“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a story that revolves around misogynistic principles of the 19th century. The unfair relationship between the narrator and John, the husband, works to reveal the problems in their society. His ideas for what she should do and how he dismisses her is congruent with the times (Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement). This terrifying piece examines the dominating male principles of the 1800s and how they could be mentally destructive. The misconstrued ideas of the 19th century will forever be a reminder of how much progress we have made as a society.

            Society in the 19th century would often put women lower than men and consider them inferior. The source of the inferiority was thought to be the womb which would cause hysteria (Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health). The church and all of society reinforced the notion that women were inferior and that the only thing they needed to be interested in was their “womanly duties” and raising a family (Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement). Many women of the time were frustrated with this notion and wanted a change. The narrator of this story did not necessarily demand a change but she did think in unconventional ways for the time. These unconventional thoughts led her husband to believe that she was ill and needed the rest cure.

            John works to dismiss any opinions and feelings expressed by his wife. He does this by blaming it on a made-up illness. The truth, though, is that he feels his wife is below him and shouldn’t be entitled to her own free thinking. At the beginning of the story the narrator expresses her concerns about the house and John laughs it off. She then goes on to say that “one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 299). The reason she believes that is because it is what society in that time taught women to believe (Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement). He uses terms like “little girl” (Gilman 306) to implant an idea of inferiority in her mind. He is obviously very shallow and insecure to belittle his wife in this way. The idea that the narrator is viewed as less than her husband is furthered by the fact that the room that John places the narrator in is the former nursery of a child. This symbolizes the fact that she herself is being viewed as a child. The bed in the room is bolted down and the windows are barred over. The fact that the room is more of a jail than a bedroom symbolizes that she is trapped. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?” (Gilman 300). These lines show that the husband is either ashamed of his wife being ill and he is trying to cover up the fact that there is something wrong with her, or he doesn’t believe that there is anything wrong at all. The fact that her husband (who should be someone she can confide in and rely on) is dismissing her problems may be one of the major contributors to the manifestation of her illness. 

           Since the narrator lacks the motivation to challenge her husband’s will she has no choice but to be secluded and have her mental state slowly start to deteriorate. As she is secluded from the outside world she starts to go mad. She is deprived of just about all stimuli and must look at the wallpaper to abstain from nothingness. She eventually becomes enveloped in the wallpaper and imagines a woman coming out from it. “There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern” (Gilman 305). These lines show just how far gone her mental state is. The reason the woman is trapped behind the wallpaper is because the narrator also feels trapped. The husband tries to deny her insanity by saying, “but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know” (Gilman 306). Even after she has literally gone insane he is still trying to enforce his will and ideology above hers. The narrator states that “there are so many of those creeping women, and they all creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did?” (Gilman 311). These lines allow the reader to infer that there are many other cases of women succumbing to their husbands will as she did.

            By the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator has become completely insane and has envisioned herself as the woman coming out of the wallpaper. When her husband realizes what has become of her he faints. His misogynistic judgement has caused his wife to become a ghost of her former self. All her thoughts are incoherent and delusional. This goes to show how the principles of the time worked to hinder instead of help women. What he thought would help his wife ended up destroying her. If he would have listened to her then she may have been able to get the help she needed. This story also gives readers an insight into Gilman’s personal life. Her husband was also very misogynistic and did not agree with her being a writer. She felt constrained and decided to let her opinions be heard through her writing. Her experiences and how they translated into the writing of “The Yellow Wallpaper” allowed women of the time to open their minds to embracing new ways of thinking. Charlotte Gilman was revolutionary to write this story while facing so much opposition from not only men in general, but her own husband. 
