Resumo de The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Tearing Down THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
By K L James
Rarely does any author put out a truly powerful piece of literature. Even less common than conveying a stalwart message is the ability to do so in a short and audacious manner. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one of the few exceptions to this rule. Not only is her work The Yellow Wallpaper brazen, up-front, bold and powerful, it is also only 36 pages long. In those pages Gilman criticizes male dominated society, chastises the Victorian views of women and chills her readers? souls.
The Yellow Wallpaper follows a Victorian-era housewife through her battle against mental break down. The woman has dreams and desires, she wants to rise above what society has told her to be. Her desire for self-improvement and self esteem is deemed an illness by her husband who decides that the woman is suffering from stress and needs relaxation so he rents a cottage in the woods and takes her there to relax. Ironically, the trip places the woman under more stress as she desperately wants to be released from the forced stereotype she lives in. She is more or less imprisoned in a country cottage bedroom with horrid yellow wallpaper and the harder she struggles to find herself, the farther away she slips.
Told from the woman?s point of view, The Yellow Wallpaper brings its readers into her world and the reader can?t help but fall into insanity with her as the woman tells her tale in a perfectly sane voice. Throughout the story, the woman never realizes she is breaking down which makes the tale that much more tragic. Along with the sensible posture Gilman has prescribed for her character, Gilman paints a portrait of a neurotic and depressed housewife trapped in an oppressive relationship. Although this story was originally written to speak against the way women were treated in the late 1800?s the message is still just as clear. This tale practically screams against oppression of women but it could also be taken as a shot against the glass ceiling. However, the spirit of Gothic is not in the message but the messenger. One of the things which set The Yellow Wallpaper apart from most Gothic writings is its setting. There is no dark alley, no stormy night, no dark cellar or lonely desert. The actual surroundings in which the woman finds herself are serene and contented; a quite country side with a simple cottage and peaceful weather. Likewise, there is no obvious element of evil. One will not find a demon or devil hiding in the wallpaper. There is no murder or act of vengeance. Through her own words, the woman describes here oppression, she describes her feelings of captivity and through her words the reader also sees her helplessness. She is not bound by walls or chains or bricks but rather by society. What prison could be stronger than that without walls or locks?
However, one element of her predicament which is glossed over is her son. Early on in her narrative, the woman reveals she has a baby whom John?her husband?will not allow her to see. This point is not brought up more than once and yet it appears of great importance. The idea that a husband would keep their baby from his wife is not only cruel but seems out of place here. The woman feels trapped by society, held back by her husband who wants her to be a dutiful housewife: ?...a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper...? Yet, in his mind being a good wife apparently doesn?t include taking care of the baby. Not only does it seem out of place for the husband to keep their child away from his wife but this act also seems as if it should be one of the strongest motivations for the woman. It would make sense that the lack of her child either strengthens the woman?s resolve to ?get well? or drives her over the edge but neither of these things happens. Gilman?s woman has no desire to ?get well? and throughout her stay at the cottage it is the wallpaper that captures her mind not the loss of her child or even her husband??s demeaning.
It is not difficult to see how this woman could slip into dementia; her husband has taken her child and insisted she stay in a cottage away from home. He chooses an old nursery for her room and spends much of his time away from the cottage and her. Beyond that, the woman?s husband?presumably her partner, or in 1890, her caretaker?thinks of his wife as his ?little girl? and his ?blessed little goose.? He has locked her away from the rest of the world because instead of being his ?rest and comfort? she wants to express her feelings.
The Yellow Wallpaper is a Gothic look at society which inks an illustration of what so many people fear yet empathize with. Who has not felt trapped by something they couldn?t push against? Who has never known trepidation or intimidation? Who among us can say they have never felt helpless or hopeless?or both? In fact, how many out there today are clawing away at their own yellow wallpaper?
References:
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; 1973 The Feminist Press?Afterward? by Elaine R. Hedges; 1973 Elaine Hedges

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