Feminist criticism offered by Charlotte Perkins GilmanÆs ôWomen and Economicsö seeks to ôcorrect or supplement what they regard as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousnessö (Critical 2044). In her short story ôThe Yellow Wall Paper,ö Gilman also demonstrates the impact of male-dominated existence on a womanÆs expression and development. Severely restricted in activity by her male physician and husband, the narrator in the story eventually succumbs to madness, primarily because it is a choice that is within her control in this environment otherwise dominated by men.
In her own life, Charlotte Perkins Gilman underwent the famous ôrest cureö prescribed by physicians in her era. A form of quackery, the rest cure severely restricted an individuals activities and even their thoughts. Gilman viewed this ôcureö as confining and as destructive to women as being continually subjected to male-dominance in a patriarchal society. As Gilman (1) says of the famous rest cure, ôIt was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy.ö In ôThe Yellow Wallpaper,ö we see Gilman compares being driven crazy by the confining nature of the ôrest cureö in a similar manner to the potentially destructive and just as confining nature of male-dominance toward women.
The female narrator of ôThe Yellow Wallpaperö has been prescribed rest, a cure that keeps her confined to her bed in a state of virtual imprisonment. The narrator is kept from doing anything strenuous, even walking. It is thought best by the men that she sleep and rest and no more. As she tells us, ôI wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasnÆt able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying before I had finishedö (Gilman 10). We see that she feels inferior when she must comm...