Literary Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper” we are introduced to a woman who enjoys writing. Gilman does not give the reader the name of the women who narrates the story through her stream of consciousness. She shares that she has a nervous depression condition. John, the narrator’s husband feels it is “a slight hysterical tendency” (266). She has been treated for some nervous habits that she feels are legitimately causing harm to her way of life. However she feels her husband, a physician, and her doctor believe that she is embellishing her condition. The woman shares with the reader early in the story that she is defensive of how others around her perceive her emotional state. This causes a small abrasion of animosity that

Through a woman's perspective of assumed insanity, Charlotte Perkins Gilman comments on the role of the female in the late nineteenth century society in relation to her male counterpart in her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." Gilman uses her own experience with mental instability to show the lack of power that women wielded in shaping the course of their psychological treatment. Further she uses vivid and horrific imagery to draw on the imagination of the reader to conceive the terrors within the mind of the psychologically wounded.

The woman behind this work of literature portrays the role of women in the society during that period of time. "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a well written story describing a woman who suffers from insanity and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The author uses her own experience to criticize male domination of women during the nineteenth century. Although the story was written fifty years ago, "The Yellow Wallpaper" still brings a clear message how powerless women were during that time.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known as the first American writer who has feminist approach. Gilman criticises inequality between male and female during her life, hence it is mostly possible to see the traces of feminist approach in her works. She deals with the struggles and obstacles which women face in patriarchal society. Moreover, Gilman argues that marriages cause the subordination of women, because male is active, whereas female plays a domestic role in the marriage. Gilman also argues that the situation should change; therefore women are only able to accomplish full development of their identities. At this point, The Yellow Wallpaper is a crucial example that shows repressed woman’s awakening. It is a story of a woman who

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

Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” both take place primarily in domestic spaces representative of the attitudes and feelings of each character. “The Yellow Wallpaper” tells the story of a young woman’s decent into depression and madness, commonly attributed to the excessive and unnecessary control her husband exerts over her. “The Story of an Hour” delves into the conflicted mind of a young woman after hearing the news of her husband’s death and her subsequent liberation from his constraint. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Gilman’s stories showcase the misogynistic oppression of women at the turn of the century through their depictions of domestic spaces representative of the confinement many women

Bette Davis wrote, “When a man gives his opinion, he is a man. When a women gives her opinion she is belligerent.” Similarly, in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper the author Charlotte Perkins Stetson was able to reflect the challenges in her life through the female protagonist. The narrator/female protagonist was suffering from what her husband interpreted to be temporary nervous depression. Although her husband John was a doctor, his methods to aid her proved to be insufficient and harmful. It was clear that he loved his wife and wanted her health to improve but, his controlling ways were of no help. He believed that he knew best since he was the “doctor”, which only heightened his know it all character. Correspondingly, the author suffered

Originally published in 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” during a time when women were fighting for their rights and challenging the social standards as part of the women's rights and suffrage movement. Women during this age fought eagerly due to the harsh boundaries they were forced to and accept. Normal life for a woman in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries consisted of male domination. With men holding all power legally and emotionally, women did not have the right to vote, own property, or make any financial or political decisions. Men also often made decisions about women's health as well as their everyday life.

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.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the journal of a woman who has depression on a whole different level and who can’t recover because of her role as an obedient woman. In doing some research I found that, "The Yellow Wallpaper" was seen as a story about the mentally ill. Even Gilman was proud to say it provided a wake-up call for the medical field and the families of women stricken with mental illness who believed solely in the "rest and ignore the problem cure." However, the short story was also an attack on the role of women in society at the time. Women, cast into the prison of acquiescence, were trapped between the rock and the hard place of doing what they were told was best for them and those around them and doing what

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is known for her writings dealing with feminism and the archetype of marriage. Gilman is celebrated for her controversial topics and her unapologetic tone. First written in 1892, “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first thought to be outrageous and appalling. According to an article written by Gilman entitled “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper” in 1913, she describes the outrage following the publication of the short story. Many physicians felt that Gilman’s description of mental illness was spot on. While others felt it should never have been written. One physician responded by stating, “Such a story ought not to be written, he said; it was enough to drive anyone mad to read it(Gilman 820)”. The powerful short story was written

“The Yellow Wallpaper” Criticism “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and was first published in 1892. Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to help save women from the oppressive treatment that they had to endure, at that time, when they were believed to have had any kind of mental issue. “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be looked at from several different critical approaches all of which will reveal the suppressive treatment of women prior to the feminist movement. A feminist looking at “The Yellow Wallpaper” would agree that it tells the story of how women were oppressed and their opinions were summarily dismissed.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman took a leap of faith while writing one of the most notorious stories of her time. The era in which it was written was a time where women were frowned upon for voicing their opinions. Women’s roles in society have evolved over a course of many years. Jobs, social standings, and other rights have not always come easy like they do today. Women were not treated as equals. Gilman’s voice is undoubtedly heard in her story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, writing about a woman driven mad by a controlling husband. The two main characters, the narrator and John, relate a sense of irony that Gilman often portrays in her fiction. His negligence and subordination are cast upon the narrator, and her troubles are told through her diary. When first read over, the story seems like it is just about a woman with a mental health problem. When read deeper, the reader will grasp the underlying theme. This feministic story is derived from a time period where women were not given the freedom to make their own decisions. Gilman wanted people to be aware of this. By knowing the time period in which her story is set, it is easier to understand what the narrator is going through. Generally speaking, Gilman’s use of characters and setting, make an excellent short story work, and give a powerful message.The mistreatment and inequality of the narrator is what ultimately drives her to the breaking point. The point

With these views in mind, it is common knowledge that in 1892 Charlotte Perkins Gilman published her well-known short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” to address a large problem from her time. This story was controversial and groundbreaking because most people at that time did not understand Postpartum Depression. Most doctors believed only in what they could see, and as a result, the majority thought that women were just nervous and had slight hysterical tendencies. Gilman experienced first hand the reality and severity of Postpartum Depression and she also understood the unintentional harm done to those suffering by well-meaning doctors and loved ones. Gilman knew the way people perceived mental illnesses had to completely change, and to

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a story that I feel could be interpreted in many different ways. It is narrated by an unnamed woman who says she suffers from nervous depression. A common perspective of this story is that the woman is driven crazy by her husband because he kept her locked in a room and surrounded by hideous wallpaper. We can interpret that she saw herself inside of the yellow wallpaper and tries to escape. When she does escape, she crawls over her husband John’s fainted body. Does she actually suffer from nervous depression or is it something else? Should we believe everything she says in the story or does her mental illness cause her to see things for what they are not? How do her feelings toward the wallpaper change throughout the story?