Symbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman short story, The Yellow Wallpaper was attention grabbing and goose-bump inspiring. The tone quickly shifts from uncomfortable and stifling to eerie and chilling. The narrator begins by passively complaining about the yellow wallpaper, but by the end it drives her to absolute madness. The extremely descriptive imagery of the wallpaper is an important part of this story as it helps to unveil the deeper meaning behind the story. The choice of the color yellow is especially significant as it is repetitive not only in the title, but throughout the story, and adds to the overall perception of the narrators increasing insanity.

   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.

In the “Yellow Wallpaper” the author uses imagery to describe what she is seeing in this “wallpaper.” This story is about a woman that is very sick, that lives with her husband John in an old house on a beautiful plot of land. The house might of been old and run down, however, was very thoughtful while being designed. In other words, it was very detailed and fascinating. While she was describing the house, she was also talking about how her husband wouldn't let her do anything because she was sick but she thought otherwise. She thought that she was capable of doing things on her own and that John didn't have to be there helping her with everything that she needed, “I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from

Although, Gilman's short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, contains numerous symbols, the yellow wallpaper of its title emerges as the most dramatic symbol. The seemingly, harmless yellow wallpaper in the narrator's room takes on a larger than life obsession for the story's narrator. On a basic level, the wallpaper symbolizes the narrator's mental decline. Initially, she feels the unsightliness of the tattered yellow wallpaper is annoying and aesthetically unpleasing. She reveals her aversion to the wallpaper when she describes the pattern as, “One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” (648). However, as her mental state deteriorates, her repulsion toward the yellow wallpaper heightens. In her worsening mental

On my first reading of Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's "The Yellow Wallpaper", I found the short story extremely well done and the author, successful at getting her idea across. Gilman 's use of imagery and symbolism only adds to the reality of the nameless main character 's sheltered life and slow progression into insanity or some might say, out of insanity.

opinion is brushed aside for what is “best for her” even though she could perform menial tasks around the house. Although her husband could be seen as the villain of the story, he is simply a reflection of the society of the time. The narrator’s desire to have more in her life than John and her child does not correspond to the social expectations that a woman fell under. Her love of writing and creativity distanced her from the idealized “angel of the house” that she is supposed to emulate.

Many stories have different styles but the style really define the author’s personality. I read a short story that was had an interesting style. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the author’s consistent use of visual imagery and diction to create a fluent style.

Symbolism in the “Yellow Wallpaper” Women in literature are often described in a position that is dominated by men. In the 19th century women were controlled by their husbands, this made them feel lonely and isolated. Seeing that the 19th century society is different from today, because women were not permitted to work, they could not vote and even worst they could not have a word in anything. The short story "The Yellow Wallpaper” and the narrator in the story represent the impact of the abuse of women in society. The narrator of the Yellow Wallpaper suffers from depression and her husband John is a physician.

The yellow wallpaper is symbolic of her entrapment by her husband and toward the end of the story she gets the urge to rip the wallpaper off of the walls. This act of rebellion represents freedom from her overpowering husband. Gilman creates this aspect of the narrator’s character to indicate the change in her mental health and her progressing

An author and a poet Charlotte Perkins Gilman left her own experience as asking questions about a human right for a society in her short story in The Yellow Wallpaper. In the colonial mansion that no one had not lived for long, she was prisoned in the second floor by her husband. He told her that this is the best treatment to her depression; however, she suspected his plot from his actions. Charlotte well-illustrated her suffering and emotion through many symbolism that make us think a human right to treat people who have mental illnesses.

There is an agreeable feeling of symbolism that one can acquire from the yellow wallpaper itself. The wallpaper in the Narrator's room speaks to imprisonment and this is made clear when the Narrator says that the weak figure behind appeared to shake the example, pretty much as though she needed to get out. The imprisonment representation is made from the yellow wallpaper in light of the fact that the Narrator over and over asks to evacuate the wallpaper yet isn't permitted so and she is eventually limited to the room she detests because of the stubbornness seen from her husband. The quote demonstrates that the Narrator at last understands that her husband's treatment towards her is sketchy and that she needs to escape her jail like life. Gilman additionally indicates how over the top the Narrator has gotten to be with the wallpaper and why she is so obsessed.

Beam tells readers that “Gilman most memorably engages the intersection of female oppression and ornamentality in “The Yellow Wallpaper” (189). She uses symbols to express the oppression that Jane faces. The wallpaper is a symbol of oppressive gender roles, and the conclusion is seen as a victory since she escapes them. The pattern and sub-patterns show her terrified identification with the abandoned child and abandoning mother (Wiedemann 65-67). Jane’s illness is from the oppression from her marriage and her child like Gilman’s herself faced. The wallpaper is her marriage holding her back from a free life; she feels trapped in her marriage like the lady trapped in the paper. Gilman shows that Jane feels this way by writing “[s]ometimes I think there are many great women behind” the paper (Gilman 318). Gilman shows her thoughts that great women are trapped in marriage unable to reach their full potential. She also uses the window to show Jane’s feelings about the home. Jane sees the home as a prison keeping her from being free of her marriage and motherhood (Wiedemann 65). The bars on the window support the idea that the house is like a prison. Gilman writes, “I am angry enough to do something desperate. To jump out of the window would be an admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong to even try” (Gilman 320). Jane does not even attempt to jump because the bars are too strong; Gilman uses this to symbolize that the oppression she is under is too strong to break free. The main source of this oppression is her husband,

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story called The Yellow Wallpaper, which is about a woman who is bedridden due to being diagnosed by her husband with “hysteria” after she gave birth to a child. The story goes on to display what women went through at the time; having a lack of freedom to do what they want. The story was based on the experiences Gilman had during the earlier part of her life when she also was diagnosed with “hysteria” after giving birth. In the 19th century, doctors would prescribe woman something called the “rest cure,” which forced women to stay in a room all alone, and they were not allowed to leave until they stopped showing hysterical symptoms. Gilman’s time during this “rest cure” was the inspiration for The Yellow Wallpaper,

An allegory is a symbolical method often used in art or literary fiction. It is when a story or work is written about one concrete concept, but has another story or meaning within the main one. It is almost like a metaphor or hidden message inside the work. It is a metaphor, but in a more deep, complex manner. They both compare things, but an allegory is used to completely symbolize the hidden message or meaning in the work. Allegories can be shown throughout stories by the characters, actions, themes, imagery, or symbols. By doing this it gets out the hidden message that the writer wants to transfer forward.

Kasner demonstrates different interpretations of “The Yellow Wallpaper” from a variety of literary critics. It appeared that is was commonly thought that short story did not get the appropriate attention it deserved. The action of tearing down the wallpaper appears to be setting the woman free. This liberating effect relates to the belief that the narrator’s room confinement represents women in patriarchal societies as well as marital entrapment. The improper “rest cure” treatment also represents the narrator’s oppressive marriage and worsened her mental state.