Use of Symbolism in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper

In "The Yellow Wall-Paper," the dominant - submissive relationship between an oppressive husband and his submissive wife pushes her from depression to insanity. Flawed human nature seems to play a great role in her breakdown. Her husband, a noted physician, is unwilling to admit that there might really be something wrong with his wife. This same attitude is seen in her brother, who is also a physician. While this attitude, and the actions taken because …

…that he was wrong, and, since she knew he couldn't tolerate hysteria, to drive him away. "The Yellow Wall-Paper" was full of examples of this submissive wife being oppressed by her domineering husband, leading her from depression to insanity. Though it often seems as though women's struggles for equal rights only started later in our century, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's writing shows the struggle has existed far longer, and is a fabulous example of American Literature.