These Three Writers: A Glimpse at the American Struggle for Equality
- Emily A. Miller
- Feb 22, 2018
- 4 min read
Since the conclusion of the Civil War, life in the United States has remained fundamentally divided. More groups of people have suffered at the hands of the dominant demographic in America due to the strict inequalities established long ago--and many peoples’ continued unwillingness to overturn them--than those Americans that haven’t been marginalized or disenfranchised. Because this is an ongoing problem, famous writers from four and five generations ago have lent their craft to depicting the oft-bleak human existence of carrying out life as a second-class citizen.
Female authors from the 19th century and early 20th century such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Mary Freeman each use their unique styles of writing to convey two very different messages about women and marriage. The former takes into account her own personal experience of being labeled a new mother suffering from female hysteria--or modernly referred to in this case as postpartum depression--when creating the cult-classic short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,”. In addition to the short story that tackles women's roles as subordinates to their husbands, Gilman candidly includes an editorial on the inspiration behind her psychologically grotesque narrative. This inclusion scaffolds the short story, and makes clear that the purpose for writing “The Yellow Wallpaper” is not merely to entertain, entice, or encour
age heebie-jeebies, but to showcase the very real inequalities the author faced in her own life. Gilman’s use of societal generalizations such as, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in a marriage,” and “But John would not hear of it,” are subtle, but convey a tone of domineering on John’s part, which is supported by the plot point of John, her husband, also being her “doctor.” While John is just one character, and the short story revolves around just one marriage, because of these generalizations and others, it becomes clear even to the most green of feminist readers that subordination is widespread amongst the vast majority of married couples at this time.
Successfully capturing another faction of life in America as a married woman in the early 20th century, was Mary Freeman. “The Revolt of Mother,” differs in tonality, genre and arch of it’s main character to Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” but nevertheless, it resonates with feminist audiences in the same way. Freeman illustrates the concept of marital spheres of influence such as “domestic” for the wife, and “worldly” for the husband by centering her narrative around Sarah Penn’s decrepit family home, and her husband’s immaculate barn. The physical home itelf symbolizes Sarah’s sphere, the place in which she has the more dominant role, and the barn is the symbol of her husband, Adoniram’s sphere, as tending to his livestock provides for his family. For generations, this division of duties continued without question in western society, but it was in this time period that many women began to raise some concerns that this system was leaving many women’s potential relatively untapped, as no challenge or education of value presented itself to the vast majority. The coincidence of the central plot point being the planning of the Penn’s daughter's wedding--a daughter who is described as “pettish” and “delicately fine and clear as porcelain,” supports the idea that inequality in marriages is generational. While the division of specialties is clearly drawn by Freeman in this narrative, it behooves the reader to notice that love is alive between the central couple, as they both lovingly call each other, “mother,” and “father,”.Therefore, society’s constructed gender roles are the antagonist of the story, and the husband is merely the manifestation of those strict roles. Interestingly, the husband’s name is biblical. Adoniram is the name of a man with Hebrew nobility that was stoned to death during the Israelites’ revolt; therefore, one can see Freeman attempting to create a scapegoat out of her patriarchal character in “The Revolt of Mother,”. What Freeman is attempting to convey is that Adoniram--and men like him-- are not the problem, but his genuine surprise at Sarah’s unhappiness after all that time is the problem: a problem that is societally born.
Without question, the most disenfranchised and marginalized group in America has been African Americans. Captured and sold into slavery from their homeland, born to live and die a slave, segregated from white Americans, or the victims of harsh racial profiling, the plight of black Americans is as present today as it always has been. Writing about black Americans at the turn of the 20th century was W.E.B Dubois, an educated an insightful man of his time, whose message continues to resonate and inspire to this day. From the very beginning of Dubois’ memoir, The Souls of Black Folk, Dubois acknowledges the division between himself and other people of color and “the other world”. Dubois’ artistry in capturing the question, “How does it feel to be a problem?,” in frequent and varied interactions is one of many reasons he is so widely read to this day. Another signature of Dubois’ that captures his message is the frequent use of “the veil”. Dubois uses a veil to describe the divide between people of color and people in the dominant race because a veil is the first thing one sees when they look at someone. A veil can only be seen through, it is ever-present, always acknowledged, and therefore, is always responded to as a separate entity of one’s own person.
What is so important to acknowledge about these three writers and their works is the lasting effect they have on society. By capturing American life for what it was then, is now, and the roots and scars that will carry on into the future, they--among many--have offered tools for reflection on American society. To this day, we see the lasting effects of The Souls of Black Folk, as homage is paid to it in the titling of Ta-nehisi Coates’ memoir, Between the World and Me, the same author of the popular black comic book turned box office smash Marvel movie, The Black Panther. As for Freeman and Gilman, the study of their works amongst others has--and will continue--to inspire scholars to seek gender equality for all persons. These are only three works in American literature, written by three great writers within a similar time in history--yet, merely having the ability to learn from them has provided America the opportunity for reflection and growth toward equality like it has never seen.
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