Lack of Empowerment for Women
Lack of women empowerment has been a very common theme in most novels and short stories, since it has been difficult for women over the past years. The novels, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Gilman and A Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, depict what happens to women in the society, when they try to seek their independence through following the desires of their hearts, and this may include sexual desires (Williams, Michael, & Patricia, 28). According to the two novels, when women try to fulfil their desires, the society has a way of bringing their desires into a tragic end. This is basically because women tend to be stigmatized by the society due to fulfilling their desires, a thing which makes them to feel unworthy (Soghra, n.p). In other words, the society requires a women to fulfil her desires with restrictions, otherwise she will be banished and deemed unworthy.
In the novel A Street Named Desire, Blanche hides her past experience, through lying, in order to be respected, and to also be accommodated by her sister Stella (Soghra, n.p). Blanche knows very well that her actions made her bankrupt, and in order to save herself from embarrassment, she decides to use lies as a means of getting along with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. Stella finally allows Blanche into her two room apartment, where they live together with her husband (Williams, Michael, & Patricia, 29). However, Blanche’s love for money makes Stanley to distrust her, thus he starts to research about Blanche’s past. Stanley, as a man believes that he is superior over women, and so he looks for possible ways of understanding what made Blanche to move to New Orleans. He finally discovers the lies which Blanche had been hiding, and uses it as a means of gaining total power over Blanche.
Stanley, is a man who is straight forward, and loves honesty above all the other human attributes. On the other hand, he does not have respect for women, and this is depicted through the way he treats his wife Stella, to the point of beating her when she goes against his will (Soghra, n.p). Stanley has mastered the art of instilling fear in women, a move which makes him to gain total control over them. Stanley made sure he was in total control of his wife Stella, through instilling fear in her, and making her to feel unworthy. When it came to Blanche, Stanley disliked her, due to her social disdainful behaviour, a move which made Stanley to look for her weaknesses, in order to gain total control over her life (Williams, Michael, & Patricia, 32). Stanley consequently depicts the behaviour of men in the society, since they always want to be in total control of women, hence looking for possible ways of pinning down women, and making them to feel unworthy.
Blanche, as a woman, believes she is unworthy, a move which makes her to use sex as a means of earning money (Soghra, n.p). She does not value herself anymore, hence she indulges in sexual behaviours with teenagers, in order to gain favours. When the teenage boy comes to get the newspaper money, Blanche gives him a lustful kiss, in order to clear the debt. Blanche cannot therefore be able to live peacefully due to her love for money. Mitch, Stanley’s friend, seems to have fallen in love with Blanche, and the two talk about living together, since their past experiences seem to be similar. Stanley, due to jealousy, decides to break the silence, through telling Mitch the truth about Blanche’s past life (Williams, Michael, & Patricia, 38). This makes Mitch to distrust Blanche, hence he tries to have sex with her. In this scenario, it is clearly evident that Stanley who is a man, comes in when Blanche tries to seek individuality, and spoils her plans with Mitch, hence making Blanche to continue relying on him. On the other hand, Mitch tries to have sex with Blanche, after realising that she had lied about her past experience. Mitch treats Blanche as an object, a thing which men do, when women try to fulfil their desires and things go out of hand.
In the novel The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman depicts the dominance of men in the society, who try to imprison the mind-set of women and their wives in general (Edward, n.p). The narrator is obsessed by a yellow wallpaper on the wall, where she sees a woman trapped in it. She forms images at the back of her mind, and believes that there is a woman who has been trapped behind the wallpaper. At times, the narrator sees the trapped woman in the wallpaper crawling over, in order to get their freedom. The crawling of the trapped woman shakes the whole wallpaper, as she falls a certain pattern which does not seem to direct her in the right direction (Gilman, 6). The yellow wallpaper and the trapped are symbolic, and Gilman has used symbolism as a means of depicting the lack of empowerment for women in the society.
The yellow wallpaper symbolizes the society, and the trapped woman symbolizes the position of women in the society. The society has trapped women, making them to fall subject of men. The narrator’s husband John, has confined her in his house, since he thinks that confining her in the house will help in curing her depression. The narrator cannot therefore be able to move outside the house, or even undertake any tasks, because of her condition (Gilman, 12). John consequently treats the narrator in a very disrespectful way, even though she is his wife. The scenario, also shows how men tend to treat their wives, thus having total control over their lives. The society, on the other hand, has allowed men to continue treating women in a disrespectful way, since it does not support their endeavours. Women are left alone, when it comes to marital abuse, thus the narrator could not in any way get assistance from anyone (Edward, n.p). Men consequently think in the same way, thus they abuse their wives, and no one seems to care about it.
The crawling of the trapped woman in the wallpaper, symbolizes the efforts which women are putting in trying to break out of the society’s confinement (Edward, n.p). Through following the pattern which was on the wallpaper, women are slowly breaking out of the society’s confinement, even though the society comes up with ways of discouraging their endeavours. The society tries to come up with laws, which seem to bind women into the confinement, making it hard for them to be able to break out of the confinement (Gilman, 36). The society does nothing to make sure that women lead peaceful lives, as it provides men with total powers over women, thus making it hard for women to break out of the confinement. Women are however breaking out of the confinement, after realizing whatever they are going through. When the narrator tears the wallpaper, it symbolizes the dawn of change, since women have realised the society is doing nothing to save them, thus they have resulted to breaking out of the confinement on their own.
Work Cited
Williams, Tennessee, Michael Hooper, and Patricia Hern. A Streetcar Named Desire. London: Methuen Drama, 2009. Print.
Gilman, Charlotte P. "the Yellow Wallpaper" and Other Stories. Mineola, N.Y: Dover Publications, 1997. Internet resource.
Edward Tester. Feminist Empowerment in “The Yellow Wallpaper”: The Lemon Center, 2014. Print. Retrieved from: http://lemoncenter.com/feminist-empowerment-yellow-wallpaper
Soghra Nodeh. Power Struggle in Tennessee Williams’s a Streetcar Named Desire: A Foucauldian Analysis of the Play. 2013. Print. Retrieved from: http://litere.univ-ovidius.ro/Anale/documente-z/articole-2013-1/nodeh%201-2013.pdf
