




Female author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived the majority of her life in the historic time period known as the Victorian Era, taking place in Great Britain and being characterized by a new importance of religion, art, and social values. Gilman wrote, "The Yellow Wallpaper" – a haunting tale about the progression of insanity in a domesticized woman – at the tail-end of the Victorian Era. At first glance, Gilman's work seems to have little to do with the historical context the tale was written during, however, there are underlying themes that relate immensely to the Victorian Era. After conducting extensive research about the newfound ideology and culture of the Victorian Era and its specific relation to women, it is apparent that Gilman was writing with a purpose. Three outside sources about the: Victorian Era, housewives, and women oppression all helped provide key insight that Gilman is taking aim at the flaws in society that relates precisely to differences between the genders and their role in everyday life. By writing "The Yellow Wallpaper" the way Gilman did, it maintains an intriguing plot (no matter what time period the story is read), while underlying themes motivate women in the Victorian Era to break free of gender differences that keep them oppressed by their male counterparts. Through vast analysis about the Victorian Era, it becomes evident “The Yellow Wallpaper” is largely about female oppression, which is unclear without prior research of the historical-cultural influence; this is significant to the concept that Gilman’s purpose of writing is to empower women and break their domestic lifestyle.

Historically, women are typically expected to be the ones who stay home and perform household chores and manage the domestic front. As important of a function housework is to a successful lifestyle and the wellbeing of a family, it is rather disappointing that the majority of women were raised solely to do this their entire lives. Most women were never given a chance, neither even a consideration, to do work beyond the house in society. In theory, this means only half of the world's brilliant minds (inclusive to the arts, sciences, and philosophies), were discovered and brought to light. The book titled “Victorian Era Life in England” is enlightening on the subject of the daily lifestyle in the Victorian time period for both men and women. An important concept gleamed from the book is that although women are the ones performing the simpler tasks, women are just as able to achieve complex feats in the arts and sciences as the men do. However, as author Jane Rudolph states, women were always categorized by their sex rather than their character traits as a human being. This topic is covered in "The Yellow Wallpaper" when the narrator, a housewife to an established physician, is told to remain at the house for weeks in a row, lacking social interaction, "It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village" (Gilman 300). Gilman purposefully acknowledges the narrator's feeling of being "trapped" at the home. It was not until the Victorian Era pushed social values and women's rights that women gradually began to do more in society and have a larger focal point in humanity. An early example herself, Charlotte Perkins Gilman used her position as a writer in the Victorian Era to enlighten others of the oppression women face. 

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of women staying at home is the idea that they were never allotted a potential to develop as a human being. Culturally, Great Britain’s men often pursued occupations they desired from a young age, developing skill sets and a more social role in society. Women, however, were not given the benefit of the choice and often lived repetitive lifestyles doing housework beginning at a young age. There is a strong critique in “The Yellow Wallpaper” about the clear and unfair differences between the male and female roles in society. Alison Bashford in her article “Dangerous Motherhood” speaks about the negative setbacks of simply living as a woman; it touches on the changing of social values, such as the search for female equality, during the Victorian Era. Bashford exclaims repeatedly that women are underappreciated for their work in households – especially considering most women did not “choose” to invest their lives in the house. Charlotte Perkins Gilman supports a necessary change in the entirety of society to make it fairer for both genders to find success – rather than women continually being kept away from society to a point of madness.  In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the housewife is driven to a point of insanity – directly resulting from being told to stay at home all day for multiple weeks. The more the narrator spends time at home, the more traits of insanity she develops, “But I am here, and no person touches this paper but Me – not alive” (Gilman 310). While males are being encouraged to develop skills and be more active in society, the women are kept at home and prescribed to do numbing labor that is not only repetitive but also under-appreciated. The Victorian Era was the first time women gradually became more encouraged to pursue more roles in society. As Gilman suggests, it is the healthy and ethical for women to work more actively in society, and be given the privilege to choose their occupation.

For the bulk of history, women have fit a role comparable to second class citizens. Prior to the Victorian Era, women were treated without much respect and they often were extremely dependent upon the males in their life’s, such as their fathers and husbands. As the eBook “Women, Oppression, and Social Work” explains, this lack of independence hinders the development of being a capable citizen, as well as points out women’s dependency to their male’s finance and stability. Women have been so dependent on men they are comparable to the dependence a child has to their parents, says the writers of “Women, Oppression, and Social Work”. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” communicates the unhealthy dependence women are forced to have. The narrator exclaims, "I am absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas" (Gilman 300). This statement is not only supporting the concept of women being dependent on men, but it also conveys that women are compelled to be completely obedient to men, acting without question. It is only at the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper” that the narrator acts on her own motives and it is no coincidence that this is when the husband has fainted and is out of the picture. It is possible that Gilman constructs her work in such a way that inspires hope to all women, and is very much a possible reality for women to gain their independence in the Victorian Era. The research conducted about the historical-cultural influence of the Victorian Era and its influence on “The Yellow Wallpaper” is enlightening to the aspect of women finally gaining positive momentum in social class. 

“The Yellow Wallpaper” conveys the struggles of an entire gender that seemed to hit the breaking point in Great Britain’s Victorian Era. The woes of the gender differences that kept women from being as successful as males were pointed out and eventually done away with. Only when women started to deviate from their domestic front and into more powerful social positions did this change occur. The author herself, using “The Yellow Wallpaper” to persuade more women to break free from the dependence of men, used her role as an author to help spread the change in society. The understanding of the Victorian Era is essential to comprehend the pivotal times and social change as well as the underlying themes of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Charlotte Perkins Gilman pointed out the faults in women’s domestication, their dependence on men, and their rather low social status to rally women together in a time where social change was more common. The historical-cultural context of "The Yellow Wallpaper" significantly enhances the literature as a whole and is a prideful writing achievement by a female writer, a novel concept at the time of publish. By conducting research on the Victorian Era, it is apparent “The Yellow Wallpaper” is largely about women being oppressed, which is unclear without an understanding of the historical-cultural influence; this is important to the idea that Charlotte Perkins Gilman is writing to empower women to explore beyond their typical domestic lifestyle.





