Monday, February 11, 2013
The Yellow Wallpaper and the Feminist Lens
Apply at least one tenet or concept of the feminist (gender) lens as outlined by Lois Tyson in Critical Theory Today to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story The Yellow Wallpaper. Use at least two to three text examples to explain how you have applied the concept. Make sure to explain how these examples can be used to apply the lens.
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Women are viewed less than men. In the some questions feminist critics ask about literary texts section they talk about how women our not allowed to voice their own opinions. In the Feminisim and Literature section in the third paragraph last sentence it says that women are victims of the combined forces of sexism and racism, women are considered weak and they can't stand up for themselves because they have no power. On pg 110 they refer as their stereotype. Women do the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. If women did something out of the ordinary like having a job at factory they would be considered less womanly. Like we said in class women are put on a pedastle and judged everyday.
Men are stereotypically seen as the "bread winners" and the leaders of the household. You can easily see this in the Yellow Wallpaper because her husband is extremely controlling. He pretty much stows her away in a room and takes total control of her entire life. He tells her what she can do and when she can do it. I don't know if anyone back then would have had a problem with it because that was somewhat normal in the time period. I think today it would be much different. We have come a long way I think. I think there is less sexism but it is still there. It msy never go away completely.
In Critical Theory, Tyson states that patriarchy treats women like objects without consideration of their own perspectives, feelings, or opinions. This concept is shown in The Yellow Wallpaper as the woman's husband continues to confine his wife in her room despite the fact that she doesn't believe she's ill. This leads to another concept that women are seen lower than men. Women are to, in a way, obey their husbands. The woman's husband shows many instances of his necessity to control everything she does. The woman can go outside, but not too far from the house and she must stay locked in her room without any imagination. Overall, women are simply expected to take care of what they are told to do and have no opinion, or say, about it.
Women are considered to be lesser then men. In Critical Theory it says when a man sleeps with multiple women he is considered a "stud". But when a women sleeps with multiple men she is considered a "slut". The male and female did the exact same thing and the male is pretty much cool rather than the women who would be looked down upon by many. Women are portrayed for all the household responsibilities like having dinner prepared when the husband comes home from work and doing the the household chores. Also in critical theory it says that women were to afraid to voice there opinion because the men would be affended. In conclusion to all this women will always be judged no matter what.
Women are stereotyped as the weaker ones and men have all the power.In the Yellow Wallpaper the narrator is portrayed as weak and John has all the power because she's doing everything he says, and he's doing everything to control her physically and emotionally. Tyson talks about the patriarchal role women and men have in society, and this is it. The men have all the power and the women are weak and are in control of the man.
Men are the ones who always make the decisions in the relationship, or at least that is how the patriarchal society sees it. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, this is how most relationships worked. There is clear evidence to suggest such claims in the story "The Yellow Wallpaper" such as when the narrator is writing about the ugly yellow wallpaper in the room she stays in. She is driven crazy by how ugly the color and the designs are to the point where she just asks her husband to remove it. Well, her husband didn't feel it was necessary to do such changes because they were only staying there for a few months. Another example of him making the best decision for him was the fact that he didn't allow her to leave or see anyone. This was a reoccurring problem throughout the story and ultimately played a part in the insanity of the narrator. The man made the decisions and it wasn't for the better by any means. I feel we are moving in a direction now where women have many more choices for how they want to live their life and interact with men. I would say women have much more power in today's society and we, as a society, are moving away from the patriarchl sociey.
According to Tyson, women are viewed as lesser than men, and therefore not allowed to have any opinions, hobbies or anything remotely enjoyable. This is shown in The Yellow Wallpaper when the narrator's opinion on her condition is ignored and ridiculed. Her husband does not believe she is sick, and so ignores her. She complains about the wallpaper, and he first tells her he'll switch it out, then says he won't enovate for a three month stay, saying she shouldn't allow her mind to entertain such fantasies. When she starts to talk about the woman behind the wallpaper, she says she isn't going to tell Jon about her, because he would just dismiss it as fantasy and put more restraint on her life than already sustained. In conclusion, The Yellow Wallpaper is a great example of the feminist lens in literature, especially when porraying women as lesser than men.
In Critical Theory, Tyson says that in a patriarchal society Women are typically seen as second to men. A woman is excepted to stay at home and do all of the cooking cleaning and taking care of the kids. A man get to leave the house and make all of the money and once a man gets home he expects everything to be done for him. In the yellow wallpaper, John goes to work everyday as a doctor and he leaves the narrator at home alone and does not allow her to leave. A woman is also expected to sexually please the man when he gets home. And make the woman the man's object. Women are seen as emotional and irrational, which means that they cannot be trusted to do anything important. Men are emotionless rational which makes them the decision maker. In yellow wallpaper the woman is not allowed to make decisions because she has something "wrong" with her. Nothing that she says is even taken into consideration by John. When she says that she does not like the wallpaper in the room John tells her that he won't re-do the room, even though she wants him to. John is the only one that gets to make a decision. He decided to take her to the house and he also decided that she had to stay in the room and was not allowed to leave.
According to Tyson in Critical Theory, women are viewed lesser then men. That women can't do anything on there own without a man present in there life. In the Yellow Wallpaper John is portrayed as the strong and controlling unlike Jane who is considered weak. Everything that John says Jane believes no matter what. John controls Jane physically and mentally throughout the book. An example is when John tells Jane she can't have a imagination. Another example is when Jane was locked in a room for 3 months could not leave at all so that caused some mental problems with her. In conclusion women will always be portrayed weaker then men.
Lois Tyson labelizes traditional gender roles as men being "rational, strong, protective, and decisive." In The Yellow Paper, the husband can be seen as being rational and protective by doing what is believed to be best for his wife, which is keeping her isolated in her room away from society. He shows a protective personality also by keeping his wife in his home to get her feeling better. According to Tyson, a traditional woman is "Irrational, weak, nurturing, and submissive." The wife in The Yellow Wallpaper can be seen as weak by being sick, submissive by being scared of her husband, besides in the end. At points in the story, the wife is aware she has a child and checks up on it.
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