Reflecting their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a position that is dominated by men. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. In "The Yellow Wall-Paper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society: the dominant submissive relationship between an oppressive husband and his submissive wife pushes her …showed first 75 words of 992 total…

…showed last 75 words of 992 total…she actually locks him out of her room: "I have locked the door and thrown the key down into the front path. I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in, till John comes. I want to astonish him." (170) I see no reason for this other than to force him to see that he was wrong, and, since she knew he could not tolerate hysteria, to drive him away.