Feminism In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

Feminism. Arguably one of the most misunderstood terms to date. In order to move forward and grow as a society, feminism is vital. Of course, sexism still exists and I doubt, there will ever be a time in history where it does not; much like racism- but generally, we have come a long way. The road for equal rights has been a long and sometimes, dangerous one as can be observed through texts such as Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Robert Browning's My Last Duchess Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette and Charlotte Perkins-Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. This idea of gender inequality can be readily observed through the aforementioned texts and in fact, many others, regardless of the era in which they were first written. Women being treated as possessions,
This can be seen through Portia conforming to her father and The Yellow Wallpaper’s protagonist allowing her husband to decide what is best for her, even though she knew better. John controls her and constantly disregards his wife. The narrator of this short story (female), recurringly quotes her husband and his thoughts on her sickness i.e ‘he said’ or ‘John says,’ Although unlike Portia, the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper does begin to question John ‘I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day’ but like every male in the texts I have studied, he is unwilling to listen. Failure to conform to one's ‘owners’ wishes, often resulted in death, such as what became of the late duchess. The duke had obedience from his wife, yet wanted more. He wanted her to absolutely worship him and she refused. He became irrationally jealous and came to the realisation that no matter what he did, he could not force worship. It was then that he decided to have her killed. This was natural and completely understandable by others as, he had sole possession over her; the ability to do with her, whatever he pleased. He wasn’t required to justify his actions to anyone because after
During the time period these texts were set (1596-1912), women still had little to no human rights. They were unable to own property, had no legal rights over their children, and their success in life was measured by their husbands worth and achievements- not their own. Jessica was not only a female, but also a jew and daughter of a money launderer- a highly illegal and frowned upon practise. These factors put Jessica into the bottom of the social hierarchy, just above the prostitutes, which meant her options were extremely limited. She was still ‘owned’ by her father- his prized possession, and he expected her to be sold off to another Jewish man for a dowry, but Jessica had other ideas. She chose to marry for love, eloping one night with a Christian man. This act of elopement was extremely rare in 1596, and as a result, Jessica challenged the social norms of this time period. ‘O Lorenzo.. I shall end this strife, Become a Christian and thy loving wife.’ Jessica gave herself the power of choice by marrying Lorenzo and escaped her ‘hell’ish home environment (created by her father), despite the restrictions placed on her by the society she lived in. Maud Watts in