Feminine Ascendence: Rethinking Gender Hierarchies in “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Abstract

The depiction of female entrapment in patriarchal society is a central issue for Gilman scholars, particularly the depiction of this entrapment through various allusions in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, such as the woman trapped in the wallpaper, the confining nursery and the restrictive rest cure prescribed to the narrator. This thesis enters this debate to argue, perhaps somewhat paradoxically, that central to the issue of entrapment in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is in fact the idea of “separation”. Engaging with the arguments of Gilman scholars who focus on the issue of gendered separation, such as Halit Alkan who presents the idea of separate spheres in society, and Greg Johnson who argues that women and men belong in separate universes, I will introduce the idea that women might well be considered as superior to men within this idea of separate universes. Focusing on the binary opposition of women and men paralleled with the binary opposition of day and night I will argue that “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be read as a narrative that sets out a new hierarchy in which women are superior to men.

The depiction of female entrapment in patriarchal society is a central issue for Gilman scholars, particularly the depiction of this entrapment through various allusions in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, such as the woman trapped in the wallpaper, the confining nursery and the restrictive rest cure prescribed to the narrator. This thesis enters this debate to argue, perhaps somewhat paradoxically, that central to the issue of entrapment in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is in fact the idea of “separation”. Engaging with the arguments of Gilman scholars who focus on the issue of gendered separation, such as Halit Alkan who presents the idea of separate spheres in society, and Greg Johnson who argues that women and men belong in separate universes, I will introduce the idea that women might well be considered as superior to men within this idea of separate universes. Focusing on the binary opposition of women and men paralleled with the binary opposition of day and night I will argue that “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be read as a narrative that sets out a new hierarchy in which women are superior to men.