
Women’s rights have been a fuming topic throughout the world for as long as anyone can remember, which is why people can’t ignore the fact that it is hidden in many pieces of important literature if you truly look deep for it. In the excerpt “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written in 1890 by author and activist Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was an influential story of women in that period of time which had a deeper meaning embellished deep in its core about women’s rights. Throughout many parts of her story, you can see how the woman is not necessarily treated the same as others in her state of mind or her condition. This is a major point because she had no control over whether or not she was able to be called normal or sane, it was the men who were thought to be the ones who controlled whether or not she was healthy and stable. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s excerpt “The Yellow Wallpaper”, it shows the reader how women are not treated with the same mindset and equality as others in society. Multiple outside sources change the way the reader looks at the excerpt as we look at culture and history of women. 

Women were not treated the same as men throughout history and they were not given the same rights. The time period in which Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote this story was during the 1890’ and this was when women’s rights activist started to catch fire. Gilman was known for her writings that stood as a symbol for women’s rights, which is why she was known as a huge activist for all women. During this time period, women and mental health was also a rising concern in many cases. As we see in the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator was known to have a type of nervous disorder and this can be treated by a type of rest therapy which she was prescribed for by her doctor and husband. This type of therapy was often known to let the person rest without any activity until they felt they were ready to return to their daily lives. This type of therapy was often used only for women although some men were prescribed this, they did not comply, which is why this was such a big part of the women’s movement. You can see through many examples in the story about how the narrator was treated with less respect and dignity as others would have been in the same scenario. 

One prime example in the text that really sticks out is the nursery scene. This is a huge scene in the story for many reasons, one of which is the fact that she is placed in the nursery even though she explicitly explains she does not want to be in that room. Now this is a deeper meaning because she is placed in the nursery based on the fact that this I where most women would spend their time while in the house during the mid-1890. Another part of the nursery would be the fact that the bed in nailed down to the floor. In many cases in that time period, this was conceived to be that all women were at the mercy of the men when it came to sex. Men had all the rights to do what they pleased to their women in that time period. There is nothing the narrator could particularly do in most cases to say and do what she wanted, which is a major issue because she isn’t granted the same rights as perhaps the man or the maid. “Rights can at times provide outsiders with a powerful language for pursuing their goals. Rights have a ‘special resonance’ in our society” (Adelaide 391). This quote is important for many reasons because it shows that rights are a huge part of our society and they are important but women are not given those same rights, which provides a shock or resonance though history. The nursery really supports the idea that women were nothing more than a body to men at the time. 

Another scene that really sticks out in the story is when the narrator tries to write in her journal multiple times throughout the story. Now when she is prescribed to be on rest therapy, she is told not to do any work of any kind. Women are told not to let their minds think and that will help them get back to normal. The result of the narrator being told thins, her husband and maid do not let her write in her journal. Women play such a limited role in society in the 1890 era, so therefore she is not expected to do much let alone write in a journal. Her husband has also thought that writing in her journal would not be good for her health and mind and it would prevent her from getting healthy again, but in fact this allows the narrator to get her thoughts out and rest her mind. The narrator says about her writing “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 300). This is important because this shows that women have their own opinions but there isn’t much they can do to overlook others in society or in their families. They just aren’t taken seriously in this time period. Equality is just the issue as well “inequality directly results from, or at least is strongly influenced by, differences in people’s natural abilities and the social positions into which they were born” (Mckerlie 278). This is important because people really are born into inequality and that’s something that is tremendously hard to overcome, especially if it is a social issue. 

Another important issue that is overlooked and not seen by many is the issue of gender equality in the story. One example of this would be “My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing” (Gilman 300). This shows that men hold the most prestigious of jobs in society and this is really who has the say with what she does with her life. Once she is told that she needs to be doing rest therapy, her whole life is basically a prison with no rights. An extremely important question to look at here would be “Why should inequality be bad when it disadvantages those who are worse off under the inequality?” (Mckerlie 288). This is important because it allows us to look at the story in a new perspective in the way that why does the narrator have to get to such a mental state in order for her to be seen as crazy or not treated fairly. This should change the way people look at or read the story because it shows the truth about how women are treated. Another example of this would be “I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza, but John would not hear of it” (Gilman 300). This just shows that she was stuck in a room that she hated and it basically drove her insane by the end of the story. The room was a metaphorical prison if you will because of the locked doors and bared off windows. 

Another hidden message within the story is that women often face the challenge of woman identity, or the fact that there is an ideal image of what all women should look like and be. They often face the challenge of having to look like each other and all acting the same in society, for example “[Jennie] is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing that made me sick!” (Gilman 303). This really shows that Jennie who is John’s sister is the ideal image of what women should be. Another thing is that she does not hold a high position job and she is “happy” with is. This is not always the case with women. I think this is a huge issue in society and women are also not equally paid which would need to change. “Implies here is the idea that rights are an aspects of people’s daily lives. They have meaning’s that link people to one another, and they foster mutual responsibility or care-based claims” (Adelaide 398). This is important because it shows that people have rights and it’s important to show them and respect them. Most women do not get the same rights within jobs and the way that they look and it’s just wrong. 

Throughout history women have been treated unfairly and discriminated against. This has not changed until recently and some big changes are occurring. Throughout the excerpt “The Yellow Wallpaper”, there are many examples of how women are treated differently and this resonates through society. There are also many deep messages hidden in the text that have been pulled out to show women inequalities and differences. In the end, women are not treated with the same respect as others and it’s time for change. The outside sources have helped change the way one views the text through the examples provided above. 
