yellow wallpaper
Throughout "The Yellow Wall-Paper," Charlotte Gilman uses various symbols to show the oppression of women by men, and the continuing struggle to escape that oppression. The three main symbols that run throughout the story lend the most support to this. The yellow wall-paper is an indication of the mental restrictions that were placed upon women by men during the 1800s. As yellow is oft considered the color of sickness or weakness, the sickness that the writer suffers from is the continuing oppression and struggle that continues to this very day by women. Gilman shows that the possibilities of women are as vast as those of man, and that during the 19th century those possibilities were severely restricted. This is shown through the descriptions of the two windows and the view from each. The writer sees other doing acts she could do herself, just as women saw acts of man that they could do with the same level of competency. Entirely, "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is a statement of the oppression of the female sex by mankind.On page 835 the description of the two windows and the view from them by the writer is a representation of the possibilities of the female sex, and how those possibilities were limited and restricted by men during the 19th and into the 20th century. The first view is described as "I can see the garden, those mysterious deep-shaded arbor, the riotous old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees." The "garden" is a clear symbol of the earth, or society, and the use of "mysterious" shows that the possibilities that women have are undiscovered to them. In the next view the writer describes seeing a "lovely view of the bay" and a "private wharf belonging to the estate." The bay is a reference to the uncharted territory of womankind's abilities and the private estate is clearly indicating the sections of society forbidden to women. The description of seeing "people walking in the numerous paths and arbors" is the idea of women seeing the acts of men, and