MARGINALIZATION OF THE MARGINALIZED: ANALYZING THE ROLE OF MENTAL ASYLUMS IN PERKIN GILMAN’S THE YELLOW WALLPAPER

Abstract

The current research has been initiated as marginalization of the marginalized: analyzing the role of mental asylums in Perkin Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, showing that how marginalized women are further marginalized. Madwomen are those, inflicted with mental sickness and asylum and knowing the fact people distort their images and represent them as submissive and marginalized. Addressing the fact the current research endorses researcher’s standpoint by adopting theory of Cheslor (1976) with other subsidiary theories, discussing women’s madness and mental asylum. The theories have been selected from feminist school of thought that discusses women’s problems from every perspective while women’s madness has been highlighted and addressed which are intaked to be solved and eliminate. In this Perkin Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is selected to address the problems while the protagonist of selected novel is inflicted with mental sickness and she is not treated in appropriate ways. She is treated as submissive and her problems are not addressed even she is treated by their women fellows harshly, despite the fact she is sick and already marginalized women. Further, woman is also responsible for her marginalization and madness because she deviates herself from the standard position as bestowed to her but not accepted, and finally she is inflicted with madness.