Throughout history, women have been considered inferior to men. In patriarchal societies, women were seen as having no valid opinions and were dependent on men for financial and emotional support from birth to death. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Perkins Gillman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" both depict the repression of women, their lower status, and the defiance of societal norms by the feminist characters. For centuries, men assumed that women were the weaker sex due to menstruation and childbirth. In those days, it was common for women to suffer from “hysteria.” In "The Yellow Wallpaper", Charlotte suffers from what is believed to be postpartum depression. Her husband, who is also a doctor, pays little attention to her opinions and feelings and downplays her concerns. Charlotte eventually deteriorates because she feels repressed and trapped. She depends on her husband for emotional and financial support and does not outwardly disagree with her diagnosis. In Wuthering Heights, Cathy symbolically defies society by marrying Hareton for love, despite her lower social status. Victorian literature reflects society's restrictions on women, but also shows their resistance to patriarchal norms..