“I’ve got out at last…in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gilman)! Throughout the story, the narrator tells two different stories. The first is the story she explicitly tells, but there is a second story told through the use of the woman in the wallpaper. The second story told by her is her real story and the real reason as to why she is sick. The narrator is sick because she’s imprisoned by the men in her life, for her not being a normal woman as she writes a lot, causing a claustrophobic feeling. Her husband, John, says she has hysteria and other people agree with that, but she shows signs of depressions and thinks she is depressed and that she should be able to go see her friends. However, …show more content…
By helping the woman behind the wallpaper escape, the narrator herself is able to escape. At the end she tells John, “I’ve got out at last…in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gilman)! She had had enough of being put down constantly by the people in her life and she even talks about how “It is so discouraging not to have any advice and companionship about my work” (Gilman). She loved to write, but nobody allowed her to. She was so thrown into a cell in which women should only do certain things like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family. When she wanted to write, the people around her said that she shouldn’t be able to and took that away from her. When she rips of the wallpaper, she is basically freeing herself from the cell that she was thrown into. She was never really sick or depressed, rather she was claustrophobic towards the idea of being thrown into a box that she had to follow and that is the story she tells about the woman behind the yellow
Due to their behavior, both men lead their wives to rebel. John’s controlling behavior causes the narrator to abandon him by going completely mad. First, she questions John’s pronouncements. The narrator believes that congenial work, with excitement and change would do her good (p.297). Next, she focuses on the wallpaper. She describes its negative features noting that patches are gone as if school boys wore it out (p.298). Upset by her husband’s actions, the narrator decides to begin writing in secret. . It reaches the point where the narrator has to hide her writings from him, because he gets upset if she even writes a word (p.298). -After time passes, we see her obsession grow. John seems to be oblivious to the narrator’s conditions, telling her “you know the place is doing you good” (p.299). She notices that the pattern is torturing (p.303). Finally, she begins to see a woman hiding behind the pattern (p.304). Looking for the woman in the pattern gives her something to look forward to (p.305). Ultimately she comes to believe that she is the woman in the wallpaper and wants to free herself. She begins peeling off the paper through the night, and by morning removes all the paper she could while standing (p.307). The narrator even begins to contemplate jumping out of the window, but does not
In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the unnamed narrator is forced, by her husband (the male figure), to be locked into a room. Although the husband is trying to help her, he takes away things she enjoys to do like writing, which is more controlling than trying to help her. The unnamed narrator states, "There comes John, and I must put this away,-he hates to have me write a word" (Gilman). This quote shows that John (her husband) was controlling what she could and couldn't do. He locked her in the room to help her get better, but he's also taking away things she enjoys doing, which might be helping her get
Gilman allows the readers to see how the depression has sunk its teeth into Jane and will only let go when Jane has given up on everything that she has ever lived for. Her downward spiral into mania begins when she states, “I pulled… and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper…I declared I would finish it today” (319). Her entire stay in the rest home has built up to her destruction of the paper. Instead of escaping from behind the paper, her depression, Jane decides to rip it away from her life. She rips away the paper to release the Jane that she once was from her riddling depression. Once she starts removing the yellow wallpaper, Jane’s anger takes over her. She starts to think desperate thoughts and can even see herself jumping from the window (320). Jane sees that the quickest way to relieve her seemingly never ending pain and suffering in life is to end it. Through this, Gilman explains how Jane is not only ripping the paper from the wall, but also healing herself from her depression by ripping herself out of this
It is obvious after reading the story that the woman in the wallpaper is not physically real but wonders in the mind of the narrator. My hypothesis is simple and there is evidence to prove it, the woman in the yellow wallpaper is plainly symbolizing how the narrator feels from the inside; she feels traped and wants to reach for some help, which results in the narrator helping herself. In the bottom left part of page number 655 she says, “As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her”. Here she is trying to help the woman in the yellow wallpaper to get out. But when this is really examined and connected to the root problem, it is clearly seeing that she wants to help herself from that inner imprisonement that she is going through.
Her descriptions and obsessions with the wallpaper as viewed from her perspective, truly draw readers into her downward spiral to ultimate insanity. Readers follow her in her mind from a nervous condition through her mild subsequent pleadings for alternative treatment to eventually "creeping" through the wallpaper with her--experiences which readers grasp within a powerful narration indeed. Through her, and only her is precisely how readers clearly knew how she felt at the end when she says, "I've got out at last in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" (330). Husband John fainted, he had no idea she had gone that far, but readers did.
The wallpaper became the narrator's best friend and enemy as she began to unravel the pattern's secret. The ripping of the wallpaper is a representation of the narrator escaping the treatment of society, her husband along with the suffering he has put her through. As an attempt to fight against the illness that controls her, she questions whether her husband, who is a doctor, prescribed treatment is right for her sickness. Though she has fully persuaded herself that John's treatment is harmful, she lacks self-esteem due to her unequal role in society. She develops the characteristics of a child and becomes fascinated by the patterns hidden within the wallpaper. John never took the time to listen to his wife cry for his support and understanding.
She begins to tear the yellow wallpaper off of the wall, claiming that there is a woman stuck behind it. The lady that the narrator is referring to is herself. Because of her disease, she is not free to do what she pleases during the summer. She is tied down to this mansion for the summer and is forced to sleep all day. When she rips all of the wallpaper off, she thinks that she can finally be free from both her husband and his sister, " I've got out at last," said I, " in spite of you and Jane? And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back! "(656). The author shows how eager the narrator is about being free and that it is essential for her to have a good life. The narrator needed to not be controlled by her husband, her disease, or the yellow wallpaper that haunted her day and night. In the 1800’s women having freedom was unheard of. They should be subordinate to their husbands and never go against what they say. The narrator is no different than these women. She is scared to confront her husband about her disease in fear of him lashing out at her. Since he did not believe her about her disease, she should just agree with him and move on with her life. Mental illness’ were also not taken very seriously back then. If someone was presumed to have a mental illness, they would just shove them in an insane asylum until they were
I believe the lady behind the yellow wallpaper is the narrator. Due to her being locked up in her room all day, she starts to lose her mind, and I believe her imagination takes over and start seeing a person in the wallpaper. The narrator becomes very fascinated within the wallpaper. I believe she starts to see the wallpaper as a representation of herself, because she is wanting to be free, because she is trapped and feels like she doesn’t have any freedom. The narrator seems to make a acquaintance within the wallpaper and she is determined by any mean to set the women loose behind the wallpaper. I assume that the narrator looks out through the bars and sees herself in her subconscious mind, because she feels like she is locked up in a prison.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” you witness the transformation of the narrators’ illness/sanity. I believe the wallpaper signifies her relationship with her husband; she is trapped under his commands and is forced to rest for a good amount of time every day. She speaks of women being trapped in the paper, shaking it, and creeping. In the end, she tears the paper and not only does she set “the women” free to creep, she frees herself. Admitting to John she says this, “I’ve got out at last,” said I,” in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the papers, so you can’t put me back!” I was confused towards the end. She has a rope intended to tie women that try to get away, but after she tears the paper she refers to the creeping women outside,
"The Yellow Wallpaper" takes a close look at one woman's mental deterioration. The narrator is emotionally isolated from her husband. Due to the lack of interaction with other people the woman befriends the reader by secretively communicating her story in a diary format. Her attitude towards the wallpaper is openly hostile at the beginning, but ends with an intimate and liberating connection. During the gradual change in the relationship between the narrator and the wallpaper, the yellow paper becomes a mirror, reflecting the process the woman is going through in her room.
The yellow wallpaper is a story about John and his wife who he keeps locked up due to her "nervous condition" of anxiety. John diagnoses her as sick and has his own remedy to cure her. His remedy s to keep her inside and deterring her from almost all activities. She is not allowed to write, make decisions on her own, or interact with the outside world. John claims that her condition is improving but she knows that it is not. She eats almost nothing all day and when it is suppertime she eats a normal meal. John sees this and proclaims her appetite is improving. Later in the story, the woman creates something of an imaginary friend trapped behind the horrible looking yellow wallpaper in
In the short story, the author doesn’t really like her husband john, more as she tries to escape him. This narrator states that there is a woman trapped behind bars. I think that this shows as a symbol or clue of her relationship with john, as you get deeper into the story to can tell that she actually despises him. The wallpaper is basically her life and she explains that through the story of where she lives with who and how many kids she has. When the narrator states that she ripped out most of the wallpaper off the walls, she is explaining her relationship with john stating that she doesn’t want to be with him anymore because her relationship with john is making her depressed. John threatens to send her to Weir Mitchell, the physician.
In ?The Yellow Wallpaper? it seems that the narrator wishes to drive her husband away, spending the entire time hoping for freedom. She explains, ?John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious? (Gilman). She is glad to see her husband away so that she may be left alone to do as she pleases without interference from her husband. She is frequently rebelling against her husband?s orders. She writes in her journal and tries to move her bed when there is no one around to see. However, she always keeps an eye out for someone coming.
In The Yellow Wallpaper we see incarceration not only in the narrator’s house, but also the narrator’s house represents patriarchal conditions for women outside of the home. An example of the first level of incarceration is when the narrator says that the summer house is isolated because it is far from her regular house and surroundings. The summer house is an essential component for Jane’s rest from her depression, but she is not allowed to go outside. As John , her husband, comes, goes, and stays in town to attend to his patients, the freedom of the narrator is restricted. While he is out doing his business, she should only sleep and not leave her room. In addition, Jane’s second imprisonment is that she is restricted in her choice of which room in her home she should be in. For example, when she talks about the “room upstairs,” she insists on moving to the fourth floor from the bottom floor. However, John tells her to sleep in the nursery upstairs with the barred windows. The “barred windows” show her choices are restricted. Another level of imprisonment is in the mind of the narrator. This is represented by the symbol of the image of the woman trapped in the external wallpaper. The narrator recognizes that the woman in the wallpaper is in a cage, but she wants to escape. Then the narrator sees herself in the same
The mood of the story shifted from nervous, anxious, hesitant even, to tense and secretive, and shifts again to paranoid and determination. Her anxiousness is evident whenever she talks to John. She always seems to think for lengthy time when attempting to express her concerns about her condition to him. The mood shift from anxious to secretive is clear when she writes “I had no intention of telling him it was BECAUSE of the wall-paper.” (9). She wants no one to figure out the affect the wallpaper has on her and she wants to be the only one to figure out its pattern. The final mood shift to determination is obvious when she writes “But I am here, and no person must touch this paper but me – not ALIVE!” (11). She is steadfast in attempting to free the woman from the wallpaper. She even goes as far as to lock herself in the room to make sure that she is not interrupted. The major conflicts of this story are the narrator versus John over the nature of her illness and its treatment and the narrator’s internal struggle to express herself and claim independence. During the entire story her and John’s views about her treatment conflict with each other, especially when it comes to her writing. He even makes her stay in the room upstairs instead of in a prettier room downstairs that she would prefer. She often keeps her views to herself or writes them down in