Her desire to express her thoughts and ideas breaks through even society’s toughest barriers: “I did write for a while in spite of them” (1).
In accepting her delirium, Jane has reversed the traditional roles of husband and wife John’s shock at this reversal further shows his need to control his wife, lest he be seen as a “woman” by society.Īiding the expression of the author’s feminist views are the thoughts and dialogue of Jane. Having seen his wife in a state of delirium (symbolically, breaking the hold he has over her), he faints, much like the stereotypical shocked woman. Later, when Jane takes control of her own thoughts, his role as a strong, protective husband and leader is reversed, and he becomes much like a woman himself: “Now why should that man have fainted?” (17). It is also clear from this statement that John laughs at his wife because it is what is expected by society. John sees his wife’s ideas and thoughts as laughable, never taking them seriously until it is too late to save her from madness. He treats her as an inferior, as seen here: “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (1).
John is a textbook example of a dominating spouse, a husband who holds absolute control over his wife. Combined, these elements describe the imprisonment of women, and the control held over them by men. This theme is made clear through the characterization of John (the protagonist’s husband), the thoughts and writing of Jane, and the environment in which she is placed. Where others would see this story as a psychological thriller of sorts, it is clear from a feminist standpoint that this is a commentary on the state of women in the late 1800s, and perhaps even of the author’s own struggles with a society run by males. Locked away in a mental prison of her husband’s machination, the protagonist of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is the embodiment of the struggles faced by women in seeking freedom of thought.
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