THE BRUTAL OF BLOCK FEMINIST FACET EXPERIENCE

Suthida Termthong
The Brutal of Blocked Feminist Facet Experience on The Yellow Wallpaper
The women historical empower the men to have the power to incharge. In 1892, The
Yellow Wallpaper was published by Charlotte Pekins Gilman, a feminist writer who
concerned with the unequal status of women within the custom of marriage. Gilman interprets
the story of herself being collapsed by her unfulfilled willing of self - expression and
uncomfortable with her physician husbands treatment. The society she lives in is dominant
by patriarchy. Womans true self will get accepted when she acts in a traditional way.
Therefore, The Yellow Wallpaper illustrates how male oppression causes the woman to
struggle bars.
An environment is used to illustrate the detain of woman freedom. From the
beginning to the end of the story, Gilman who is the writer, stays along with her physician
husband, John and Johns sister, Jennie. The house where Gilman lives is away from other
neighbors because John hopes that it will give his wife benefit for her sanity. However, he did
not recognize that his wife does not feel comfortable. As Gilman mentioned; I should judge;
for the windows are barred for little children (p.3) and I never saw a worse paper in my
life (p.3). Gilman expresses negative thoughts about the environment shes living in, where
John has decided to put her in the room for medical treatment without asking her willingness.
He thinks what he give to her is already the best things to make her recover. According to
Shumaker (1985), man is the one who decides everything for the woman, for example, puts
the woman in a prison-like environment. Gender equality does not exist in the society, and the
story clearly shows the difference in sex roles between man and woman. Man have the power
to put a woman in whatever environment they want, depend on his satisfaction; which also
means that men have greater authority to make the decision than the woman.

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Female are not able to express her thoughts freely as male preclude them from doing
so. John disallows his wife, the narrator to write her journal because he thought that her
illness will be getting worse. As Treicheler (1984) stated, The narrator is forbidden to engage
in normal social conversation she is forbidden to work- to write (p.61). So, Gilman can not
release herself expression which made her felt bitters, as she complains; There come John,
and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word (p.3). and I think sometimes
that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me
(p.5). Writing can express the narrator feeling, thought, and relaxation every time she writes.
However, John does not allow her to write because he thinks that it does not make her get
well faster. As the narrator said; I know John would think it absurd. But I MUST say what I
feel and think in some way -- it is such a relief! (p.8). The narrator feels unsatisfied with
Johns forbidden. This shows that male voices dominate female thoughts. As we can see, John
oppresses the narrator both mentally and physically. According to Chaichankuls attitudes
(2016), She is unable to balance her husbands needs with her desire to express her
creativity (p.2). This express that before Gilman chooses to express her thoughts, she needs
to rethink again. Gilman wants to do what she wants but she hesitated to do it. This is because
Johns words have an impact on her decision. The woman has no freedom as the man controls
and prevents her from doing things that the man does not allow her to. As a result, Gilman has
to secretly write her journal because her husband does not allow her to write due to her
nervous condition. This can be compared to her life freedom, Gilman has always been
prevented from expressing by her husband.
John does not consider his wife idea and opinion. Because he thinks that his idea is
preferable than his wife; therefore he always persuades his wife to compliant with his words
and forgot what she said before. He controls his wife and a facet of human reality. As

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Shumaker (1985) aspected; Johns answer designed to make Gilman to conformable even it
seem nonsense and ignoring the real basis of her request. Gilman discusses her unhappiness
as; I told him that I really was not gaining here, and that I wished he would take me away
(p.9). However, John ignores to accept her request and bring her back to the nursery room. He
acts like dictatorial and solve problems in his own ways and try to dodge his wife opinion. As
a result, John does not realize that his own opinions push his wife to be insanity not liberation
from sanity.
John thinks that the way he treats his wife will make her recover as she is Johns
happiness. He believes that if Gilman recovers from the nervous condition, it would be a sake
for him, his wife , and their children. As Johns suggest; Your exercise depends on your
strength, my dear, and your food somewhat on your appetite; but air you can absorb all the
time (p.3). According to Chaichankul (2016), she asserted that; He clearly loves his wife
and relies on her for his own happiness. Yet he is unable to reconcile her creative desires with
his own rationality or the chauvinistic expectations of the time period (p.2). John can not
balance between his desire and rationality. Therefore, sometimes he treats his wife in the
wrong way and causes her to be disorder.
Since man has better career choices than the woman, so he believes in his superior
power to the woman, meanwhile, the woman is subordinate to the man. A woman must obey
male order even sometimes she did not agree with his attitude because of male career was
higher than female. John is the one who decides the treatment for the narrator who assumes
her role as an ideal wife and mother. As John said; I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are
gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better(p.10). John is a physician and he believes that
his words are reliable. He tried to take care of his wife in his ways but not realize that his cure
is oppression her. She stated, It is obvious that isolation did not cure the narrator from her

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illness. In fact, it made her condition worse (Galullo, 2016, p.2). This is a reason why
Gilman starts to resist the treatment by secretly writing her journal when John was not home.
The outcome of not being able to express her thoughts makes Gilman suffer. As a
result, several side effects followed. After John prescribes the treatment to confine Gilman in
the nursery room and banned her from creative exercise. She gradually to see a female behind
the bar-like form of the wallpaper. Gilman describes what she see behind the wallpaper as
mention in the story, It is the same women, I know, for she is always creeping, and most
women do not creep by daylight (p.14). After Gilman sees women behind that wallpaper, she
begins to think about her actions as, I always lock the door when I creep by daylight. I cant
do it at night, for John would suspect something at once(p.14). What she see in the wallpaper
is what have happened to her. As Galullo (2016) mentioned, Gilman realizes that both she
and the figure are suffering from oppression and imprisonment Gilman similarly tried to
free herself and other women (p.3). Gilman has the difficult time to struggle with her need.
She was dominated by the woman from the wallpaper and try to figure out the way to
discharge her out similar to the narrators subconscious because she can not express what she
want. Consequently, this makes Gilman starts to against Johns treatment because of it
oppression and imprison her soul.
All interpretations of The Yellow Wallpaper are focus on the wrongness of
treatments cause the woman to breakout a bar. Which can see Johns medical treatment is
uncomfortable to the narrator. John is a physician, he uses this superior career to confines the
narrator in the nursery room and use the gender role in society to oppression her mentally and
physically. Also, he rejects the narrators idea and control her fecet experience. This cause the
narrator to feels unsatisfied that make her can not express her thought freely. It makes her

THE BRUTAL OF BLOCK FEMINIST FACET EXPERIENCE

become mad instead of recover from her nervous condition. The treatment does not cure her
nervous condition, though it caused her to the worse condition that can potentially come.

THE BRUTAL OF BLOCK FEMINIST FACET EXPERIENCE

References
Chaichankul, W (2016). The Feminists lnner-Conflict Success in Personal Experiences:
Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper.
Galullo, L. (2016). Gothic and the Female Voice: Examining Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The
Yellow Wallpaper" Retrieved December 06, 2016, from http://teachersinstitute.
yale.edu/curriculum/units/1999/1/99.01.07.x.html
Shumaker, C. (1985). "Too Terribly Good to Be Printed": Charlotte Gilman's "The Yellow
Wallpaper" American Literature, 57(4), 588-599. doi:10.2307/2926354
Treichler, P. (1984). Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in "The Yellow
Wallpaper" Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, 3(1/2), 61-77. doi:10.2307/463825