‘WALLPAPER’ AS THE REFLECTION OF A GENDER ROLE IN THE AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE YELLOW WALLPAPER

ABSTRACT

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an American feminist writer. She has written, The Yellow Wallpaper which is a famous short story that has been studied from a feminist perspective. This is a semi-autobiographical story that is based on the real story of the writer when she went into depression. This story has been published at the end of the nineteenth century when the patriarchal system was at its peak. Women were being dominated by a male-oriented society. Women had no opinion, choice, freedom and equal rights. The gender role was decided by the male members of society who used to be dominant and the women were given the role which they had to perform. In the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, John is the husband of the narrator; he takes her to the countryside and cares for her as she is suffering from temporary nervous depression. The narrator is not happy with her husband, she opines that her husband doesn’t understand her condition and wants her to live according to him. She finds the Wallpaper in her room and tears them. The Present paper would examine how Judith butler’s theory, ‘Gender performativity’ is applicable in this story, Judith says that society gives gender roles and decides which gender is weak and which is strong.  It is the society that structures the role for women. This paper would also explore how Wallpaper in the story is the reflection of the gender role of which Gilman is the rebel.

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