The best way to approach "The Yellow Wallpaper" in terms of Marxist theory is by relating it to socialist feminism. Mostly, the story explores the oppressiveness of class relations felt by women in the 1900s. While the woes of the protagonist are most directly a product of the sexist machinations of her husband, it's not as though it was an isolated incident. Women were demanded by society to be obedient and subservient, and it could be better or worse based on your social class. Women of higher birth, though afforded more comforts, were often more constrained in their choices and more beholden to societies expectations of them. One could even go as far as to see the unnamed woman as an allusion to class struggle. One strong piece of evidence for this is the fact that the protagonist of the story remains nameless while her husband, her oppressor, is given a name. The protagonist cannot even imagine life beyond the barrier between herself and her oppressor, because in this case, the barrier is literally a wall.
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