The Yellow Wall-Paper

Reflecting their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a position that is dominated by men. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. In "The Yellow Wall-Paper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society: the dominant submissive relationship between an oppressive husband and his submissive wife pushes her …

…she actually locks him out of her room: "I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him." (170) I see no reason for this other than to force him to see that he was wrong, and, since she knew he could not tolerate hysteria, to drive him away.