In the late 1800s, there was no such thing as feminism. Women were expected to be housewives and take care of the children- which was thought to be their only purpose. When wives wanted to start working, their husbands would think they were crazy, or ill. In the Yellow Wallpaper, the narrators husband, who is also a doctor, orders her to basically do nothing because of her perception of her illness. By looking at Gilman’s disease in The Yellow Wallpaper, we can see how women were treated in the 1800s, which most readers don't see; this is important because it provides information on the time period before the women movement. 

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an advocate for many issues in America during the late 1800s. “Gilman was concerned with political inequality and social justice in general, but the primary focus of her writing was the unequal status of women within the institution of marriage” (Spark Notes). She uses her own life experiences and knowledge to tell a fiction story based on the truth of how women were treated by their husbands. In her book, she uses many different references to describe the way she was treated by her husband in her marriage. The purpose is to show the way women were told to behave and to expose the norm. The narrator thinks she has an illness but her husband and brother who are both physicians do not listen to her. They agree that it is all in her mind and diagnose her  with temporary nervous depression and a slight hysterical tendency. On page 300 of The Carolina Reader, the narrator tells us that her husband prescribed her to phosphates/phosphites, tonics, journeys, air, exercise, and absolutely no work whatsoever. This is representing the male community in the past. They would not listen to their wives and just brush off whatever they think. Her husband is saying that there is no way the narrator would know if there was or was not something wrong with her and that she's just being nervous. By giving her this diagnosis, it took away her right of self expression, especially when he demanded that she must not write- even though she still did it in secret. Basically, this is showing how women in this time period were demanded to only focus on the domestic parts of life while the husband is the active, working, and providing role in the marriage to make sure that the women stay second class citizens. “The story reveals that this gender division had the effect of keeping women in a childish state of ignorance and preventing their full development. She is reduced to acting like a cross, petulant child, unable to stand up for herself without seeming unreasonable or disloyal. The narrator has no say in even the smallest details of her life, and she retreats into her obsessive fantasy, the only place she can retain some control and exercise the power of her mind” (Spark Notes). This is shown in the story by her description of what she does all day. She hides her writing and if she isn't writing, she is in her room looking at flowers or the pattern of the wallpaper or daydreaming. She cannot have a thought of her own which adds to her anxiety problem. The way women were treated in the 1800s by their husbands show how little women were listened to, or respected.

Self expression was taken away from women by their controlling husbands. There were so many mental restraints put on women to make sure they did not show their full intelligence. Men were so afraid that women would surpass them if given the opportunity and every chance men got to restrain women, they'd take it. In the Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator was not allowed to write, which was her favorite way to escape. Her husband would tell her that she needs to practice self control and stop her imagination from running off, which was what he was afraid she would do. She was not allowed to choose her own room or to have any opinions whatsoever without her husband criticizing or thinking she was stupid. Also, her husband won’t allow her to see family or friends because it would stimulate her mind and it would effect the healing process (The Yellow Wallpaper, 302). Any activity that she wanted to do had to be approved by her husband. This is a prime example of how controlling husbands were in the 1800s. She is forced to hide her anxieties and fears in order to preserve the façade of a happy marriage and to make it seem as though she is winning the fight against her depression (Spark Notes). Towards the conclusion, the narrator does show signs of insanity which comes from the repression of her imagination, which her husband thinks comes from the expression of it. Every aspect of her battle with self expression is directly related to what all women would go through before feminism began.

The resting cure was one of the most common treatments for women in the 1800s. Men’s role over women was not just restricted to marriage. When a woman thought she was ill, she would go to the doctor, who was always a man, and would be treated unequally. Most “mental health problems were viewed as pathological” (Floyd). The types of diagnosis’ by the doctors to women would usually be some type of depression or anxiety disorder. Charlotte Gilman wrote about her own personally experience with this. She said that S. Weir Mitchell told her to treat herself by using the resting cure. A few months of this treatment, she said she came “so near the borderline of utter mental ruin” that she had to end her treatment and start writing again (Gilman). This is just one of the many accounts of women that were misdiagnosed and mistreated by men in the 1800s.

Nowadays, women are not treated as inferiors and this story gave us a more clear understanding about how badly women were treated back then. There is still much work to do to make sure women are still completely treated as equals in society. “Emotion norms have become less rigid and more tolerant of diversity; but gender differences persist, and women are still responsible for maintaining intimate relationships. Historical trends in love and anger norms are nonlinear, not a continuous shift toward individualism, self-development, and free expression, as suggested by recent cultural theories” (Changing Emotion Norms). This story helped society come closer to creating a perfectly equal America.

In conclusion, women in the 1800s were treated as second class citizens not only in their marriages, but also in society. It has helped us come closer to having women treated fairly and giving women power in America. Women are not exactly equal but we have come a long way. Before, women were completely controlled by their husbands and other men in society, but now, we have a female as our democratic nominee to become the President of the United States. 
