Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age

Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. â€Å"The writings of mid-century women often reveal much about their perception of themselves† (Rose). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. â€Å"Gilman used the story to illustrate her belief in the great need for social reform in the Victorian Age and the potentially crippling effects that lack of opportunity has on women† (Johnson). This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the nursery room, and the wallpaper which, encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that " there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The location of the house, 3 miles from the nearest village, its slight state of disrepair symbolizes the narrator’s mental condition as being that of isolation and segregation. Another significant setting is the nursery room, â€Å"It was a nursery first, and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge for the windows are barred for little children, and there are ... Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age Free Essays on The Society Of The Victorian Age Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. â€Å"The writings of mid-century women often reveal much about their perception of themselves† (Rose). In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. â€Å"Gilman used the story to illustrate her belief in the great need for social reform in the Victorian Age and the potentially crippling effects that lack of opportunity has on women† (Johnson). This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the nursery room, and the wallpaper which, encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that " there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The location of the house, 3 miles from the nearest village, its slight state of disrepair symbolizes the narrator’s mental condition as being that of isolation and segregation. Another significant setting is the nursery room, â€Å"It was a nursery first, and then a playroom and gymnasium, I should judge for the windows are barred for little children, and there are ...