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Centre Number: 64910 Candidate Number: 9823 Candidate Name: Emma Dillaway
Compare the ways in which the authors Jean Rhys and Charlotte Perkins Gilman explore the
oppression of women within their respective novels; Wide Sargasso Sea and The Yellow
Wallpaper.
Wide Sargasso Sea (Sea) and The Yellow Wallpaper (Wallpaper) are both examples of authors exploring the
oppressive, male-dominated society of the 19th century and its influence on their female characters. The
male voices of both novels force control over the female characters and decide how they may appropriately
behave, leaving female identities suppressed. Both novels represent how the oppression of women traps
their existence and show the female characters’ attempts to defy this.
Social norms of the 19th century expected women to act only as dutiful wives and mothers. The female
characters of both novels have little power or freedom as their husbands dominate their existence.
Published in 1966, Sea is retrospective novel from a feminist angle; Rhys explores gender inequality by
writing an unconventional prequel to the classic nineteenth-century novel, Jane Eyre, giving its voiceless
character, Bertha, a story. Wallpaper also reads as a feminist novel, which is an unusual angle for a Victorian
writer. Gilman herself suffered post-natal depression and was encouraged to undergo ‘the rest cure’ with
the advice to ‘live as domestic a life as far as possible’1
and to ‘never touch pen, brush or pencil again.’2
Some critics say ‘Gilman wrote this story to illustrate how women's lack of autonomy is detrimental to their
mental, emotional, and even physical well being.’3
At the start of the story in Wallpaper the narrator is passive and naive; ‘John laughs at me… but one expects
that in marriage.’4
The phrase ‘in marriage’ is showing her feelings of entrapment by the institution of
marriage. The narrator's husband, John, is a ‘physician of high standing,’5
therefore his opinion on her ‘slight
hysterical tendency’6
overrules her own, even though she ‘disagree[s] with their ideas.’7
Rochester in Sea is a
white male and a member of the gentry which means he has the power to impose control over his Creole
1
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Why I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper” (Oct 1913) Published in The Forerunner
2
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Why I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper” (Oct 1913) Published in The Forerunner
3
Dock, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the History of Its Publication and Reception, pp. 23-24.
4
Narrator, Page 1 (The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Dover Thrift Edition [TYW])
5
Narrator, Page 1 [TYW]
6
7

wife and the black people in Jamaica. He owns Antoinette's dowry and therefore owns Antoinette. To
challenge a husband's power would jeopardise a woman's social and financial security. Women are forced to
depend on the very world that excludes them. However, Antoinette and the narrator in Wallpaper do
eventually transgress against these social conventions as they are wild, passionate and imaginative
individuals.
Christophine, Antoinette's nurse, does not allow herself to be solely oppressed by society as she is ‘not like
the other women.’8
Antoinette's description of her appearance depicts a strong, unique individual; ‘she wore
a yellow handkerchief... no other negro women… tied her handkerchief Martinique fashion.’9
Christophine is
the only female character of both novels to not rely on a man; ‘no husband… I keep my money. I don't give it
to no worthless man.’10
However by the end of the novel Christophine comes to realise there are limits to
her freedom and that she must conform to Rochester’s male-dominance, as he tells her to ‘go, or *he’ll+ get
the men to put *her+ out.’11
You could argue that both authors use symbolism to represent the oppression. Rhys uses the parrot, Coco,
to portray the restrictions placed on Antoinette and Annette, Antoinette’s mother, by Mr Mason,
Antoinette’s step-father. He ‘clipped *its+ wings,’12
essentially removing their free spiritedness. The parrot
would sit ‘on *Annette’s+ shoulder *and+ darted at everyone who came near her.’13
The symbolic language to
describe the parrot shows that Rhys is using it as an extension of Annette to reveal her suppressed
frustrations. The burning fall of Coco as ‘his clipped wings failed him and he fell screeching’14
seems to
predestine the fate of Antoinette and her mother, in which they both will fall in their fight for freedom. In
Wallpaper, Gilman uses the wallpaper in the attic to psychologically dominate the narrator, which is
particularly distressing as wallpaper is seen as a predominantly female expression, yet it ‘constantly
irritate*s+ and provoke*s+’15
her. Differing from Sea, the symbolism in Wallpaper also expresses the narrator’s
8
Antoinette, Page 6 (Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys, Penguin Edition [WSS])
9
Antoinette, Page 6 [WSS]
10
Christophine, Page 83 [WSS]
11
Rochester, Page 126 [WSS]
12
13
14
15

power. The ‘woman’ she sees in the paper seems to be a reflection of the narrator and a device used by
Gilman to reveal her frustrations; ‘she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard.’16
Repetition of the
word ‘creeping’17
to describe the woman highlights the narrator’s irritation of constantly having to hide her
character to please ‘dear John.’18
As the narrator develops into the ‘woman’ she begins to distrust John as he
‘pretended to be loving and kind’19
and she transgresses against his authority, naming him ‘that man’20
and
‘creep*ing+ over him.’21
The wallpaper no longer oppresses her, and neither does John, ultimately leading to
a role reversal as she now dominates them.
The narrator of Wallpaper is an unnamed whereas John and Jennie's names are mentioned frequently,
showing her lack of significance as she is female and classed as mad. Although, others may argue that she
remains unnamed to allow her to embody all women who are struggling with oppression. Ultimately, the
narrator is a nameless stereotype of female oppression. John calls her ‘little girl,’22
showing the lack of
equality in their marriage. However at the end of the novel the narrator says; ‘I've got out at last... in spite of
you and Jane.’23
Never before mentioned in the novel, it is likely that Jane is the name of the narrator. It
could be argued that Gilman decided she was previously referred to as Jane, a name that lacks uniqueness
and personality, to emphasise her prior passive and dreary nature. Escaping the name shows how the
narrator has escaped her oppression.
Rochester takes away the small identity that Antoinette has by renaming her Bertha. In Brendan Maher's
2006 adaptation of Sea, Rochester says that he renames her as Antoinette is ‘too complex’ and that Bertha is
‘simpler... a proper English name.’ Rochester doesn't understand Antoinette's untamed and vibrant Jamaican
culture; ‘too much blue, too much purple, too much green.’24
Thus he oppresses her by changing her name
in the hope it will make her the plain, submissive, English wife he desires; ‘it is a name I'm particularly fond
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
John, Page 8 [TYW]
23
24

of. I think of you as Bertha.’25
You could argue that Rhys fights back against the oppression of Antoinette by
leaving Rochester unnamed. He did not deem Antoinette worthy of keeping or choosing her own name
therefore to provide justice for this oppression Rhys does not deem Rochester worthy of a name at all.
The first person narrative is shared between Antoinette and Rochester in Sea, with extra inputs in the form
of letters and dialogue from Daniel Cosway, and a short narrative perspective from Grace Poole. Jean Rhys
believed Charlotte Brontë oppressed Bertha's character in Jane Eyre; ‘I was convinced that Charlotte Brontë
must have had something against the West Indies.’ By giving her a voice in the narrative, Rhys has given
Antoinette an identity and her character can develop beyond ‘the mad woman in the attic’ and tell her story,
as she says; ‘there is always the other side’26
when explaining her past to Rochester. As Sea includes the
story of Antoinette's childhood we are able to understand and sympathise with her character more deeply
than Bertha in Jane Eyre. She had a lonely childhood; ‘I got used to a solitary life.’27
A lack of attention from
her mother is clear as she ‘made excuses to be near her,’28
and growing up as a minority meant she had little
companionship or affection; ‘They hated us.’29
As Antoinette marries Rochester it is her last chance to be
accepted and loved, however her own husband disregards her; ‘the woman is a stranger.’30
The relentless
rejection of her character oppresses her free spirit, and is bound to have influenced her subsequent
madness. However characters such as Rochester and Daniel Cosway, as well as Charlotte Brontë, are all
products of their Victorian society, and would dispute that her madness is hereditary; ‘bad blood.’31
The narrative switch to Rochester establishes another viewpoint of Antoinette that ascertains her mental
deterioration; ‘she smashed another bottle against the wall and stood with... murder in her eyes.’32
As we
hear his narrative we have a degree of empathy for his character so we do not solely blame his oppression as
the cause of her madness. At the start of their marriage, when he seems fond of the ‘beautiful’33
Antoinette,
Rochester is already noticing the madness in her. ‘All day she'd be like any other girl... but at night... angry or
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Daniel Cosway, Page 72 [WSS]
32
33

silent for no reason.’34
Rhys parallels the light and shade of Antoinette's disposition with the light and shade
of the day to emphasise her unstable nature. Yet, by hearing Rochester's narrative we are made aware of his
reasons to oppress Antoinette, who he says is a ‘stranger who did not think or feel as [he] did.’35
He craves
England and rejects the unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people that alienate him; ‘I hated them and
was afraid of their cool, teasing eyes.’36
His route of resolution is to take control and dominance over her
actions; ‘She trusted them and I did not. But I could hardly say so. Not yet.’37
Any evidence of prior insanity is
weak; therefore it could be argued that Rhys is placing the blame of Antoinette's madness on Rochester and
his tyranny over her.
In Wallpaper the narrative voice is solely placed on our first person, unnamed narrator; our protagonist.
However we hear the narrative voices of other characters, such as John and Jennie, through their dialogue.
Gilman has not allowed John his own narrative therefore we are unable to relate to his character. It could be
said the narrator is an extension of Gilman herself, undergoing the same ‘rest cure.’ Therefore the narrative
may be unreliable as it is blameful of authoritative male figures such as John. Told by an intrafictional
narration, the story is also limited in the sense that we are only made aware of what the narrator wishes to
tell us, and her knowledge is determined by what she does or does not see and hear. Moreover, the mental
state of Wallpaper’s narrator is deteriorating as she loses her rationality, saying that ‘to jump out of the
window would be an admirable exercise.’38
The thoughts of insanity combined with the controlled and
formal language builds a disturbing narrative showing that the narrator is in denial over her mental state.
However, the single narration allows us to build a close relationship with the narrator. Having no narrative
from John makes him the antagonist as we agree that his oppression of her ‘is one reason *she does+ not get
well faster.’39
Arguably, both women of the novels suffer oppression from their domestic environments. Antoinette feels
trapped in a marriage where she cannot freely express herself due to Rochester’s disapproval; ‘I watched her
34
35
36
37
38
39

critically.’40
This oppression of her identity and lack of acceptance leaves her isolated and confused over who
she is; ‘I often wonder who I am and where is my country’41
Wallpaper is a short story therefore we miss the
root of her ‘slight hysterical tendency,’42
however a clear influence was the birth of her child; ‘such a dear
baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous.’43
This indicates that the narrator is suffering
from post-natal depression, and feels oppressed by the stress of motherhood and the responsibility it holds.
It is important to note that the child is a ‘him,’ another male character removing her freedom, though as a
child is not a blameful character.
Both women are wild, imaginative and creative characters. The suppression of their spirit drives both women
into a spiral of insanity, until they are both transformed into ‘the mad woman in the attic.’ Rhys and Gilman
have used their respective novels to transgress against nineteenth-century patriarchal society by giving their
female characters a strong voice and allowing them to fight against male dominance. Although their
transgressions result in madness, the female characters’ triumph is in not conforming to the social
conventions expected of them. Both novels emphasise a need for female expression and freedom in order
for society to have gender equality.
Word count: 1,999
40
41
42
43
Narrator, Page 3 and 4 [TYW]

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Wide Sargasso Sea/The Yellow Wallpaper Oppression of Women

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