Hannah Riesa L.

Abangan Literary Criticism

III-14 AB/BSE Literature

He Said, She Said

Charlotte Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper presents the following: The clash of perspectives between opposite genders; and the dominance of one perspective over the other. What makes the text feminist is the struggle and the resolution of the protagonist (the wife) to find and establish her own identity by sticking to her own perspective and by asserting it despite the opposition and the dominance of the patriarchal party. Consequently, this paper will expound on the following: The difference of gender perspectives as reflected in the text; the dominance of the patriarchal perspective over the matriarchal; and the struggle of the women (and of a woman) to break from the dominance of the patriarch.

Difference of Perspectives From the very start, the text presents a huge difference between the husband and the wife. It is clearly seen through their way of thinking, through their preferences and through their expectations. The difference is so stark that it presents binary descriptions of the husband and the wife.

For example, John is always portrayed as the facts-and-figures kind of man. He bases his decisions on logical reason and not on personal whims, John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an inten se horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures. Whereas, his wife admits that shes the feeling type; and that oftentimes, she is being unreasonable as she bases her decisions on impulse or on what she feels even though she doesnt understand why.

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That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid, but I don't care -- there is something strange about the house -- I can feel it.

Consequently, the differences between these two characters can also be seen in a larger perspective as differences between being male and being female. Their different preferences and expectations do not only dictate their distinction as separate individuals but are also used to represent the collective group of their sexes.

In the chapter eight of his book, Guerin has mentioned something about myth criticisms that use symbolisms to represent and to distinguish the male and the female (p. 231). Following this thought, the text can now be seen as a clash between the male and the female through the subconscious partialities of the characters. For example, when viewing the house, the wife often prefers to stay near the gardens (earth- a symbolism for female) while the husband likes to go at the upper rooms that open more to the sky (sky- a male symbol). That, and their reactions to particular sky signs such as the moon and the sun, can be used as basis that they are not only moving in their personal accord, but they are actually representing two forces: the matriarchy and the patriarchy.

In effect, the difference of expectations between the wife and the husband can also be applied to the matriarch and to the patriarch in general. When John says that the wife should only rest in the house and trust in his sense as a doctor, he is reflecting a cultural expectation of the patriarch to be providers for the family. Similarly, when the wife says that she means to be a help and comfort to John, she is also reflecting a cultural expectation of a matriarch to be nurturers of their families.

Dominance of the Patriarchal Perspective What can be seen as problematic in the text is the domination of one gender perspective over the other, particularly- the patriarchal over the matriarchal. This probably stems out from the cultural expectations set on both the husband and the wife by the society: Since the husband is expected to look over his family, he exerts power
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and control over his wifes decisions- thinking that it would do her good. And because, the wife is expected not to be a burden to her husband, she lets herself to be subjugated to the decisions of her husband- to the point of being silent. In fact, the silencing of the wife is just one of the many instances where the patriarch exerts dominance over the matriarch.

For an instance, the identity of the wife is deeply rooted to the identity of the husband. What is troubling is that the wife is identified through the language of the husband. John plays a big role in the labeling of the wife, preferring not to call her by her real name but by using endearments like, little girl, blessed little goose, darling, etc.- words that promote the stratification of the husband over the wife. In fact, the name of the wife is not even mentioned throughout the text.

Another form of subjugation is when the husband dictates the condition of the wife. Given his social position as a doctor and a husband, he automatically asserts his authority over his wife. The wife on the other hand, finds herself helpless and is forced to accept her condition that is dictated by her husband (and also, by her brother).

This acceptance of forced identity forces the wife to be silent. In fact, this brings not only an external silence to the wife but also an internal silence as well. Of course, a lot of external silences are shown through the dialogues between the husband and the wife. However, the internal silences can be seen when the wife, instead of writing and expounding on things that she wants to talk about, changes the topic and/or shrugs it off because that is what her husband tells/wants her to do. Even in her personal journal, there are instances where the wife filters herself as seen in the following passages: John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always, makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house. I wish I could get well faster. But I must not think about that.
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On a larger scale, the dominance of the patriarch and the shushing of the matriarch can also be seen in the text. Consider the following passages, I even said so to John one moonlight evening but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window. I don't like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of it.

By rejecting the symbols that pertain to the archetypal Great Mother, the husband is clearly asserting his dominance as a patriarch. Moreover, by preventing his wife to interact with these symbols, he is also in a way, silencing the force and the influence of the matriarch over the wife. He is suppressing the freedom and the womanness of the wife by boxing her in a world under his control.

Struggle to break away Because of the dominance and the silencing done to the matriarch, a struggle for freedom and equality ensues now in the text. This struggle is viewed as a process and is seen through the progress of the condition of the protagonist- the wife. Moreover, this struggle can also be seen in two prongs: first, the struggle of the woman to break away from the dominance of the husband; second, the struggle of the woman to break away from the dominance that is conditioned in her by the expectations of the patriarchal society;

The struggle of the wife is a process because the text presents an evolution- a series of progress on the womans condition, based on her diary entries. On the first part of her entries, she is portrayed as a submissive wife though she has her own opinion on things. Like, when her husband and her brother tell her to quit working, she tells in her journal that personally, she doesnt really agree to the idea. However, being
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in a social structure dominated by the men, she had no option but to be subjugated. Her journal then, serves as her tool of rebellion- her deviance from the routine imposed on her by her husband. This is proven by particular passages in her diary wherein she admits that she is not supposed to write but she writes anyway because it makes her feel better but only behind the watchful eyes of her husband and her sister-in-law. It can be said that the struggle of the wife starts as a resistance to the power exerted by the husband. Only though, she keeps it under the surface- there are no accounts in her diary where her husband or her sister-in-law had caught her writing.

However, a shift happens when the wife begins to write about the yellow wallpaper in her room. The wife is quite irritated to the wallpaper for various reasons: First, because of its ugliness; and second, because the husband would not let her repaper the room. These reasons make the yellow wallpaper a mirror that reflects the internal and the external subjugation of the woman.

The wallpaper reflects the external subjugation of the woman because it serves as a reminder of the husbands dominance to his wife. This is because her husband would not let her repaper the room. In a way, the yellow wallpaper becomes the concrete form of the husbands power over his wife.

The wallpaper also reflects the internal subjugation of the woman because it defies her construct of beauty, It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide -- plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.

The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.

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In a nutshell, the woman is irked at the wallpapers inconsiste ncy of patterns both in color and in design, drawing and forcing her to focus much attention and thought to the wallpaper. It can be said that her irkness at the wallpaper reflects her internal preference that wallpapers should only remain as wallpapers- pretty but not being provocative nor posing questions/confusion to the mind of the viewer. In a way, this also reflects her conditioned mindset that women, like her, should also remain as wallpapers- quiet and not posing a burden to the men around her. I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already! It is also interesting that in the womans perseverance to study the patterns, she sees a caged woman wanting to break free. It can be said that the woman is a projection of a wifes internal desires. This is because she associates herself with the woman, imitating the actions of the woman she sees in the wallpaper, It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, an d most women do not creep by daylight. It is so pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please! I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder."I've got out at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" Thus, if the woman in the wallpaper is a projection of the wifes desires, then it can also be said that the wallpaper is a mirror that reflects the womans image which she is repressing to acknowledge because of (1) her conditioned mindset that she should not be a burden to her husband, (2) her consideration that her husband loves her and only wants what is best for her, and, (3) the expectations dictated by the patriarchal society that a woman like her should be pretty and entertaining:
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Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able, -- to dress and entertain It is also interesting that in the latter entries of the wifes diary, one can see the change in the way the woman treats the wallpaper as she interacts with its image more. From rejecting the wallpaper, she develops empathy for the woman inside the cage- to the point that it has driven her to destroy the wallpaper that the woman is caged into. And as she sees herself and becomes one with the woman inside the wallpaper, following resistances are now exhibited by the wife both to the external dominance of her husband and to the internal patriarchal dominance that is conditioned inside her: She resists to the husbands dominance not only by writing to her diary even more but by using silence- the very method that the husband uses to show his dominance towards her- to counter him. She shows it by (1) sleeping during the day and by being more proactive during night time- by doing so, she disrupts the routine that is dictated by her husband and chooses to close herself during the time of the day that is identified with the patriarchy; (2) filtering the things that she tells to her husband- by not telling everything to her husband, she is breaking away from the dependence that her husband provides for her. She is developing the independence to keep and solve her thoughts/issues by herself; (3) taking/using her husbands words- she uses the endearments that her husband has used to show the stratification in their relationshipNOT to promote her dominance over her husband but to show that she is also in equal footing in their relationship.

She also shows resistance to the internal patriarchal dominance by the following: (1) By breaking away from the expectations dictated to her by the society. In the latter entries in her diary, she abandons the expectation to be entertaining by choosing to remain in her room and by embracing and adopting the actions of the woman in the wallpaper; and (2) by stopping the self filters in her diary entries- in the latter part of her entries, she has stopped filtering and has grown comfortably into talking about the
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woman that she sees in the wallpaper. As she continues writing, the wife, in the process, also frees herself from the self-guilt that has been constructed inside her. Though it can be said that the wifes struggle against the oppressive dominance of her husband results to her freedom when she has finally stripped off the wallpaper, the reader cannot fully conclude that the wife has obtained her absolute freedom. Because even though the wife has finished stripping off the rest of the wallpaper, she still says that she still has to creep over his husband every time.

The yellow wallpaper then is just a shard of the overall struggle of the wife (and of the women) and that the struggle for freedom and equality is a continuous process.

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