Research Paper On The Yellow Wallpaper

"The story was wrenched out of Gilman 's own life, and is unique in the

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, published in 1899, is a semi-autobiographical short story depicting a young woman’s struggle with depression that is virtually untreated and her subsequent descent into madness. Although the story is centered on the protagonist’s obsessive description of the yellow wallpaper and her neurosis, the story serves a higher purpose as a testament to the feminist struggle and their efforts to break out of their domestic prison. With reference to the works of Janice Haney-Peritz’s, “Monumental Feminism and Literature’s

John has placed his wife in a prison. The disturbing stained and yellowed wallpaper is used, faded and repulsive. The color is one that is unwelcoming, uncomfortable, and uneasy; its color mirrors the narrator's relationship with her husband, and ultimately, with herself. The narrator is uncomfortable and anxious in the barred sulfur colored room where she is fussed over by her husband. John preens his wife, his possession, making the narrator draw further and further away from him. She realizes that her husband lacks the understanding that she craves. This is emphasized as John refuses to accept his wife's condition; "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him" (248). As the narrator begins to recognize herself as her husband's caged belonging, she becomes more attached to the symbol of the wallpaper. Instead of attempting to understand, John reduces his wife to the status of a child. He repeatedly refers to her as his "blessed little goose"

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.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman takes the form of journal entries of a woman undergoing treatment for postpartum depression. Her form of treatment is the “resting cure,” in which a person is isolated and put on bed rest. Her only social interaction is with her sister-in-law Jennie and her husband, John, who is also her doctor. Besides small interactions with them, most of the time she is left alone. Society believes all she needs is a break from the stresses of everyday life, while she believes that “society and stimulus” (pg 347, paragraph 16) will make

As the reader is introduced to the main character in the story, she is heard talking about strange things happening around her. She secretly wrote her thought in a journal but her husband was against it and never wanted her to do anything. The nameless narrator in her madness sees a woman in the pattern of the wallpaper. In addition, she sees the woman struggling against the bars of the paper and this is a symbol for the struggle of women who attempt to break out from the infringing rules of the society. The woman the narrator sees caught in the wallpapers also parallels her virtual imprisonment in an isolated estate away from her child by her mean husband.

Every request the woman in the story has made to her husband has been dismissed and her depression continues to worsen because she has lost control of her own life. John fails to understand how it feels for his wife to be trapped in her room all day. “He forces his wife into a daily confinement by four walls whose paper, described as ‘debased Romanesque,’ is an omnipresent figuring of the

The role of women in society was displayed quite clearly by the entrance of John’s sister. The woman writes, “There comes John’s sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfectionist and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!” John’s sister is representative of the typical woman. A woman who is pleased with her life, and wishes for no more. John’s wife, however, is rebelling on her place in society by writing. This is why she includes the statement; “…I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which makes me sick!”

Feminist studies generally focus on the role that hysterical diagnoses and treatments played in reinforcing the prevailing, male-dominant gender roles through the subversion, manipulation and degrading of female experience through the use of medical treatments and power structures. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “ The Yellow Wallpaper” is a perfect example of these themes. In writing this story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman drew upon her own personal experiences with hysteria. The adoption of the sick-role was a product of-and a reaction against gender norms and all of the pressures and tensions that their satisfaction demanded. Gilman’s essay uses autobiographical experiences displayed as doppelganger quality the in the main narrator of the

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

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a horrific short story that reflects the struggle of women during this era. Gilman was born in 1860 in Hartfield, Connecticut. Furthermore, Gilman did not have a good life growing up. Her father abandoned her and her mother soon after she was born, leaving them to fend for their own. In this time, it was not fit for a woman to live independently.

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

    "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1890 and eventually published in 1892 in the New England Magazine and in William Dean Howells' collection, Great Modern American Stories (Shumaker 94). The story was original not only because of its subject matter, but also because it is written in the form of a loosely connected journal. It follows the narrator's private thoughts which become increasingly more confusing. The structure consists of disjointed sentences as the narrator gradually descends more and more into her madness as her only escape from an oppressive husband and society.

The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman emphasizes a very influential time in American History known as first wave feminism which took place during the early nineteenth century. During this time in America, women in the middle class were limited socially and politically. This short story about a women trapped inside her room of a house because of a false diagnosis by her husband leads her to become totally involved with the wallpaper in her room. The “Yellow Wallpaper” parallels the characteristics of life during this time for women and how much power men had over women.

First, by analyzing the pronoun “I” of the sentence ““I’ve got out at last,” said I”, the reader can confirm that the narrator and the woman trapped in the wallpaper are the same person. She has managed to leave the wallpaper “in spite of you and Jane.” The pronoun “you” corresponds to John, whom his wife points out as responsible for her confinement, that is, her lack of freedom and autonomy. John symbolizes the patriarchal society of this century, the male superiority over women in marriage. On the other hand, Jane, John’s sister, is described as a “perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper” (Gilman 17) who works under John’s orders. This character represents the ideal role of women that fulfills the expectations of the society, a reason why also represents a rejection of the narrator. Ironically, thanks to her final mental collapse, the narrator creates a new identity formed also by the woman trapped in the drawing. This has allowed her to strip the wallpaper off, which metaphorically means the escape to John’s oppression. Kennard argues that “although the narrator is not seen to emerge either from madness or marriage at the end of the novella, her understanding of her own situation and, by extension, the situation of all women can be read as a sort of triumph.” (76) This triumph is also represented at the ending through the symbology of language. For instance, the literal sense of the quote “I had to creep over him every time!”, and more specifically “over him” symbolizes the narrator’s victory over her husband and the superiority of the women over men. Also, when John sees the final scene, he “cried” and “fainted.” These actions are stereotypically attributed to women and they show weakness, which is a traditional characteristic of women. The victory of the woman brings along with it a break of the social conventions as well as the “dramatization of changes in roles and potential exchanges of power” (Monteiro 51). As a