The Yellow Wallpaper and Frye's Oppression

When reading Frye's assessment and definition of oppression it almost seems as though Frye could have been referring to, or influenced by, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's story of a 19th century woman's experience with oppression. Frye's essay points to the fact that oppression does not occur simply when one outside force is causing a single person misery. Oppression exist when one is "surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers" (Frye 29) "The experience of oppressed people …

…not be caught. The use of the word "creep" and the image in conjures up carries a didactic relationship with the use of the word "oppression" and the image it conjures up. A woman who is oppressed will always yearn for a secret freedom, a freedom where she will enjoy the luxury of no longer have to creep around herself, her husband, her society to achieve her true potential and honor herself as an individual.