Revolt!

Both The Revolt of "Mother", and The Yellow Wallpaper deal with the oppressive nature of marriage for the women in the stories. The women in both stories find a way to circumvent their subordination, although one could argue that their respective methods are drastically different. Mother's revolt is largely a physical one, while the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper finds a more mental means of escaping her situation. The main difference is that, while Mother removes herself from the home that represents her oppression (and into the new barn that represents her victory), the narrator ultimately imprisons herself within the room with the yellow wallpaper in order to achieve her revolt. In my opinion, the word "revolt" in the title of Wilkins story suggests an unfair rulership, and offers her commentary on the inequalities of marriage as fully as her story does. She does not call it the rebellion of mother, because a rebellion is something successfully quelled, and is generally the terminology of the victorious ruling class. A revolt is successful, a rebellion is quelled.

However, despite the different means of escape, the similarities behind the need for revolt are what tie the stories together. Both authors, through a very different setting and style, create a world in which women are subordinated, and ultimately reject that subordination; Mother and the narrator reach a point where submission is no longer an acceptable lifestyle. Despite their best intentions, neither woman's husband is deserving of a dominant position in his household. Father is unable to provide for his family, or keep his promises and John is unable to see his wife as a person deserving of consideration and respect. It is my belief that neither man is painted as the complete and total villain of his story, instead, through the inclusion of outside characters, both writers seem to be reflecting on society's understanding of marriage as a whole.