Fiction EssayCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper addresses a number of issues facing women at the turn of the twentieth century including domestic confinement, “women’s work,” the...

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Title: Fiction Essay
Contents
Introduction    3
Oppressive Nature of Gender Roles    3
Conclusion    5
Work Cited    6
Introduction
    The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman published in the first in the January of 1892. The story is narrated in first person based on the journal entries or diary entries of a woman, who is said to be in depression after giving birth to a child. The story is based on the themes of the oppressive nature of the gender roles, need of the women to express their selves and to present a clear distinction between appearance and reality. Here, this essay shall highlight the issue of oppressive nature of gender roles, forcing the women to be confined in their own boundaries, forcing them to assert their full identity. This leads to depression and other serious conditions of mental illness. The standpoint developed in this essay will be supported by the point of view, theme, plot and analysis of the story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.
Oppressive Nature of Gender Roles
    As the second wave of feminism drove through the latter half of the 20th century most of the women in the era were considered to be incapable of governing themselves and were considered delicate and overly emotional. This could be reflected through the character of the main lead, the narrator of the story as she was confined in her own boundaries of her gender and her illness. The women of the age wanted to move out their domestic boundaries and wanted to explore their real selves. The desire of the narrator to move out of her domestic sphere and to “work” made her incapable of engaging with her child (Gilman). The men in the latter half of the 20th century considered that women are born to be behind the bars of their homes and should look after their families and children. An incidence from the story, when the narrator’s husband considers her desire of reframing her life as a mental illness is an evidence of the orthodox mentality of the male members of the society during...