Dismissing a woman’s opinion and calling her insane would be an absurd thing to do nowadays. But was it absurd in the 1800s? “The Yellow Wallpaper” touches on the topic of the suppression of women and by looking at the historical context of “The Yellow Wallpaper” we can see how The Women’s Rights Movement influenced the meaning and structure of the novella. Influences from The Women’s Right’s Movement can be seen in the short story through the of the depiction of a women’s status, their “independence” and current state during the 1800s. This is important because “The Yellow Wallpaper” was a major influence in the 1850s in progressing The Women’s Rights Movement.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman, the narrator – whose unnamed – was decelerated unfit and unwell by a physician who also plays the role of her husband. The physician states that she may just have temporary nervous depression, also known referred to as a slight hysterical tendency. The people around her all agreeing that she is hysterical. The husband states that she is “absolutely forbidden to “work”” (300, Gilman))until she’s healthy again. Readers later find out that “work” is a reference to writing and thinking. The narrator in the story struggles with a wallpaper in a room she’s confined to. The narrator visions an image in the wallpaper and later comes up with the idea that the image is a woman. As the story progresses the woman later finds “peace” in the yellow wallpaper by ripping it down, “freeing” the women confined in the wallpaper. The story line and the way it was written is important because gave an idea to the world of what it was like to be a woman in the 1800s.

The statues prior and during the 1800s women were often regarded below men in the class system. Women were often dependent on their significant other and when they were married, they had little to no power. When married the woman’s property and the wages she earned was claimed by the man.  In The Declaration of Sentiments, it stated that “she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purpose, her master- the law…” This phrase can correlate to the situation in the novella. In the novella, the narrator kept on insisting to her husband/physician that there was nothing wrong with her and thus, wanted to visit her family and change the wallpaper that’s been bothering her. In response to the narrator the husband/physician also keeps on insisting that the things the narrator wants and needs will give into her “disease” and that she must not let it get the better of her (305. Gilman). The way the husband/physician keeps on insisting nothing’s wrong with her, doesn’t take into consideration of her true feeling and sayings shows that in society a woman’s thoughts and feelings weren’t often regarded. There’s a lot of symbolic situations and phrases in the novella. On page 304 in “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator states “I lie here on this great immovable bed – it is nailed down.” (304, Gilman) This can correlate to women’s status during the time period. Women weren’t able to receive an education and were often associated as being domesticated, taking care of the house, husband, and kids. The immovable bed can symbolize the immovable social status development of women during the 1800s. Further in to the story the narrator emphasizes the need to express her feelings and ideas (305, Gilman).  To express those feelings and ideas the narrator must secretly writes in the diary, because the husband doesn’t want her to perform congenial work. The examples of the repression of the opportunities, thoughts, feelings, and opinion of women were expressing “The Yellow Wallpaper” and played an important role in highlighting the situation women were in, in the 1800s.

In the 1800s women had little to no rights. As stated previously, when married women didn’t have ownership of their property and wages they earned. Additionally, women weren’t allowed to vote and receive an education. The Declaration of Sentiments it stated “He has compelled her to submit to law in the formation of which she has no voice.” This was shown in the novel, when the narrator had no say about her condition and her wants. Throughout the story, the narrator was continuously treated as a child. The narrator stated that John, the husband/physician “read to me till it tired my head.” (305, Gilman), “Then he took me into his arms and called me a blessed little goose…” (302, Gilman), and John then referred to narrator as “little girl” (306, Gilman). The symbolic nature of referring and treating the women as a child can mean that women can’t grow to be independent, but instead they are trapped in a small idealistic frame with no room to learn, explore, and discover new things. By depiction of the narrator as a child helps form the image of women being trapped and coddled in a huge world of opportunity.

One of the source I’ve found for my annotated bibliography was an article called “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper”. It was written by Charlotte Gilman herself. Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” from her perspective on the issue of the “rest cure” which is also known as bed rest. The physician ordered Gilman to “live as domestic a life as far as possible,” (Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper) and to “never to touch pen, brush, or pencil again.” (Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper) After following the direction of the physician. Gilman stated that she “came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that I could see over.” (“Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper). This is similar to the narrator in the novella. The life of Gilman was portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper” with added exaggerations to create an emphasis on the idea that the narrator wasn’t sick, but was instead being oppressed in society by a group of men declaring her unfit and unwell. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator sates that “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” (301, Gilman) This adds to the previous sentence that nobody knows what another person is thinking and their current state. Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she doesn’t have feelings, thoughts, and ideas that need to be taken into consideration. Men didn’t know what women were going through during the 1800s. They didn’t know the mental, physical, and emotional state of women during that time. They didn’t know what women were facing.  In the novel, the narrator visions a woman in the wallpaper behind bars. The woman in the wallpaper is viciously trying to free herself from the wallpaper and bar. The narrator later rips down the wallpaper in desperation in attempt to free the women. This an example the mental, physical and emotional state women were in during the 1800s.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman is a very powerful novel that touches on multiple sensitive topics such as, mental illness and women’s rights. The 1800s was a hard time for women to be treated as equal to men. Women weren’t given equal opportunities such as education, jobs, wages, and status. During the 1800s the Women’s Rights Movement occurred and created a spotlight on the mistreat of women. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is an example of work that emphasized on the idea that women were suppressed on the status level compared to men, their lack of independence, and the unknown state of women during the 1800s.
