come across the fact that John’s sister, who is the narrator’s sister-in-law, comes to the house to take care of the child. While Jane is obviously not well, there is no indication that she is incapacitated in her ability to take care of her new born. Neither is there any inclination towards total exhaustion from child birth in her narrative. The circumstances surrounding Jennie presence in the family also point towards male domination in the society. She had to abandon her own life and take up her social role as prescribed by cultural practices of the time to replace the sick wife to her brother. Once the baby’s mother is prescribed rest, her duties of motherhood must be snatched from her and issued to the most befitting female; the father’s sister or mother. Once more, Charlotte demonstrates the oppressiveness targeting women in the experiences of Jane and her sister. These women must bow to the decisions of the patriarchal figure that happens to the John. Charlotte demonstrates Jane’s and Jennie’s oppression in the images Jane conjures within the old yellow wall paper where the protagonist thinks. "The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if it wanted to get out" (Gilman and Golden 56). In this case, the patterns might be figurative of the strictures of the male-dominated society oppressing women.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman continues in her quest to expose the androcentric predominance that oppresses women during her time when she recounts how Jane requests to visit cousins Henry and Julia. She states, "How I wish he would let me go visit cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn’t able to go, nor stand it after I got there" (Schòrkhuber 651). From these words, one clearly recognizes the dominance that men had over women in matters related to choice and desire. Not only does John refuse to allow his wife to leave the house, he anticipates her being unable to succeed in her desired quest to visit her folks while not well.
The exemplified kind of androcentric predominance by John over his wife was part of the greater one affecting wives and children was rife in the America and Europe back then. Interestingly, the men felt that allowing women to make such decisions empowered them demand for more rights related to politics, commerce, and even arts. We see that John even denied his bedridden wife writing material in fear that it would empower her to write about her experiences. Therefore, Charlotte Perkins perfectly demonstrates the oppressive life women had to endure using this almost comical example. One would not expect a husband to deny his wife the desire to visit her family members, but it was common practice back then.
Based on these examples, we see that androcentric hegemony and socio-cultural predominance were rife in the 18th and 19th centuries. The women were oppressed by their male counterparts being required to seek permission for even the most natural activities such as visiting family members. Jane’s experiences demonstrate that such predominance back then revolved around physical and natural aspects of life such as travel, interaction, and access to artistic or reading material. However, in the modern setting, women have succeeded in fighting for their right ...