Since most societies have formed, men have always been the central figure in societies. From a genetic and biological standpoint, men have expected women to stay quiet and submissive to men, as they listen to the man’s directions and words. However, this can lead to the oppression of women. This dominant behavior exhibited on women make it hard for women to truly express who they are, as well as, to do what they really want to do. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charolette Perkins Gilman makes a story about the main character, a woman, who is oppressed in a man’s world. Her husband and brother both tell the woman that nothing is wrong with her by telling her what to do and that everything is ok. In the story, the woman is told how to feel and what to do by her husband. The sources listed below help support the idea that men oppress women based on their dominant behavior that keeps women from truly acting like themselves.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charolette Perkins Gilman, the main character, a woman, is convinced that there is something wrong with her. However, her brother and husband assure her that nothing is wrong. Her husband told her exactly what to do as he took care of her and made sure that she thought nothing was wrong. The house that she was staying in for some time had a distinct yellow wallpaper that she became obsessed with.She believed that as the day turned into night, the wallpaper moved and changed. Over the course of her husband and her’s stay, she became sneaky in order to try and help a woman trapped behind bars that was depicted on the wallpaper. In the last scene of the story, her husband was yelling up to the woman because he knew she was doing something weird, but she continued taking off the wallpaper, setting the woman in the wallpaper and herself “free.” This analogy helped define how the woman freed herself from the patriarchal society that she was in. 

Sena Christian describes that “A patriarchal society, such as the United States, is one in which male domination and female subordination are sustained through the oppression and mistreatment of women” (33). He also states that “it (love) conceals essential issues and problems and makes everything seem ok” (Christian 34). What Christian means by this statement is that in relationships, women are so blinded by the fact that a man’s decisions and actions are done out of love even if it does not seem correct to the women. This relates to the part in “The Yellow Wallpaper” which the woman exclaims “Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick” (Gilman 305). This helps amplify the statement that Christian made on page 34 because in The Yellow Wallpaper John was very controlling in trying to do whatever he thought was best for her which led to her become blind from believing what she believed was right because he “loved” her. This correlation shows that the woman has made it clear in her mind that no matter what John is doing, he is doing it out of love. However, it can be clear that it is out of power that comes with leading in a patriarchal society. The woman does not even question his intentions even though she feels something wrong.

In the second source, Cornelia Butler Flora comments on how “The Female World” shows how the recognition of the female world legitimately shakes up the male world, which up until that point is assumed to be the only world” (554). At the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper” John calls up to the women to grab the door because he is locked out. However, at this moment, the woman is tearing the wallpaper off the wall to set the woman trapped behind the bars in the wallpaper free. She yells down to him to grab the key because she is too determined to rip off the wallpaper and set the woman free without the knowledge of her husband who would try and convince her to do something else. (Gilman 311). She has been intrigued by the wallpaper since she's been staying in the house because of the intricate details in which she finds a woman who creeps around day and night. However, John continues to keep calling to her because he wants her to open the door for him and he knows that she is doing something suspicious. Eventually, when he got upstairs to where she was, he was confused on why she didn't open the door for him. The woman stated “I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” (Gilman 312). This sentence explains how the woman finally achieved something that she wanted to do for herself without having a man hinder and control what she should do. John then faints because he is flabbergasted that his wife actually tore down the wallpaper and stated that she was free from his oppressive control. This is an analogy that related to herself, being trapped in a man’s world and in the house by her husband, and to the woman that was in the wallpaper, that the woman perceived to so desperately wanted to get out. The woman is making a feminist movement by setting herself, as well as, the other woman free due to her expressive and empowering attitude to finally be herself not under a man’s supervision.

This paper signifies how women are oppressed based by the male control in societies. The sources that I have chosen relate to the theme of the story by Charolette Perkins Gilman by showing how patriarchal societies influence women on their behavior and everyday life. “The Yellow Wallpaper” symbolizes the male patriarchal society pressing women by demonstrating how John wanted the woman to do what he said, how he thought she felt, and had her listen to his advice and directions. However, at the end of the story it symbolizes feminism by how she finally frees herself and the women in the wallpaper by doing what she wanted to do.
