People have used stories throughout history to drive a point home. In the old days, old people used to tell stories of courage, heroism, and the need for respect among others to guide their children to become reliable individuals in the future. Pieces of literature also teach and guide people based on the events taking place in society. In her famous piece, The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, sought to address the evils she witnessed in her community at the time of writing the piece. She effectively addresses the fact that women held an inferior position to their husband in marriage, lacked access to quality education, and were considered merely as men pleasers.
Currently, societal change has led to changes in the positions held by partners in marriage. However, in the past, women were treated as servants, which meant that society expected them to do everything their husbands said, and no one sought women’s opinions. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator says, “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?” (Gilman 1). Here the narrator talks about how her husband and her family does not pay attention to her opinion and needs. The narrator seems powerless, as she has to submit to the desires of the husband even when the husband takes her to an isolated room that she hates (Treichler 61). This lifestyle irked Gilman because she knew that women had good ideas too, and it would help marriages if their families listened to them.
In Gilman’s world, the society expected women to stay at home and handle the house chores as their husbands went to look for formal employment in factories. This translated to the fact that women did not need quality education because handling house chores did not require formal training. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper did not have access to quality education. She says, “So I take phosphates or phosphites--whichever it is” (Gilman 1). This statement shows that the narrator does not know the spelling of what she means because she lacked quality education. She also says it with an attitude that shows that no one expected her to know the spelling of such words. Clearly, the piece sought to address the lack of equal access to education for both girls and boys by using such subtle means.
Although much has changed, women still operate under pressure to please men. Nevertheless, the situation was worse during Gilman’s time because the society expected women to go out of their way to please their men. Men expected their wives to dress well to please them. For example, John tells the narrator that she has to take care of herself for his sake (Gilman 5). The statement shows that John only cared about himself and expected his wife to look good for him. Reducing women to mere men pleasers was the norm back then, and Gilman took it upon herself to address it in the hope of bringing about change.
Concisely, women are an essential part of any society. Besides giving birth for the continuation of the human species, they are the support system of their husbands. However, often the community makes the mistake of not giving them the respect they deserve. During Gilman’s time, women held an inferior position to their husband in marriage, lacked access to quality education, and were considered merely as men pleasers. Gilman sought to address these issues in the hope of introducing change.
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow wallpaper. Project Gutenberg, 1999.
Treichler, Paula A. "Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in" The Yellow Wallpaper"." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 3.1/2 (1984): 61-77.
