Presented in the first person, the story is a collection of journal entries written by a woman whose physician husband (John) has rented an old mansion for the summer. Foregoing other rooms in the house, the couple moves into the upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment she is forbidden from working, and is encouraged to eat well and get plenty of exercise and air,…
"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, tells the story of a woman's descent into madness as a result of the "rest and ignore the problem cure" that is frequently prescribed to cure hysteria and nervous conditions in women. More importantly, the story is about control and attacks the role of women in society. The narrator of the story is symbolic for all women in the late 1800s, a prisoner of a confining society. Women are expected to bear children, keep house and do only as they are told. Since men are privileged enough to have education, they hold jobs and make all the decisions. Thus, women are cast into the prison of acquiescence because they live in a world dominated by men. Since men suppress women, John, the narrator's husband, is presumed to have control over the protagonist. Gilman, however, suggests otherwise. She implies that it is a combination of society's control as well as the woman's personal weakness that contribute to the suppression of women. These two factors result in the woman's inability to make her own decisions and voice opposition to men.…
Woman oppression had a huge impact in society, especially in the 19th century. They were repressed and controlled by their husband and other male influences. In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main character is oppressed by her husband John. The author uses symbolism to show the protagonist emotion, the oppression of women by men and the struggle against that male dominated society.…
Through out this story there are constant references to her "condition". The narrator often speaks about how she must get better. All of this is a result of the isolation she feels on both a physical and emotional level. John spends a lot of time outside the house, the little time he is home, John doesn't't have much to do with his wife. Although there is someone home during the day with her, all she really needs is a caring and loving husband.…
In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a story of a woman in the 1900’s, she gradually loses her sanity due to a “nervous condition.” The woman in the story exemplifies the women in Gilman’s era; she verifies this by writing her story in a mode of horror. The usage of imagery, and plot development exposes the irrational and unjust treatment women are getting by men in her time, which exposes the reality that no one wants see.…
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that the woman behind the wallpaper parallels the narrator’s struggle with her expected role in a male dominated society, which is expressed in this passage. The narrator uses the wallpaper to represent the society she lives in. Not only does the wallpaper affect the narrator, but also it has an effect on everyone that comes in contact with it.…
In the creepy short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the first person narration of a madwoman to demonstrate how the solitary confinement inflicted on the narrator by her husband drove her into insanity, illustrating that oppression can lead to tragic consequences.…
Lives for women in 1892 were heavily controlled by men. Women were treated as if they were inferior to men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman brings light to this problem in a interesting way. Gilman herself, was in fact driven to near madness and later claimed to have written “The Yellow Wallpaper” to protest this treatment of women like herself, and specifically to address her physician. Although they never replied to Gilman personally, they are said to have confessed to a friend that they had changed their treatment of hysterics after reading the story. While real life aspects are apparent it’s the symbolism and subliminal feminist in her story to show how a woman’s role in society is limited with no control or creative outlet.…
A short feminist story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman portrays a woman who seems to be experiencing a psychological breakdown and inferiority. As the main character longs for self-expression and freedom, she commits actions of displacement and denial, which parallels with the overall theme of the subordination of women and portrays psychoanalytical aspects.…
The restricted environment that the narrator lives in is one of the main factors that contributes to her mental breakdown. John, the husband who is also a physician takes great care of the narrator and sometimes becomes over protective. This could be seen through the novel as she describes how she has a schedule timetable for the day to day activity put in by. “I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more.”The narrator tries to break out of her emotional bubble and expresses her feelings but is not allowed to, as her husband John does not allow her to communicate with the outside society.…
When studying literature, a reader will occasionally come upon a story that cannot be taken at face value. The meanings of these stories are complex and must be thoroughly analyzed before making rash judgments. The same must be done for the characters of the stories. In order for readers to truly understand what these individuals are feeling and thinking, it is important to put one's self in their situation. The story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a tale of a sick woman and her husband, John, which have just moved into a new house. As the plot progresses, it is easy to judge the way the two interact and treat each other. It is important to study John's behavior to actually understand what he is going through and how he is dealing with it. In "The…
Charlotte Perkin Gilman is internationally known for her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Gilman was born on July 3, 1860. After marriage, she endured depressions several times shortly after her first daughter was born. Gilman suffered from mental breakdowns which soon lead to melancholia. Her personal experiences, dealing with post-partum depression, are what inspired Gilman to write the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”. This story revolves around the main character, Jane, and how she copes with her illness. Jane suffers from post-partum depression, and to “cure” this illness, she is kept isolated from the world. In this short story there are many influences that impact the conflict of the story. Social influences are present in the story as Jane is kept isolated from the world. Also, cultural events in the story, related to the Victorian era, when women were treated unequally, built up the storyline. Finally, several personal events in Gilman’s past are shown throughout the story and add to the story’s conflict. Therefore, Charlotte Perkin Gilman incorporates several aspects of her own life into her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” that becomes evident through the explanation of the Gilman’s universal truth that treating women inhumanely will only result in negative outcomes; it is the reverse cure for an illness.…
The narrator is telling the story in her perspective. She is describing exactly what she is going through with her marriage and she is also explaining exactly how she feels. The narrator of this story is a young woman who is suffering from anxiety and depression after giving birth to her child. She is married to her husband John and they have recently rented a summer home for a few weeks. “A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house and reach the height of romantic felicity- but that would be asking too much of fate!” (676). The narrator does not believe there is anything wrong with her but her husband, a physician, has diagnosed her with a slight hysterical tendency. Her husband has banned her from the outside world and has not allowed her to work until she gets better. She believes she would feel much better if she goes out and exercise from time to time. “Personally, I believe that congenital work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (677).…
I believe that Charlotte Perkins Gilman cast the Narrator’s husband and brother as physicians because they can diagnose her with symptoms of hysterical tendencies even though they are unable to help her. Also to show men could override women during this time. Without her husband and brother being portrayed as physicians they would not have been able to keep her incarcerated or might have let her persuade them to let her become social again and let her out of the room. If the characters followed Gilman’s advice she most likely would not have been observant to the yellow wall paper in the room and a woman that was trapped in it. This story might not exist because she would not have gone as crazy as to see people in the wallpaper.…
A tranquil sanctuary of a home set back from the beaten path and far from the stresses of everyday city life would be the perfect place for a summer vacation, or so one might be convinced. She considered herself lucky, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, to have reserved such a grand homestead for their retreat. Soon she would discover that this was not the peaceful escape from reality that she required. Diagnosed with a nervous disorder by her husband, a physician, this house was not to be used as a vacation home, but as an asylum wherein he would keep her for treatment.…