Marriage
The narrator analyzes the idea of marriage in her book and most importantly, how it affected the lives of women in general. Marriage is seen nowadays as an institution in which a man and a woman can be equal. However, when the narrator talks about marriage and how it was seen in the past, it is compared with a cage that had the purpose of keeping women subdued.
Inhumane treatment
One of the subjects discussed in the book has to do with mental health and how, in the past, if a woman decided to openly express her sexuality she was automatically labeled as being hysteric and sent to an asylum. There, it was not uncommon for women to receive barbaric treatments including brain surgery through which half of their brain would be removed or shock treatments. The description of these treatments is extremely graphic and is compared to the treatment dangerous prisoners would receive. As such, this comparison is extremely important because it transmits the idea that women were seen as being almost subhuman.
Corsets and thin culture
Another important comparison found here is between the corsets women used to wear in the past and the thin culture which exists nowadays. The narrator claims that the two are extremely similar because they both transmit the idea that women should strive to achieve a certain body type and also because they can be extremely dangerous to a person's health. These two elements, namely corsets and thin culture, are also used here as a metaphor to represent the idea that women are expected to behave the same and to never exhibit any form of individuality or independent type of thinking.
Metaphor for inferiority
Head coverings such as veils or scarves have been used by women daily up until recent history. Generally, it was considered vulgar if a woman showed herself in public without wearing some form of head covering. The head coverings are also used here as a metaphor and they are used to transmit the idea that women were seen as being inferior and undeserving of respect from their male counterparts.
Birth control
Women slowly started to gain independence in the 20th century when birth control became available to the majority of women. Because they no longer had to stay at home with their babies, women had the possibility of going to work and being financially independent. As such, birth control is used here as a metaphor for independence.
