While reading the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson I was drawn into the world of isolation of the women. The male figures in her life, her husband and brother, were both esteemed Doctors so when they both conclude she wasn’t actually sick that she just had a “hysterical tendency”. Of course that is what was true because the men thought it. Throughout the short story I found myself getting pulled deeper in deeper into her world through the vivid writing and dealing with the issues she was facing. She, ” meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already?”. As a wife her duty in the traditional sense to live solely for the comfort and betterment of her Husband and children lives. In this short story we see how she is human herself and dealing with her own issues. Humanizing women as real people not just something for men. The fact that she cannot fill her tradition role adds to her depression. Because in the past if a women couldn’t fill their role for their husband she was rejected by society. She is deemed almost “crazy” however, as we all have experience with isolation does make people go crazy. Her facilitation with the yellow wallpaper stems from her need for connection and activity. The short story touches on gender inequality. Her husband believes he knows what is best for her because he is a man and “more educated”. He takes charge over her-even when she tries to tell him what is wrong/what is best for her. However, we can see that women deal with problems that men cannot understand. This short story left me wondering, how many women suffered from depression as seen in the short story due to their role is society?
Yellow Wallpaper 10/14/20
Published inUncategorized
The isolation of the character within the reading both physically and mentally is rather strange. Firstly, John was the person to physically isolate her from the rest of the world because he thought she needed to get better via rest, even though she really needed more social interaction. The mental isolation aspect of the story comes out when she talks about her writing and how she needs to keep her journal, and thus her thoughts, away from her husband.
I think the role of women’s isolation was portrayed in a very literal role in this short story, but there is also a symbolic role. She is physically isolated in the bedroom in the house, but on a more symbolic level women are isolated from their feelings and from their own voices.