Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known as the first American writer to have a feminist approach. Gilman criticizes the inequality between male and female during his lifetime, so it is mostly possible to see traces of the feminist approach in his works. It deals with the struggles and obstacles women face in patriarchal society. Furthermore, Gilman argues that marriages cause the subordination of women, because the male is active, while the female plays a domestic role in the marriage. Gilman also argues that the situation should change; therefore only women are able to achieve the full development of their identity. At this point, The Yellow Wallpaper is a crucial example that shows the awakening of the repressed woman. It's the story of a woman who transformed herself into a puppet by picking up a pencil for the first time and realizing she was powerful and free. Furthermore, when we look at Gilman's life story, we can see that she is in a difficult situation between being a hopeless wife and being a willing writer. At this point, when we look at the article "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper", written by Charlotte Gilman, we could see the writer in a similar situation with the character in the story. Gilman is also forced into bed rest, and the doctor similarly tells him to "live a domestic life as much as possible" and to "never touch pen, brush, or pencil again" (Mitchell). The prohibitive advice can be a source of inspiration to write The Yellow Wallpaper which is highly possible to analyze in the light of the feminist approach. First, feminist criticism primarily addresses the issues of discrimination, gender inequality, oppression, objectification, and subordination that women face. What they are asking for is about equality between the sexes, whether it be...... middle of paper... instead of repressive (ironically) advice from a male. Therefore, a woman can achieve full development. In summary, The Yellow Wallpaper has many crucial points that can be clarified in light of the feminist approach. The story which shows a woman's struggle to create her own identity and a man's struggle to maintain his power over woman reveals the breaking of taboos through writing. While the story criticizes the repressed role of women in patriarchal society, it later promotes the status of women by breaking male hegemony at the end of the story. As feminist critics argue, the story tells of a woman's journey to break discrimination and establish a social structure on the equal order. Works Cited Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia. "The yellow background." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 2011. Print.