The Interconnection of Panopticism and the Cult of Domesticity Essay

The Interconnection of Panopticism and the rage of Domesticity - Essay idealThe prisoners themselves are constantly isolated from each other but remain in full mess of the watchtower. The psychological affect upon the prisoners is that by being constantly aware of the possibility of the towers attention, they modify their behavior accordingly. Foucault claims this coincidence 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 genial 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 bleed while the wife and children remained at home. Social standards therefore demanded a woman be pious (to advocate the religious standards of the house), pure (in terms of sexual felicity to the husband), submissive (in that the husband had final means), and domestic (housework charge was believed to strengthen piety and purity). As the working world belonged to men, the order of the household was a womans 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 illumine through examining their influence in the lives of women firstly by analyzing such stories as The Yellow 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 invigoration of Ida B. Wells through the documentary Ida B. Wells A Passion for Justice.In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman portrays an invalid teller who is essentially kept helpless and bedridden by her husband, John, and his sister Jennie. Not except is her husband the authority in the house, he is also a practicing physician. This makes the fibber at a distinct disadvantage, f or 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. aesculapian opinion of the time held that the body contained only a certain amount of energy as a womans reproductive system was so complex, all of her energy must be available to its equilibrium. Intellectual action at law was believed to drain away energy need for these organs hence, Gilmans 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 reimburse 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 peculiar constant observation when she personifies the wallpaper into a watchful guard. The wallpaper becomes a symbol of her imprisonment,