The Interconnection of Panopticism and the Cult of Domesticity Essay

The Interconnection of Panopticism and the Cult of Domesticity - Essay Example The prisoners themselves are constantly isolated from each other but remain in full view of the watchtower. The psychological affect upon the prisoners is that by being constantly aware of the possibility of the tower's attention, they modify their behavior accordingly. Foucault claims this relation has been adapted to all aspects of society, elements of which will be discussed shortly. However, the implications of this system are apparent in the social doctrines of the "Cult of Domesticity" which existed in America roughly from 1850-1950. The Cult of Domesticity refers to the prevailing attitudes that arose with the industrial age, in which the patriarch of the household went to work while the wife and children remained at home. Social standards therefore demanded a woman be pious (to uphold the religious standards of the house), pure (in terms of sexual felicity to the husband), submissive (in that the husband had final authority), and domestic (housework maintenance was believed to strengthen piety and purity). As the working world belonged to men, the order of the household was a woman's domain. The combination of social panopticism and demands of the cult of domesticity naturally caused distress to the psyche of many women. Evidence of both can be illuminated through examining their influence in the lives of women: firstly by analyzing such stories as "The Yel low Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, then lastly by examining the life of Ida B. Wells through the documentary Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," Gilman portrays an invalid narrator who is essentially kept helpless and bedridden by her husband, John, and his sister Jennie. Not only is her husband the authority in the house, he is also a practicing physician. This makes the narrator at a distinct disadvantage, for not only must she be submissive to her husband, but he is privy to the 'scientific' theories bolstering the cult of domesticity. These sexist theories were supported by several masculine observations: firstly, that women had less physical stamina than men, as their monthly menstruations incapacitate them while also inducing 'insanity', and secondly, because female systems fluctuated so to their reproductive cycles, women were viewed as delicate and therefore susceptible to over exhaustion. Medical opinion of the time held that the body contained only a certain amount of energy; as a woman's reproductive system was so complex, all of her energy must be available to its equilibrium. Intellect ual activity was believed to drain away energy need for these organs hence, Gilman's narrator is constantly fearful that she will be discovered writing in her book. John, as a doctor, proscribes nothing but rest for the narrator to recover her energies; as her husband, he enforces this by keeping her isolated in the bedroom most of the day. The circumstances of the narrator directly parallel the conditions Foucault describes in the Panopticon prison model. The prisoner is kept under constant, but random, observation, to the point where she begins to suspect constant observation when she personifies the wallpaper into a watchful guard. The wallpaper becomes a symbol of her imprisonment,