How Far Do Literary Texts Support a Patriarchy?

How far is it true that literary texts act to support a patriarchy? Offer an argument to support your view with reference to at least TWO texts studied on the module.

"Patriarchy is the power of the fathers: a familial - social, ideological, political system in which men - by force, direct pressure or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor, determine what part women should or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male." Literature in bygone eras was dominated by male writers, with the voices of women repressed due to their inferior social standing. It was not only in social standings that women were seen as lesser citizens, but in matters of education, work, and other activities outside of the home. This was a widely held opinion within society, and was reflected in the literature and other cultural publications of the time. In this essay, the concept of male domination toward female characters will be explored, and how that would relate to the social normalities of the time. Furthermore, this essay will try to explain how the concept of patriarchy in literature is upheld due to the traditional ideas behind literary styles and genres, and how the notion of classical literature is now an archaic mindset, yet empowers a continuing sense of male superiority and power within literature.

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was first published in January 1892, in The New England Magazine in the United States. It was a short story, and was to Gilman herself, semi-autobiographical, as she had been subject to a similar "shutting in" after the mental problems she faced post-natally. Wide Sargasso Sea, written by Jean Rhys, was published in 1966, more than half a century after Gilman, and was Rhys's first publication in 27 years. It was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom and the United States, and became an award winning work within its first year of publication. Both works were written by the respective authors as a way to express their displeasure at the treatment of women.

In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman, through retelling her own experience in a female narrative, tells her displeasure at women being prescribed 'rest cures' for more complex issues, which went untreated by male physicians who believed the women were not actually unwell. "You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency--what is one to do?" (Gilman, p.2). The critics who first read this piece interpreted it as a descent into madness rather than Gilman's intended critique of patriarchal oppression in society. The character of John is a representation of patriarchy and the repression within its structure, and holds a traditionally male role of physician, being head of both workplace and home. He constantly refers to his wife as "dear", "little girl", or "blessed little goose" - all names to highlight the fact she is in submission