“The Yellow Wallpaper”, a well-known short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, became a very significant tale within the woman’s movement when it was published in 1892. While it was heavily influenced by feminist ideals, all of society was shocked and intrigued by the moving story. Today, this story remains to be introduced to the classroom, signifying that it is still of great importance. Even though it is a fiction piece, the story is still considered imperative, which brings one to question exactly why it remains to be of great significance. After learning more about what was happening during the time it was published, the historical and cultural context throughout the story is very clear. The 19th century was the start of the women’s movement, making “The Yellow Wallpaper” extremely relevant due to its accurate portrayal of different struggles that women in that period had to face due to society’s conforming gender roles.

Nineteenth century women often received little to no education, along with the women before them. Mihăilă agrees, claiming that women were maintained “in a state of intellectual inferiority” which was well reflected through the education system (658). This idea can be seen all throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper”, reflected through the narrator’s lack of confidence in her own ideas. A prime example of this is when the narrator writes her personal ideas about her treatment, which conflict with her husband’s ideas. Her lack of confidence in her own ideas stems from her husband’s dismissal in them, which she easily accepts due to his education level compared to her own. Because girl’s education was “oriented only towards domestic life” during this time, it would be understandable that whatever education the narrator received did not deal with much science, but with skills such as sewing and cooking (658).  This also brings reason as to why John is so quick to dismiss her ideas. 

John’s aversion to the narrator’s writing is another example “The Yellow Wallpaper” has to offer on the struggle of women’s poor education in the 19th century. Since “intellectual women” were “condemned as unfeminine”, it is rational that John would consider writing as a unfeminine and inappropriate behavior for the narrator to display (Cruea,189). This is showcased when the narrator is constantly having to hide this behavior from her husband, then explaining it’s because of his distaste towards it. Perhaps this exact situation was uncommon, but the ideal behind it does demonstrate how 19th century women were barred from their own ideas and creativity. It is likely that the women who read this story shared a similar experience, or that the men who read it were guilty of inflicting this specific case of sexism. Not only does John dislike the writing, but his sister also shares this distaste, which the narrator believes is the sisters reasoning for her sickness. The fact that this woman could be deemed sick based of her intellect  only further exemplifies  why this educational struggle that women faced was an prevalent issue in the nineteenth century.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” successfully imitates the typical family dynamic of the nineteenth century. This is seen in various examples throughout the work. A major example deals with the personal thoughts that the narrator has about John’s sister. The narrator seems to look up to John’s sister, describing her as “a dear girl” who is “a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper” (Gilman, 303).  Because John’s sister seeks “no better profession” than this, it is safe to say that both her and the narrator are believers in their society’s ideal that women were only meant to be good mothers and housewives. Băluţă verifies this ideal by claiming that in the 19th century, motherhood was not only a woman’s “destiny”, but also her “civic duty” to the public. Further proving that John’s sister fits the role and expectations of a nineteenth century woman, Băluţă explains that a successful woman in the nineteenth century fulfilled the role of “guardian angel of the home” (67). The reason it was important for this ideal to be portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is the fact that is was very real and caused a great struggle for women in terms of individualism. It can be concluded that this family model stripped women of their independence, giving them only one realistic job opportunity which was mother or housewife. 

The conforming family dynamic of the nineteenth century is also shown through John’s child-like treatment of his wife in “The Yellow Wallpaper. When concerned with any type of power, “women’s intellectual inferiority was considered indisputable”, which barred them from having any kind of say in the nineteenth century society (Mihaila, 660). This women’s struggle arises in the story every time John treats his wife like a child, successfully dismissing what she has to say on certain matters. One instance of the narrator’s voice being repressed is when she tries to speak on the problems she finds with her treatment. John not only refers to her as a “little girl”, but dismisses her concerns about not getting better by hugging her a exclaiming “she shall be as sick as she pleases!”, mocking her as one would a child( Gilman, 306). Not only is she vocally oppressed, but physically as well. John dictates where she gets to live and who she gets to see, even if she voices that it is not what she wants. This is historically supported when Mihaila provides the example of The Caragea Code of 1818, which “situated the family under man’s authority” and “granted women little autonomy in family” (660). 

There is a lot of historical context in the medical treatment of the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The fact that the two physicians introduced in the story are both male coincides with the reality of a male dominated science in the nineteenth century. Their diagnoses of her is a great example of how gender shaped the science behind women’s psychiatric treatment. After the narrator provides the information that her husband has diagnosed her with “temporary nervous depression”, she goes on the explain how she gets “unreasonable angry”, which she thinks is “due to this nervous condition.” Her statement accurately exhibits how medical treatment was unfairly based upon gender in the nineteenth century. Theriot agrees by claiming that “unfeminine behavior” was linked to “nervousness and insanity” (17). Adding on to this idea, Theriot also points out that rather than patients naming their “own behavior and feelings as nervous or insane”, it was their “friends and family members”, including their husbands (18). This agrees with the idea that the narrators husband and brother were the ones who diagnosed her. Therefore, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is deemed historically relevant when discussing the way women in the nineteenth century were medically treated. 

While the struggles that women came to face due to gender roles highlights the importance of “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the period it was published in, they do not account for the main reason. For many years, women have been dealing with this struggle, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that women began to notice these undeniable struggles and demanded the freedom from the society’s controlling gender role. The main reason “The Yellow Wallpaper” was so relevant during its time was because it supported the birth of the woman’s movement in the nineteenth century. Cruea supports this when she discusses the development of the "Woman Movement" in the mid-nineteenth century “a result of women's strivings to improve their status in and usefulness to society” (187). “The Yellow Wallpaper” in turn, supported this movement by displaying how unfair these societal gender ideals were, thus pushing for them to be changed. 
