Modern feminists love to look into the past for examples of female oppression. This tactic is used in hopes of demonstrating that the oppression of their sex by the evil male population has been going on for decades. One such work cited by feminists to show how terribly women were treated in the early part of the twentieth century is "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Feminists are quick to point out that the protagonist of this story is driven to the path of madness by her indifferent husband. It is their opinion that John, the protagonist's husband, constantly neglects her by keeping her locked up upstairs. Other feminists argue that the protagonist was not actually mad, but rather had been driven into a temporary state of delirium due to the state of confinement to which her husband had subjected her. These same feminists will say that John's constant misdiagnosis of his wife's condition smacks of incompetence. According to their theory, if the main character had been a man during the same time period, doctors would have treated the condition differently. In other words, the men were not diagnosed with hysteria and were not confined to bed for three months when they became depressed. As mentioned above, this is what some modern feminists think. This is in stark contrast to the interpretation of us modern realists. John was a good husband who cared deeply about his wife's condition. He is described early in the story as "a doctor of high rank" (The Norton Anthology, p. 658). This description alone offers great insight into the type of treatment his wife was receiving. It's hard to imagine that a woman married to an extremely important doctor... middle of paper... would have taken that golden opportunity to escape the so-called prison her husband had created for her. One can only assume that she enjoyed the prison she created for herself as she did not escape at any convenient time. In summary, John should be held up as a role model for all aspiring husbands. He consistently showed complete devotion and concern for his wife throughout the story. He did everything in his power to ensure that she could recover quickly from her ailments. John went out of his way to make sure all of his wife's needs were met. Let modern feminists find something harmful in it. Bibliography Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The yellow wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature, ed. Nina Baym. Fifth edition, volume 2. W. W. Norton & Company, New York. 1998.P. 657-69.