Redemptive Madness In Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

Introduction

Prior to the twentieth century, men assigned and characterised women's roles. Although all women were effected by men working out women's demeanour, mostly middle class women suffered. Men perpetrated an ideological prison that subjected and silenced women. This ideology, called the Cult of True Womanhood, legitimized the victimization of women. The Cult of Domesticity and the Cult of Purity were the centered tenets of the Cult of True Womanhood. Laboring under the seeming benevolence of the Cult of Domesticity, women were imprisoned in the dwelling or personal sphere, a servant tending to the needs of the family. Furthermore, the Cult of Purity obliged women to stay virtuous and untainted even in wedding ceremony, with their comportment extending to be one of modesty. Religious piety and submission were beliefs that were more peripheral components of the ideology, yet both were conveyed of and a part of the ideology of True Womanhood. These were the means that men used to insure the passivity and docility of women. Religion would pacify any desires that could cause a deviation from these set standards, while submission inferred a vulnerability and dependence on the patriarchal head.(Delashmit,32)

Discussion

The health profession's godlike mind-set in “The Yellow Wallpaper” demonstrates this arrogance. The Rest therapy that Dr. Weir Mitchell prescribed, which is cited in Gilman's work, reflects men's disparaging attitudes. His Rest therapy calls for entire rest, forced feeding and isolation. (Kennard,69)

On the other hand, the male sector of society relished mobility. Men reaped benefits from not only the personal domain, but they were also free to depart and go in the public sphere. They obtained nurturing from women in the personal arena. The public sphere was where men relished the affray engendered in the market location through which they profited their identity. In the public ...