Submitted by: Cynthia McMurray(479) Cynthia McMurray Write Words Log in to become a member of Cynthia McMurray's Fan Club!
By the early 1800s, the rigid harshness and macabre atmosphere of the traditional Gothic Romance had subtly transformed into a more controversial medium depicting the dysfunctional societal constructs of gender and class-related bias. Two writers in particular utilized this highly established genre as a means to critique and bring to light the often deplorable and widely accepted views condoning social domination and control. Both Charlotte Bronte and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, budding Victorian feminists in their own right, introduced an almost shocking realism to the typical Gothic imagery as an appeal to the social order of the day.
The 17th Century Gothic Romance was increasingly dramatic, instilling feelings of gloom and suspense in its readers. Sensational imagery and evocative supernatural events were predominantly used as catalysts in these foreboding tales of passionate villains and distressed damsels who regularly fainted into the outstretched arms of their Byronic heroes. Sinister plots intertwined with ominous landscapes and threatening natural occurrences to tantalize the many loyal readers of the era. By the 18th Century however, such stories as Jane Eyre and The Yellow Wallpaper, using elements of past Gothic works, asked readers to look beyond the expected melodrama to the realism that lay beneath.
Both Bronte and Gilman relied heavily on their own harrowing life experiences to create dramatic representations in their feminine characters, their prophetic prose highlighting the oppressive nature of acceptable Victorian Era restraints. Their opinions, considered somewhat "scandalous" at the time, were revealed through their female protagonists. Bronte's character Jane Eyre expresses, "Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot.". Similarly, Gilman conveys that her motivation for writing The Yellow Wallpaper "was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people (women) from being driven crazy (by the social standing forced upon them)".
It is also worth noting that both stories were written in the first person. I believe this not only added a form of credibility to the characters and the story in general, but it gave the oppression and the inability to speak out that women of the time felt, a legitimate voice. Both Bronte and Gilman allowed their characters to state what thousands of other women secretly wished they could, but didn't dare for fear of reprisal and ostracism. The esteemed medical profession made it very clear that any woman who became "anxious" or "nervous", (pseudonyms for frustrated with society and their position in life), would go mad unless they submitted to a more calm and peaceful existence, one that followed the clearly defined role of a Victorian woman. Bronte's Bertha slips into madness after years of marriage to Rochester and readers watch as Gilman's narrator slowly 'creeps' into her abyss as the only means of escaping her inner turmoil.
Both authors staunchly held that women deserved the same rights and opportunities as men, an idea that spurred much debate at this time. Through their pseudo-Gothic narratives, they cleverly reveal the domination and oppression women endured at the hands of men and society in general. Both also reveal the truly dangerous repercussions of living a life of servitude, Bronte through Bertha (the Creole wife of Rochester) and Gilman through her "nameless" narrator. In each case, these once vibrant and vital women slowly slip into the realms of madness while enduring the absolute domination and control of their husbands and the institution of marriage. Both stories also depict the "retribution" society demanded for expressing an intolerance of this male-dominated viewpoint. In the case of Jane Eyre, she is forced into the Red Room for her disobedience, an experience that literally brings her to her knees and ultimately creates considerable trauma throughout her lifetime. Bertha similarly, is condemned to an attic, banned from any significant emotional or spiritual contact and shunned from the rest of society. In Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper , the female narrator is "sent to her room" treated no different than a child, and then forced to give up all that is dear to her. These stories further show the lengths to which women must go in order to free themselves from these chains of suppression; Jane Eyre, almost perishing in the Moors after leaving the philandering Rochester and Gilman's character, whose only recourse is to leave her newborn behind in order to enter an inner sanctum, free of social constraints.
I believe it is only through the accepted Gothic themes and narratives that both authors were able to introduce their criticism of the male-dominated social structure. The conventional Gothic novel became a viable platform on which to illustrate the growing ineffectiveness of, and resentment for, a subordinately structured society, one in which women were taught to surrender and submit willingly. Through the character of Jane Eyre, Bronte is able to show how women can, despite popular belief otherwise, rise above the social restrictions put upon them. Jane's character is an untiring and willfully determined heroine, who refuses to accept the indignations put upon her. From the opening chapter the reader sees Jane as a poor orphan forced to live with her relatives. She is alienated by her social class, which is further intensified by her gender, a common theme throughout the novel and the primary obstacle to her ultimate freedom. It is here that we get the first glimpse of the utter resolve of this character, one who verily pushes the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior throughout the remainder of the story. John Reed, Jane's spoiled and arrogant cousin, each qualities bestowed upon him as a matter of social order, quickly reminds Jane of her inferior social standing. "You have no business to take our books; you are a dependent, you ought to beg and not to live here with gentleman's children like us". The reader is further reminded that Jane will always be disadvantaged because of her lot in life and that as a female, she is to be further burdened and oppressed by patriarchal rights, no matter how tyrannical or unjust they may be.
Similar themes resound throughout The Yellow Wallpaper. The mere fact that the narrator of this short story remains nameless until the very end and even then, only refers to herself in the third person after she has symbolically freed herself from the chains that bound her, is also symbolic of a women's position in life during this time. Women were destined to be emotional servants whose only concern in life was the wellbeing of their husbands and family. They were no more than nameless entities that could be replaced at will. As Gilman's narrator states of her sister-in-law Jeannie, "She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession." This passage not only reveals the archetypal expectations of this gender class, but it also shows the role of a woman as a mere servant or slave to her family. Through the Gothic imagery of confinement and rebellion however, Gilman shows that women no longer believed their lot in life to be absolute. She showed the personal yearning these women felt, their conscious and often unconscious feelings of wanting more out of life and the lengths to which they were willing to go to quell these desires. The insignificant and demeaning expectations of women are also apparent in the narrator's attempts to hide her writing from both her husband John, and his sister. Women during this time could choose to have either a family or a career, but never both. The narrator's desires to write therefore, represent her rebellious and growing need to break free from these social constraints.
Both Bronte and Gilman also use symbolic Gothic imagery to intensify the conflict between a woman's impassioned desires for independence and the social expectations she was destined to fulfill. The confinement of Jane in the Red Room is symbolic of her plight and destiny as a lower-class female. Bertha's imprisonment in the attic at Thornfield and the narrator's confinement at the summer house in Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, are representative of the oppression of Victorian marriages, which lead both of these women to insanity. In a deeper sense, all three women are further imprisoned by their inability to speak out and the bondage created by social expectations. Although Jane does in fact voice her opinions, she is widely criticized and at times physically punished for doing so. Bertha and Gilman's narrator choose to turn inward instead, giving way to their repressed emotions and feelings of rage or triumph as the case may be.
Bronte further attempts to bring notice to the superficiality of Victorian values concerning physical appearances as they relate to class and social standing in a male-dominated society. Early on readers are made aware of Jane's 'plain' looks, again confirmed in the scene with Miss Abbot, one of the Reed's servants, in which she calls Jane "a little toad". This imagery is a further reminder that a woman's beauty (or lack of it as the case may be), coupled with her social standing, ultimately defines her position within a typical patriarchal society. It is made very clear to readers that if Jane were a prettier girl, one such as Georgina, the Reed's daughter who looks "as if she were painted", she would receive more sympathy and understanding from those around her. In stark contrast to the Gothic heroines of the past, Jane recognizes the reality of these stinging words and decides that she will make use of her 'other qualities and find her place in the world based on her truly important' attributes, not those based on beauty or class distinction. This is a prime example of how Bronte uses the characteristic expectations of the Gothic Romance to draw attention to the realism she wishes to impart on her readers.
In typical Gothic style on the other hand, Gilman's description of the woman behind the wallpaper could suggest the possibility of a magical or supernatural manifestation. Readers are left to decipher this for themselves. Possibly this is Gilman's way of using the Gothic as a means to validate the often-profound descriptions of the wallpaper, more likely symbolic of the contrast between the rigidity of the socially acceptable behavior of her husband (and society) and the narrator's increasing disdain for such cultural values. As the narrator sinks deeper into her madness, she reveals that the woman behind the wallpaper is 'creeping'. She states, "Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over" . This imagery alone could be symbolic of the narrator's fight to free herself from her husband's domination and control, however Gilman's description could further suggest that the woman behind the wallpaper is representative of all women in general and their continuous fight to come forward and stop the oppression of out-dated cultural norms. Gilman shows that in order for women to have a sense of independence and inner peace, they must symbolically tear down the 'wallpaper', or social constraints, and pull themselves from the oppression that keeps them bound. As hair-raising as the last scene in The Yellow Wallpaper is, nothing is more symbolic of the plight of women and the lengths to which they must go in order to finally be free. Not only does the narrator have to give up everything in her life (her baby, her family, her home, her negligible status as a doctor's wife), she also has to give up her sanity. Gilman, through the often bizarre and mysterious imagery representative of the Gothic genre, suggests that breaking through the walls of patriarchal domination built upon the years of suppression women endured, is not only a monumental task, but one that could very well leave a woman debating her own judgment, something Gilman knew all too well.
"I've got out at last in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" This passage is highly significant in that it represents what I believe Gilman was trying to explain to the demoralized women of this time - once you can see and understand the oppressive nature of social conformity, you can never turn back. In other words, once a woman gets a taste of independence and freedom, she will never be happy living a life of servitude, whether that be to her husband, her family or society in general. One must be able to first acknowledge and recognize the domination and control in order to truly be free of it.
Both Bronte and Gilman were free thinkers. Whether a consequence of the Victorian Era or mere coincidence, their lives were inexplicably similar. Both women knew first hand the devastating repercussions a male-dominated society could have on a woman's psyche and as a result, they tried to bring realism and knowledge to the only platform available to them at this time. Bronte and Gilman made critical contributions to the literary world, allowing readers to explore new ideas in the traditionally accepted Gothic genre. In the end, both Bronte and Gilman finally succumbed to life threatening illnesses, but not before making extraordinary strides in what was to become the Feminist Movement.
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