Reflecting their role in society, women in nineteenth century literature often portrayed woman in a submissive manner dominated by men. Women were controlled and influenced by the imperious male. In the "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Gilman, the heavy-handed husband pushes his submissive wife from depression into insanity. It is a bitter story about a young woman driven into madness by her so called loving doctor-husband. This short story vividly reflects a woman in torment caused by her controlling husband, and displays the choices a woman makes to break free. .
This short story begins with a woman writing in, perhaps, a journal. She believes she is ill although her physician husband believes otherwise. John, her husband, seems to be more of a father than a husband, and takes on the role of the dominant male which is common for this time period. Although the narrator feels desolate and frantic about things, John tells her that there is no reason for her feelings. He pawns off her feelings as an overreaction which leads her to believe that reason she is sick and cannot get better is because her husband does not believe she is sick. This gives the reader the first insight into the women's true self. Falling into her husbands trap, the woman turns the problem back on herself. "Of course it is only nervousness," she decides. She tries to rest and to do as she is told, like a child, but inside she suffers. She begins to feel inadequate. She feels that she should be "a good girl" and appreciate the protective love John offers to her. "He takes care from me, and I feel ungrateful not to value it more." In telling her to keep well, John just expresses more doubt about her having any real illness. She tries to discuss her feelings, but this brings only a stern reproachful look and she goes back to bed. It is forcing her to depend on John for her survival, demeaning herself further. John then puts her in a strange room that pushes her deeper into madness.
