The Yellow Wallpaper Lab
“The Yellow Wallpaper” explains the place of women in the antebellum society. In the ending of the society, the narrator, who is the victimized woman, finally becomes insane for a diagnosis meant to make her feel better. The woman is not only trapped in her own house but also in her thoughts and has no way out. Her deprivation of physical and mental stimulus finally gets in the way of her productivity. The story sheds light on how it felt to be a woman during this time. It reveals the physical and the psychological oppression that women were forced to go through in the patriarchal society. Femininity was symbolical of domesticity, and even times of illness, it was the only cure. John is very sure that his “rest prescription” will cure his wife, but it only ends up deteriorating her situation, the reason as to why he faints after seeing the outcome.
An in-depth analysis of the poem shows that women were likened to fragility and naivety in this kind of society. The narrator tries to convince his husband that some bit of physical exercises and other mentally stimulating activities will be good for her condition, but her husband is deeply engraved in the stereotype that women are unknowledgeable, which makes him dismiss every word she says. He treats her like an infant and orders her around.
Women were also restrained from education because of the belief that it would give them a sense of identity, and finally stir up their defiance. The narrator is not allowed to have any book or any other writing material around. She is only left to gaze around and do nothing, which eventually leads her to develop hallucinatory images about the yellow wallpaper.
Finally, women were also led to believing that weakness was their identity. Jennie, John’s sister, and Mary, the caretaker of the baby, are symbolical figures that show how other women also supported the female-demeaning stereotypes. The two women also keep the narrator from writing and taking care of her baby, because they had been raised to believe that the man’s decision was the most superior.