The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story that seems to be connected to feminism in the 19th century. It makes it a good Gothic literature because it focuses on the issue around how woman are viewed and treated. How the story plays out makes the woman seem powerless for her own health and good being.
The vacation house she was staying at has bars on the window. If I am thinking this clearly this feels more of a prison than a vacation house. The men in the story have jobs that make them have authority over people such as John who is a doctor. The narrator who is considered sick with “nervous depression” thinks its a good idea to have freedom to cure herself but since John is more “educated” in a way, he decides its best for her to not do that. Men during the 19th century viewed woman as people with stupid and illogical ideas. In a way John had full control of the narrator, the narrator really did not have any free will.
Women could be considered crazy if they did not listen to their husbands back in the day and they would give them some type of treatment to “fix” them. As the narrator barely had free will she actually went crazy. The yellow wallpaper she was always looking at probably helped described how she really felt. In the pattern she saw someone trapped and later it was trying to escape the pattern.
I find it very interesting you mentioned the time period. I think it’s very important to know a little history so the story you’re reading makes more sense, and you can reason more as to why the story was written. At this time women were no longer strictly attributing to gender stereotypes, which was unheard of st the time, so naturally it would’ve cause an uproar .