Women as Accomplices in Their Own Oppression: Insights from 'The Yellow Wallpaper'
To what extent does Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ complement feminist theory? Your essay should include detailed analysis of the text, as well as references to specific works of feminist theory.
Introduction
The Yellow Wallpaper, a novella presented in the first person by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892), is recognised as a tour de force of American feminist literature. The novel per se can be analysed elaboratively as it employs considerable intricate literature techniques; nevertheless, it is more worthwhile detecting the extent of The Yellow Wallpaper complementingfeminist theory because it invokes numerous previously neglected issues of feminism discipline. In this respect, with considering the historical background, it is regarded as the symbol of the feminism transform the concentration from physical dimensions to a comparatively comprehensive one including physical and mental aspects. Additionally, in the novel, there are multiple presentations of the women cultivated in the patriarchal society will subjectively aggravatethe repression of the males which is ignored before. Furthermore, the performances of identity in The Yellow Wallpaper are noticed as the introduction of deconstruction towards the feminism. This essay, therefore, will analyse its diverse complementarities of feminist theory including the facets presented above with reference to different works of feminist theory.
Expanding the Scope of Feminist Theory
The feminism initially substantially focuses on the unequal social right and the males’ physical oppression to women. For example, Wollstonecraft (1792)indicated that the females, who are not inherently inferior, were not receivethe appropriate education which could liberate them. Moreover, in the American Woman’s Home originally published in 1869, Beecher and Stowe (2002) indicated that, due to the cultural factors, the expectations upon women were that they had to immerse in the domestic life and express theirobedience. In this regard, despite it delineates the emancipation from the exasperating claustrophobia of patriarchy and the female demand for engaging in the social activities, The Yellow Wallpaper particularly centralises the psychological manifestation of the consequences of the unneutral status which expanded the scope of feminist theory.
One of the expressions in that field is the psychological disease and medical treatment depicted. In the novel, the narrator was believed to suffer from a malady ‘hysteria’ which stereotypically considered to be because the comprehensive education exceedingly irritates individuals’ brains and to be contracted more by women (Cutter, 2001). Therefore, John, a symbol of the rational male specialists, in order to treat his wife, militaristically enforce the narrator to cease to progress the fancies. Unlike the other feminism literatures which emphasise the domestic violence and women’s subordinate status, The Yellow Wallpaper utilises the authoritative psychiatrist’ treating weak female via imprisonment as the representation of inculcating the value of accepting the expected social roles in women. It can result in the harmful consequence, illustrated by the eventual madness of the woman, as grievous as that caused by the physical repression.
The other aspect of it is the writing presents to be the symbol of both the job and the creative mental activity. In that period, women’s right of writing was absence and the peculiarity of female writing was regarded as nonmainstreamwhich probably leads Gilman to utilise it as the signal of revolt and liberation(Showalter, 1979). For it being a kind of career, The Yellow Wallpaper suggests the appeal for women pursuing economic independence which confirms the feminist trend in that time (Gilman, 1970). In terms of it being the symbol of creative psychological activity, it portraits writing as a ‘congenial work, with excitement and change’ which serves the function of liberating the females such as Quawas (2006) declared that writing, as one of the deficient rights of women, is an emblem of their existence. In the novel, the narrator claims that ‘I haven't felt like writing before, since that first day’ which exhibitsher resorting to writing as a measure of relieving herself. Meanwhile, her husband’s discouragement of her writing alludes the mental oppression upon women from the phallocentric cultural ideology. In this respect, Gilman successfully amplified the focus of feminist theory to a wider range including physical and psychological dimensions.
Broaching the Females’ Participation in Patriarchal oppression
The conventional presuppositions of genders, considered to be condemned by the feminists, which manifest the dominance of male images and the subordinate form of women reveal a certain essentialism idea of the inherent characteristics of the different genders. From that perspective, the liberation of women requires depending on enhancing males’ consideration of emancipation which presented in The Yellow Wallpaper as the narrator’s only approach to prevail her husband is to abandon her reason. However, apart from expressing the situation of that period, Gilman prospectively suggested the other measure of striving for equality is refuting women subjectively accepting the stereotype between different genders. Similarly, according to the later feminists like Beauvoir (1980), the civilisation and subtle influence via social environment, rather than biological or psychological differences per se, determine the performances of female characters. In this connection, the novel illustrated that women developed in the patrilineal society will, on theirown initiative, intensify the oppression from the males.
The portrait of John’s sister Jennie is a representation of the females serves as the accomplices in the repression of patriarchy. In the text, the description as “I must not let her find me writing…I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick!” shown Jennie possesses the similar consideration as that of John which symbolises that the females have been inculcated with the paternal thought. Additionally, in “I heard him ask Jennie a lot of professional questions about me. She had a very good report to give”, that the female individual reports to the man also alludes subconsciously regarding herself as the subordinate of male. In this respect, The Yellow Wallpaper illustrates a general condition that the female perceived stereotypically on themselves, following the opinions from men, which has hindered the progress of feminism.
Furthermore, the narrator herself appears as one exemplification due to her collusion of the imprisonment. In the text, she refers that John “is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” and she “would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim”. Her own feelings on John’s love and renouncement to disturb him through discussing about her indisposition exacerbate the gender-unneutral phenomenon. The narrator harboured the acceptance of the subordination between the femininity and the masculinity which guides her to fulfil the expected social image as Millett (1970) displayed to be obedient, pretty, and virtuous.Employing these female figures,
Gilman exhibited that the women themselves, apart from males, would attribute to the deterioration of phallocentric repression which can be recognised as the complement of feminist theory.
Introducing the Deconstruction into Feminist Theory
Numerous feminist theories in that period, from the perspective of essentialism and constructivism, concentrated on the anatomical and biological sexual difference with reference to the material determination of repressing females. For instance, the inborn feature of male was consideredto be powerful and authoritative which also presented to be the notion of phallocentrism (Bennett and Royle, 2009). In this regard, Gilman portraited the man as rational and strong whereas the women as passive and irrational.Nevertheless, in the text, there are still multiple aspects which can illustrate the defiance and deconstruction of the foundation of the genders.
In The Yellow Wallpaper, the conventional female features were emplaced on the male persons which can be the appeal of a certain androgyny. It employed males’ refusion to the irrationality as a signal of conservatism; for example, in the description of John, the defensiveness which often regarded as the female characteristic was displayed by John’s scoffing “openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures” (Bennett and Royle, 2009). Additionally, Gilman utilised the extremeness of males’ reason which will be interpreted as the emblem of superstition to undermine the morbid adoration towards men. In this regard, the logicality and rationality of the male image were expressed by the “intense horror of superstition” which also insinuates a different kind of superstition as it represents the fear of the unidentified.
Furthermore, the foundation of the existent gender opposition, which is recognised as a sort of essentialism targeted to be assaulted by the deconstruction according to Derrida (1981), was eliminated via the portrait of the dual personality of the narrator. From the perspective of essentialism, it is assumed that there is an irreversibly inborn binary opposition which leads to the entirely different traits between male and female (Irigaray, 1985).Moreover, Aristotle’s proposal, the possible base of the western philosophy, declaring that “it is impossible for anything at the same time to be and not to be”, which also reveals the inherency of gender differences as well as the irrevocable and immutable internal gynaecoid traits, was diminished in the deconstructive interpretation of The Yellow Wallpaper (Mckeon, 1941).
In this respect, the end of the novel, regarded as a hermeneutic discovery, illustrates the synthesis but homoiousia between the narrator and the woman behind the wallpaper. The claim that “I've got out at last, in spite of you and Jane” suggests both the total assimilation of the female hidden in the wallpaper and the victory over patriarchy oppression by the narrator per se. Additionally, tracing back to the previous plot, Gilman utilises prolepsis to covertly combine the protagonist, which is the narrator, and the other woman emerging as the woman behind the wallpaper which has subverted the Aristotle’s proposal. In this regard, the double and dual personality of the biologically same woman, via querying the credibility of the identical stereotypical female image, successfully deconstructs the inherency of the female traits, or more generally, the essentialism of the inborn gender differences.
Conclusion
This essay, having concentrated on the analysis of text and plot, has examined the extent of The Yellow Wallpaper complementing the feminist theory in three different aspects. Firstly, it is considered that this novel expanded the scope of feminism from solely physical concern to a more comprehensive one. Furthermore, the novel evokes the attention to the female subjective participation of patriarchy repression, through investigating the role of Jennie and the narrator herself, which has been neglected previously. Additionally, the deconstructionism, which emphasises the reformation of the foundation of sex differences, was prospectively introduced in the feminist theory through transferring the conventional female characteristics into male individual and expressing the unreliability of the assurance about the exclusive female trait. In these respects, the later feminist theories especially which were cited in the essay corroborate these supplementation and anticipations by Gilman. Nevertheless, resisted by the word limit, this essay is deficient in providing the detailed analysing texts to elaborate on and support the ideas which perhaps reduces the credibility of this work. In the forthcoming days, more complete examinations are expected in order to more precisely discover the correlation between The Yellow Wallpaper and the feminist theory with reference to the intricate description of the content.
Reference List
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Beecher, C. E. and Stowe, H. B. (2002) The American woman's home. Athena Press.
Bennett, A. and Royle, N. (2009) An introduction to literature, criticism and theory. Harlow : Longman, 2009.
4th ed.
Cutter, M. J. (2001) 'The Writer as Doctor: New Models of Medical Discourse in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Later Fiction', Literature and Medicine, 20(2), pp. 151-182.
Derrida, J. (1981) Positions. Translated by Bass, A. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gilman, C. P. (1892) 'The Yellow Wall-paper. A Story', The New England Magazine, 11(5).
Gilman, C. P. (1970) Women and economics. Source Book Press.
Irigaray, L. (1985) This Sex Which Is Not One. Cornell University Press.
Mckeon, R. P. (ed.) (1941) The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House.
Millett, K. (1970) Sexual Politics. Doubleday and Co.
Quawas, R. (2006) 'A New Woman's Journey into Insanity: Descent and Return in The Yellow Wallpaper'. Taylor & Francis Ltd, pp. 35-53. Available at: http://ez.xjtlu.edu.cn/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=21532183&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Showalter, E. (1979) 'Toward a Feminist Poetics', in Women’s Writing and Writing About Women. London: Croom Helm.
Wollstonecraft, M. (1792) A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects. London: J. Johnson.