For a long time, women have been oppressed and controlled by men. Especially at the beginning of the 19th century, these thoughts and stereotypes bound women stronger than ever. “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins, Gilman shows us how men and women were treated differently in the early 19th century by alluding to figures of men and women in her two characters, the narrator and her husband. “Yellow Wallpaper” is about a man who controls the narrator and forces her into hiding and isolates her from the world by giving her the wrong diagnosis and about a woman who is absolutely forbidden to do anything and isolated from the world because of her “depression”. ”. In the story, Gilman conveyed his view of men as entitled, controlling figures who do not value women's feelings or thoughts and women as powerless figures who were ignored and oppressed by men through the use of the characterization of husband, wife (the narrator), and symbolization. Gilman conveyed her view of men through the use of the characterization of her husband, John, who symbolizes an entitled and controlling figure who ignores women's feelings or thoughts. In the story, John turns out to be the narrator's husband and doctor. These positions confused him and made him think that he was in a higher position than his wife. John wanted to help his wife with her depression and cure her but at the same time he wanted to empower her by controlling everything about her. He asked her not to work and ignored her emotions and thoughts. “…and I am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am healed.” (Gilman 1) "Here comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates that I write a word." (Gilman 2) “…tell him how much I wish he would let me go and visit cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I was… middle of paper… the woman trapped behind the wall symbolizes the narrator herself. When the narrator lowers the wallpaper, it means freedom for herself too. This also shows how women in the early 19th century were "trapped" behind all the stereotypes and ridiculous nonsense and isolated from the world. Gilman used characterization of the husband, wife (the narrator), and symbolization to show readers how women were treated during the early 19th century. 19th century. Now, in the 21st century, men and women are on an equal footing and everyone considers it a natural thing. But in the 19th century, these natural things were women's dream and hope. We should thank all the people who worked for our rights and be grateful for this freedom. Works Cited Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. "The yellow background." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 2011. Print.