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In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the narrator's relationship with her husband, John, is marked by patriarchal dominance and lack of understanding. John, a physician, dismisses his wife's mental...
He cares for his wife, but the unequal relationship in which they find themselves prevents him from truly understanding her and her problems. By treating her as a “case” or a “wife” and not as a person with a will of her own, he helps destroy her, which is the last thing he wants.
4 lip 2019 · The story ends with her husband banging on the door to be let in, fetching the key when she tells him it’s down by the front door mat, and bursting into the room – whereupon he faints, at the sight of his wife creeping around the room. That concludes a summary of the ‘plot’ of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.
The narrator writes almost immediately that John, who does not believe she is truly sick, often laughs at her, admitting that “one expects that in marriage.” These details depict an unequal relationship in which the husband is undoubtedly in control, leaving the wife with no choice but to submit herself to his every whim.
Gilman uses suggestive symbolism to dramatise the complex relationship between husband and wife in the story. Take that final dramatic scene where John is about to break down the door to his wife’s chamber with an axe.
John treats his wife like a child in many ways, calling her his “little girl”. His inability to truly recognize the inner life of his wife is made clear in her diary , and leads him to faint in shock when he realizes the true extent of her illness.
Summary: In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the power imbalance is evident through the husband's dominance over his wife. He dismisses her opinions, controls her treatment, and confines her to a...
