Women’s roles in Society, as seen in The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper
Imagine a time when society, societal standards, etiquette, and manners were not up to personal discretion. Some people had no autonomy to do, say, and think a certain way. Superiors controlled people’s actions. For most women in the late 1800s, this was all they knew. Many women were suppressed and expected to submit to these expectations, especially women like the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper and Edna in The Awakening. The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, and The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, share what it was like for women in the late 1880s, living in male-dominated societies. These two stories, similar in style, setting, and period exemplify why life could be difficult for women, especially when societal standards get in the way of autonomy. Women’s societal roles play a pivotal part in both stories, as Edna and the narrator personally experienced what it was like to be women in a male-dominated society in the 1800s.
For women in the late 1800s, mental health was an issue that never received attention. These women experienced a lack of freedom, directly affecting their mental health, as seen in these stories. Edna Pontellier, a mother and wife in a town outside New Orleans suffered from a lack of freedom. She is constantly under her husband’s scrutiny, as society expects her to be a “mother-woman.” Edna wishes to experience freedom and love rather than suppression and shame. Life in Grand Isle, Louisiana, calls for women to be submissive and motherly. Edna, while she loves her family, is anything but submissive. She has dreams and expectations for herself and how she chooses to live her life. Edna, driven to escape her reality, destroys her truth as she realizes she will never be enough for society in the 1800s. She will never be what society calls her to be. The only way for her to find what she truly deserves is for her to end her life. Similar to Edna, the narrator also suffers from severe mental health issues. While Edna is forced to overcome her mental health issues and issues with societal expectations publicly, the narrator must do so in solitude. As a result of postpartum depression, the narrator’s husband decides the family should hide the narrator away and force her to overcome her issues with depression alone. While Edna had the support of her lover, Robert, the narrator was truly alone, as her family deemed her crazy.
One of the women’s roles in society in the late 1800s was to be a caregiver to the family and the home. Women should not display their emotions, let alone act on them. Women like Edna and the narrator did not fit in their societies. Ironically, women would write about independence from male-dominated societies and be scrutinized for suggesting women deserve autonomy. Edna and the narrator were expected to be the home’s perfect mothers and caretakers. While the narrator would not have opposed taking on this role, Edna longed for more than the role of caregiver.
Both women long to feel freedom from their roles in society. Though aware of her responsibilities as a “mother-woman,” Edna longs to be free from the male-dominated society’s grasp. Quotes from the novel like, “I would give up the unessential; I would give up my money, I would give up my life for my children, but I would not give myself. I cannot make it clearer; it is only something I am beginning to comprehend, revealing itself to me” (Chopin 598). “Even as a child, she had lived her own small life within herself. At a very early period, she instinctively apprehended the dual life – that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions” (Chopin 572), demonstrating her desire to be free from a male-dominated society. These lines express her desire for freedom. The ocean is a symbol of freedom. Edna longs to be free, as the ocean is free. She is at peace with the ocean. Edna says, “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (Chopin 571). She expresses her devotion to freedom and desire for autonomy with these words. The narrator, plagued by her thoughts, seems to love her family and wishes to be seen as an ordinary member of Society. As a result of women’s societal roles, she is viewed as a burden or something that should be shunned, causing her family to dismiss her and hide her from the world. The narrator is also obsessed with the wallpaper in her bedroom. She spends days staring at it, attempting to find a pattern. This symbolizes women’s perception of the patriarchal world in the 1800s. As she is trapped by the walls of her bedroom and her obsession with the wallpaper, she is also trapped by societal expectations and tradition. Not only did she find a pattern, but she also found a woman figure in the wallpaper. The figure in the wallpaper symbolizes the narrator, as she, too, is trapped in the wallpaper. Like the narrator spends time deciphering the wallpaper, trying to find its purpose, that is how many women felt about their patriarchal Society. Both Edna and the narrator spent an abundance of time trying to figure out their societies and where they fit in– they did not realize this was not a possibility.
Women in the late 1800s led very different life than women today. In the 21st century, women are free to work their jobs, marry whomever they please, start families when they see fit, and have many more freedoms than women from the 19th century. Female writers from the 1800s wrote about their society from a lens that women today cannot understand. They saw female suppression first-hand and witnessed how their societal roles affected themselves and everyone else. Women like Edna and the narrator are perfect examples of how women were treated and expected to act in the 1800s. Without a man or a family, they were nothing. Some women thrived in this environment, while others, like Edna, longed for more, eventually leading to their demise. Women like the narrator who suffered from mental health issues were seen as a disgrace and something to hide away. Both women were expected to be a “mother-woman,” and neither could provide what their husbands demanded. Women’s roles in Society during the 1800s were treacherous and superficial, as perfectly displayed in the women’s lives in The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper.
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