Examples Of Imagery In The Yellow Wallpaper

Berenji, Fahimeh Q. "Time and Gender in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”." Journal of History Culture and Art Research, vol. 2, no. 2, 1 Jan. 2013, pp. 221-234, Database: MLA International Bibliography -- Publications. kutaksam.karabuk.edu.tr/index.php. Accessed 18 Nov. 2017.

     Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is as a wonderful example of the gothic horror genre. It was not until the rediscovery of the story in the early 1970’s that “The Yellow Wallpaper” was recognized as a feminist indictment of a male dominated society. The story contains many typical gothic trappings, but beneath the conventional façade hides a tale of repression and freedom told in intricate symbolism as seen through the eyes of a mad narrator.

The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is told she needs to rest constantly to overcome her sickness, so she is forced to stay in the old nursery where there is yellow-orange wallpaper with a busy, obnoxious pattern that she hates. She tries to study the wallpaper to distinguish the pattern, and as time goes on she believes she sees a woman moving around in the background of the pattern. Also, during this period of time the character’s condition is worsening, because her husband is causing her mind to weaken by not allowing her to exert herself at all; he says she is not to think about her condition, walk through the garden or visit family. All she can do is sleep and trace the wallpaper, and being cooped up in the room causes her to begin hallucinating. The narrator sees the woman trying to escape from the wallpaper throughout the night, and she ultimately completely breaks down and believes that she is the woman.

Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ both serve a highly horrific purpose which is both good examples for the gothic. The strongest example of gothic is ‘The Fall of The House of Usher’ as it established the extreme horror intense and shows the gothic scene of the house.

   In the disturbing novel, The Yellow Wallpaper, the setting in which the action takes place is extremely important. The author uses setting to focus the reader’s attention into the story in a gradual manner. Also, the manipulation of setting allows the author to subtly introduce symbols in the text. These symbols represent Gilman’s view on the status of women in the patriarchal society of the nineteenth century.

“The Veldt” does use imagery in the mind of their characters, but the imagery of the physical characteristics of the house allow the reader to develop a more powerful sense of entrapment. The thoughts the characters have display their true internal feelings. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the main character struggles with a mental illness. She has a “nervous condition” (581), that makes her angry easily and causes her to be sensitive. The use of imagery in the mind of the main characters allows the reader to relate to the character and understand what the character is going through. The main character in “The Yellow Wallpaper” feel trapped inside of her own thoughts and does not have a way to express her thoughts. She is unable to escape the feelings and ideas that are occurring within her mind. She asks, “But what is one to do” (581), when she feels that she cannot express that she disagrees with her husband’s ideas of what she is and is not allowed to do. She is unable to express her opinion which creates a more dominant sense of entrapment within herself. She also seems to be trapped by her own thoughts when she describes the wallpaper. The imagery used to describe the woman trapped within the wallpaper also portrays the idea that the main character sees herself in the woman trapped inside of the wallpaper. It is easy as the audience to relate to the main character’s feeling of being trapped by her own thoughts because of the imagery used throughout the

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is the disheartening tale of a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Set during the late 1890s, the story shows the mental and emotional results of the typical "rest cure" prescribed during that era and the narrator’s reaction to this course of treatment. It would appear that Gilman was writing about her own anguish as she herself underwent such a treatment with Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell in 1887, just two years after the birth of her daughter Katherine. The rest cure that the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" describes is very close to what Gilman herself experienced; therefore, the story can be read as reflecting the feelings of women like herself who suffered through

"There comes John, and I must put this away -- he hates to have me write a

For centuries women in literature have been depicted as weak, subservient, and unthinking characters. Before the 19th century, they usually were not given interesting personalities and were always the proper, perfect and supportive character to the main manly characters. However, one person, in order to defy and mock the norm of woman characterization and the demeaning mindsets about women, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." This story, through well crafted symbolisms, brought to surface the troubles that real women face. Her character deals with the feeling of being trapped by the expectations of her husband, with the need to do something creative or constructive, and to have a mind and will of her own. These feelings

What if we were all one upset away from insanity? One minute we were battling a mild bout of depression, the next we were battling to keep our sanity. The fictional short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, tells a similar tale. Only it doesn’t seem to be a complete work of fiction, rather loosely inspired by true events from the author, Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s own life. It’s a story about isolation and oppression.

In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author uses the dreadful yellow wallpaper as a symbol for the married woman’s oppression. The wallpaper also represents the woman’s true feeling for her husband's behavior towards her. The main character in this story is not named because she herself is a symbol of the oppressed women of that time. She is also unnamed because this story is actually based on Gilman’s own experiences and the character was a representation of her.

My perspective of Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is influenced by a great number of different and diverse methods of reading. However, one cannot overlook the feminist theorists’ on this story, for the story is often proclaimed to be a founding work of feminism. Further, the historical and biographical contexts the story was written in can be enlightened by mentioning Gilman’s relationship with S. Weir Mitchell. And I can’t help but read the story and think of Foucault’s concept of Panopticism as a method of social control. Lastly, of course, there’s the psychological perspective on the story, although in my readings of psychology, particularly the psychological knowledge surrounding both women and queers, I find the

In the “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, there are many of literary techniques that illustrates the theme to express the story. Irony, imagery and symbolism are some literary devices that is presented among the story.  “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who has a mental illness but cannot heal due to her husband’s lack of acceptance and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The story appears to take place during a time where women were oppressed. Women were treated as if they were under one’s thumb in society during this period which is approximately the 19th century.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was written in 1892. In this time of the country, there was a lot to do with literature and the arts. Many artists were appearing, coming out with new work, and dying. The main things I am going to uncover are: who and what inspired Charlotte Perkins Gilman to write this; and what historical events are going on in this time; as well as, many other subjects that have a huge impact on how this story affected the people who read it.