Summary Of ' The Yellow Wallpaper ' By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

If she was free to express her feelings, she wouldn’t have had to shove them aside and try to find other things to occupy her mind with. She finds greatest comfort when she writes, but her husband believes that it is bad for her to do so because it is too stimulating. She makes comments many times expressing how writing makes her feel better, that it would “relieve the press of ideas and rest me” (349) and that she “must say

In the short story, the writer tells a woman’s depression which guides her to break the limits and restrictions over woman. The woman who has no name or identity symbolises all women’s suppressed position in patriarchal society. In the story, the woman describes the house and her rooms with the words; ancestral hall, old-fashioned chintz, barred windows, heavy-immovable bed. The descriptions depict the house as patriarchy’s realm. Also, the yellow wallpaper’s surrounding of her shows the woman in a trapped, confined and repressed position. Not only the yellow symbolise the weakness, but the paper also

be with him, it makes me nervous.” (Gilman pg. 204) She is very articulate and likes to write but due to her controlling husband is not allowed to; so, she keeps it hidden. Maybe, due to the fact what she writes about are her inner thoughts and feelings which reflect on those around her. ” There

In the beginning of her loggings, the narrator explains that she disagrees with her husband, brother and doctor’s idea of treatment, and states, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good,” (Gilman). She follows this statement with the question, “But what is one to do?” Clearly influenced by male oppression and ideals of women, the narrator herself believes that she is unable to follow her own wishes to better her health and overall state of mind. Her only rebellion is in the form of her writing---a creative outlet that is unwanted by her husband as it is a mental stimulation and considered work. Though she is in fear of being caught, she still writes. She believes that it would be easier to stop, so that she doesn’t have to be go

There are many factors that can create a theme in a short story. Most of the factors are the elements of fiction, which include plot, setting, characters, symbolism, conflict, and point of view. The two stories that will be compared in this essay are “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Story of the Hour” by Kate Chopin. The elements that especially contribute to creating a theme for these short stories are the characters, point of view, and plot.

Immediately in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” readers are able to tell that the protagonist feels trapped in the room, in which she is being placed. The female narrator also mentions to us that her husband “John is a physician, and perhaps –– (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind –– perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (Stetson 1892, 129). That is to say, this statement clearly indicates that science triumphs over the fantasy of religion. Therefore, John intellectually dominates his wife as a result of this view and his gender. Throughout the story, readers are able to observe themes from “The Yellow Wallpaper,” such as powerlessness, patriarchy, and lack of independence. As a result, Gilman 's protagonist does not have a room of her own. Despite, the struggles that the narrator faces in the room, “it makes [her] think of English places that you read about” (Stetson 1892, 130). Basically, the narrator tries to make herself feel comfortable while she is in the room and she is also able to express herself on paper, although her husband, John insists that she should not. According to Gilman’s protagonist, “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal¬––having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition” (Stetson 1892, 129). This statement explains that the narrator expresses a need for independence by removing herself from the

She starts out by using an anecdote about a couple that she met in Virginia. She commented that the husband had done all the talking at the meeting and that usually the women complain that their husband does not really say all that much. He then gestured to his wife and stated that she did all the talking at home. He also stated that if “she didn’t keep the conversation going at home after he got off work that they would just sit in silence for the evening.” (Tannen 50) She writes about this to show us that she is a down to earth person by using the pathos and ethos behind the story to make us trust what she is saying is true and helpful to a relationship. She states that she has done some research of her own to help back her writings up.

Though it is a controversial topic, gender has always played a tremendous role in society. In her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman explores gender roles, including the role of the main character. During the 1890’s, when the story was set, men oversaw the household, and the women had to take care of the house and children. In addition, women, including the main character, had to listen to their husbands. In the story, the main character is controlled because she is a woman, and this drives her to feeling confined.

Insanity manifests itself within society in two unsettling scenarios: one being when the true darkness lurking in the inner recesses of one’s mind takes control, and the other being when society attempts to oppress certain peculiar individuals by ascribing mental instability upon the public’s perception of them. Throughout Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," it is rather ambiguous to which of these two nightmarish scenarios the narrator is enduring. From the beginning of the story, the narrator contends that a mental affliction is plaguing her, and later cites this as the primary reasoning behind the decision for her and her husband John, a well respected physician, to move into a seemingly calm colonial mansion for the summer. Once inside, she cannot help but feel uneasy; both intrigued and repulsed by the mysterious yellow wallpaper encompassing her new sleeping quarters. As this once harmless curiosity deteriorates into full blown obsession, our protagonist begins to perceive the ominous wallpaper as the cruel prison to a helpless, enigmatic woman, and by the story’s climax, she attempts to liberate the woman by stripping every last sliver of wallpaper from the room. Externally, it would appear that the narrator has devolved into utter madness by the conclusion, but upon closer examination, it is evident that her mind has in fact attained a newfound sense of clarity. All along, it was her husband, John, that had been her true epicenter of

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, reveals to it’s readers the unethical and at times tortuous treatments for women during the late eighteen to mid nineteen hundreds, specifically the resting cure. Part of Gilman’s great success in portraying the personal feelings and thoughts of the narrator during this treatment can be attributed to her own tragic encounter with the resting cure shortly after her first child’s birth. Throughout Gilman’s life, she became a strong asset to the women’s rights movement, and the destruction of the resting cure by using her writings such as The Yellow Wallpaper to do so. At first glance, Gilman’s story begins in a innocent manner, but slowly escalates as the main character Jane’s

Her passion is to write and by doing so we are able to follow her on a

The narrator of the story who is the main character and unnamed, this symbolizes her significance as if she unimportant or a nonfactor especially for the era that this story takes place where women were not equal to men and often isolated to the home during illness and to raise the family. The narrator is aware of her husband John’s behavior towards her and her illness. She from the beginning doesn’t trust John her husband

Only a writer knows the value of each word. They place every word so specifically that the reader can tap the exact emotions of the narrator. For instance, in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman attempts to draw the reader into the narrator’s innermost emotions. The story revolves around a woman’s path to recovery after a nervous depression. She has been advised to take complete rest with nothing to stimulate her brain (which is also known as the “rest cure”).

It’s clear that, even if she doesn’t admit it, she isn’t happy about the fact that she has no power in making decisions about treating her own mental illness. The narrator wishes to do certain things such as write in her diary or switch bedrooms, but John does not want to give in to her “fancies”. She mentions at one point that the house they live in has many beautiful rooms, but the one she lives in is one of the most unattractive in the house, due mainly to the wallpaper. Her affection for the house in spite of its flaws seems to reflect her love for her husband despite his patronizing and controlling behavior toward her. As the story progresses, the flaw in the room she is in, the wallpaper, becomes increasingly important for the narrator to focus her attention on, paralleling the growing issue of the oppressive relationship in her marriage. John is the clear antagonist of the story in that his contempt toward his wife is the ultimate reason for her psychological breakdown. He is constantly patronizing her, at times treating her more as a daughter than a wife. At several points in the story, he refers to her as “little girl” or “blessed little goose”. It seems like, as both her husband and physician, he is genuinely trying to help her and is treating her the way he thinks is best in order to aid her recovery. But his persistent controlling behavior and stifling of his wife’s concerns continue to trap

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) born into an upper middle class society, married in 1884 and remarried in1900. Suffered from post-partum depression after giving birth prescribed “rest cure” by her actual physician. Gilman is a feminist and played a huge role in brining attention to women’s issues for example marriage law divorce, domestic violence, and medical treatment. Gilman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper written in 1892 is a semi-autobiographical story based on the events during her first marriage, which has wide-ranging implications for women. Storyline is about an unnamed narrator (female), her husband John who also happens to be her physician, and narrator’s sister in law Jennie vacationing in a colonial mansion for the summer. The