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Linda Galay

Ms. Jacobs

ENG 132

21 November 2017

The women stuck behind the yellow wallpaper

Verbally abusive men usually hide in plain sight. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of

The Yellow Wallpaper hides an interesting concept within her work. This story is told by the

narrator who considers herself as the woman stuck behind the yellow wallpaper in her home. In

the story a young woman shows signs of postpartum depression, and her illness gives her insight

into her (and other womens) submission within their marriages Not only does submission carry

on to todays society, it plays a big part in womens mental state . Using new historicism,

Gilmans story illustrates the implication and effects of submission to marriage.

New historicism is a form of literary theory whose goal is to understand intellectual

history through literature, and literature through its cultural context. New historicism is a critical

approach to better analyze Gilmans work because back in the late nineteenth century, the

subordination of women in marriage related to the importance of self-expression The character

john says What is it little girl? he said. Dont go walking about like that youll get cold

(Gilman 181)

In the 19th century it was common for women to submit to their husband and if the

women didnt, her husband would do all sorts of things to make her. Although there are different

critical approaches you can use to analyze this story new historicism was the best one.

Manipulation plays a big role in a mans agenda to make his lover and or wife submit to him..

There is one real world event that can tie the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper to and that is
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submission to marriage. Submission is the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior

force or to the will or authority of another person. In the 19th century marriage was considered

more like a business deal or in some cases a last chance for survival. Love was considered In

Gilmans story, the husband John uses his wifes postpartum depression to make her feel like she

needed him. He manipulates her by using pet-nick names such as darling, my dear, baby.

The narrator explains, He said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must

take care of myself for his sake, and keep well (Gilman 180). Another example is when he says

What is it little girl? he said. Dont go walking about like that youll get cold (Gilman 181)

He also uses his so called medical expertise to convince her that he knows what hes doing. Of

course if you were in any danger, I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you

can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite

is better, I feel really much easier about you (Gilman 172). Each of these examples prove

manipulation because.

Gilmans relationship with her husband was her overall downfall of her mental state.

Elanie Hedges says paper symbolizes her situation as seen by the men who control her and

hence her situation as seen by herself. in the story it states, then she said that he paper stained

everything it touched, that she found yellow smooches on all my clothes and Johns, and she

wishes we would be more careful (Gilman 183).This passage shows how the narrator is

experiencing delusions all because of the wallpaper and how trapped she feels by her marriage

and her husband. To think that things were rubbing off on her when they werent and even to

believe the wallpaper is talking to her is troubling. Through reading The Yellow Wallpaper

with a new historicism approach, a reader can see that Gilmans story still is relevant today The

narrators problem wasnt her postpartum depression; it was the way her husband contained her
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in that room. We were able to connect real-world events in todays society to the 19th century

time period. Submission is something a lot of women have in todays marriages, and this story

reminds us that we have to make sure women are treated equally or we might see more of them

driven down by men

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Works cited

Mays Kelly J. Norton introduction to literature. W W Norton, 2017.