A Struggle for Power :: Research Papers

A Struggle for Power Women in Western society have been expected to do what men and their husbands ask of them with no questioning of authority; popular twentieth-century depictions of the â€Å"nuclear family† show the bread-winning husband governing what his submissive wife does and does not do. A conflict over marital authority is found in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† where the narrator is battles the pressures of several authorities which eventually lead to her breakdown. If there is no balance in a marriage and one partner has total authority, then that marriage becomes nothing more than an institution within which the obedient partner is a prisoner. An analysis of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† in the context of Phillip K. Zimbardo’s prison experiment shows the tremendous power that ideologies of obedience and authority have over people, specifically the authority that a man has over his wife, who becomes his prisoner. Many forces control the narrator in â€Å" The Yellow Wallpaper†Ã¢â‚¬â€the most obvious being her husband, John. In the beginning of the story, she goes along with everything her husband tells her—even if she does not agree with it. Because he is a physician, she does not go against his authority. While she may, in fact, feel perfectly fine after writing, she tells herself that she is weary because John has forced the idea into her head. She says, â€Å"I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad† (Gilman 577). She respects his authority and complies with his demands. These actions are similar to those of the students in Zimbardo’s prison experiment who were given the roles of prisoners and guards in order that scientists could more fully examine obedience and authority in prisons. Zimbardo tells the reader, â€Å"Act not, want not, feel not and you will not get into trouble in prison-like situations† (371). The narrator’s compliance with her husband’s demands illustrates how she is similar to a prisoner. Zimbardo says, â€Å"The prisoners were forced to obtain permission from the guard for routine and simple activities such as writing letters, smoking a cigarette or even going to the toilet; this elicited from them a childlike dependency† (366). Like these prisoners, Gilman’s narrator feels controlled by her husband and is frustrated by her dependency. She says, â€Å"I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes. I’m sure I never used to be so sensitive†¦But John says if I feel so [angry], I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself—before him, at least† (Gilman