Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In Gilman's "An Obstacle," is the narrator

male or female? Support your position
with evidence from the poem.
booboosmoosh | High School Teacher | (Level 3) Educator Emeritus
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 10:05 PM

There are several aspects of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "An Obstacle" that make
me believe that the narrator is female, however it is difficult for me to see these
clues separate from what I know of Gilman as a person and a writer, in general:

She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were

exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of
feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. 

With this said, I feel the poem speaks for women, and the speaker is a woman.
Support of this can be found by way of inference. The poem begins as the speaker
notes she has a lot of responsibilities:

...With many things to do,

Important business of my own,

And other people's too...

I envision a woman who is not just a wife, but is also a parent and a child—
perhaps even a friend, and/or servant to the needy; the things she has to accomplish
are not just for herself, but in the capacity of all of these roles that she plays. 

The "obstacle" the speaker confronts is "Prejudice." Note it is capitalized, which

indicates not only its importance, but personifies it by giving it a proper name. (As
the poem continues, the personification implied here is confirmed, especially in
reference to "he.") 

My strength and time were limited,

I carried quite a load...

This is similar to the old cliché, "...a woman's work is never done." Implied in
literature, song, etc., one day for women often seems to hold more than what
can be finished in twenty-four hours.

So I spoke to him politely,

For he was huge and high...

In the era in which Gilman lived, society demanded women follow a "code of
conduct"—and so the speaker addresses "the obstacle" "politely." "Huge and
wide" can refer to how far-reaching this prejudice is: with
Gilman's proclivity towards writing feminist literature (see "The Yellow
Wallpaper"), this obstacle permeates throughout every corner of society—
seemingly insurmountable—putting limitations upon what a woman is allowed to
do or not, e.g., the right to vote. When Prejudice smiles, likely it is
done patronizingly—but he still won't budge.

In the fourth stanza, the woman (symbolic of womanhood) may be quietly losing

her patience—for she uses reason (alluding to that of the Biblical Solomon), but
"he" is a "fool" (rhyming with mule: an animal reputed to be stubborn and
unreasonable).

And then I reasoned quietly

With that colossal mule...

I argued like a Solomon;

He sat there like a fool.

She is maintaining her composure (also expected of a woman of the time),

"arguing" wisely, but to no avail. Then in the fifth stanza, we learn that
she does lose her self-control, becoming angry...

...I flew into a passion,

and I danced and howled and swore.

He becomes equally angry. Can we not assume that he does so not just because he

is reacting to her fury, but also because she is not acting "appropriately?"

In the next stanza, she is desperate: she begins to beg...one thing remaining for a
woman (at that time), held against her will. Suddenly, inspiration comes. She
realizes that had she not seen the better way, she would still be begging. However,
she pulls herself together and...

...walked directly through him,

As if he wasn't there!

For she finally understands that she is not fighting flesh and blood, but simply
popular opinion; and that by bowing to this, she cannot move. However,
by ignoring it, her movement is no longer stymied and she is free to
continue forward.