The Effect of Surroundings in 'Paul's Case' and 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

Throughout history, women have struggled to be seen as equals and have had to fight for their freedom from the roles society placed upon them. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman both use their literary works to show the challenges women went through, and how they battled for the freedoms they desperately wanted. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman that goes to a summer home to rest and get well under the supervision of her husband who is also a physician. Her husband decided it would be best if she sat in a room alone and did nothing. In the end, she becomes insane and finally finds her freedom. “The Story of An Hour” is about, Mrs. Mallard, a woman who has just found out her husband has died. Mrs. Mallard

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a nervous wife, an overprotective husband, and a large, dank room covered in musty wallpaper all play important parts in driving the wife insane. The husband's smothering attention, combined with the isolated environment, incites the nervous nature of the wife, causing her to plunge into insanity to the point she sees herself in the wallpaper. The author's masterful use of not only the setting (of both time and place), but also of first person point of view, allows the reader to participate in the woman's growing insanity.

The vivid descriptions in “The Yellow Wallpaper” help to bring the reader along in the narrators decent into a kind of psychosis. It starts mildly, with her describing the color of wallpaper as “repellant, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow” (Gilman 528). As more time passes she begins to see more things in the paper such as “a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes start at you,” and for it have “so much expression in an inanimate thing” (Gilman 592). As the pattern and descriptions get more twisted, we get visual clues of the madness that is slowly consuming the narrator. The color of the paper even begins to become a physical thing she can smell descried as, “creep[ing] all over the house...sulking...hiding...lying in wait for me…It gets into my hair” (Gilman 534). In the end we get a graphic visual representation of her full psychosis

The geographical, physical, and historical settings in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" were more than the primary character could handle. The geography would lead to think she could enjoy the environment, but she chose not to. The physical setting showed us the reader just how grotesque and unbearable it would be to live a room in which the wallpaper to over the narrators mind. Lastly, we looked at how historically women were not allowed to speak their minds about how they felt. Maybe now that John has seen his wife go completely insane for himself he will finally seek extra attention for

The description of the house by the woman is positively somehow. However, she is disturbed by some elements such as; “the rings and things” in the walls, and that the bars on the windows keep showing up. In addition, what was disturbing her the most is the yellow wall paper which is creepy with a formless pattern and that leads her to be totally insane. Readers are introduced to the woman’s desperate thoughts and feelings, yet her husband came and interrupted her thoughts and she was forced to stop writing. Furthermore, she always complains that her husband John who is a physician belittles her illness, her own thoughts and that makes her more depressed. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a deep feminist story that shows the unequal relationship between women and men in the 19th century and uses the yellow

Lawrence shows many points by applying these obvious symbols: the rocking horse and the whispering house. The wooden rocking horse symbolizes the fantasy quest that Paul takes to attain luck. This magical mysterious wooden horse also tells Paul who will win the horse races. The whispering house symbolizes his mother’s lust for money. The house constantly haunts Paul and his siblings with the

He realizes just like his father and his mother he is using drug and alcohol to cope with his pain is slowly killing them. Paul still didn’t know if he wants to live or die so he flirts with the idea of death, but he stops himself at the last second.

Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, which is also her doctor, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness. Everyday she keeps looking at the torn yellow wallpaper. While there, she is forbidden to write in her journal, as it indulges her imagination, which is not in accordance with her husband's wishes. Despite this, the narrator makes entries in the journal whenever she has the opportunity. Through these entries we learn of her obsession with the wallpaper in her bedroom. She is enthralled with it and studies the paper for hours. She thinks she sees a woman trapped behind the pattern in the paper. The story reaches its climax when her husband must force his way into the bedroom, only to find that his wife has pulled the paper off the wall and is crawling around the perimeter of the room.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is the story of a woman descending into psychosis in a creepy tale which depicts the harm of an old therapy called “rest cure.” This therapy was used to treat women who had “slight hysterical tendencies” and depression, and basically it consisted of the inhibition of the mental processes. The label “slight hysterical tendency” indicates that it is not seen as a very important issue, and it is taken rather lightly. It is also ironic because her illness is obviously not “slight” by any means, especially towards the end when the images painted of her are reminiscent of a psychotic, maniacal person, while she aggressively tears off wallpaper and confuses the real world with her alternative world she has

The woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is slowly deteriorating in mental state. When she first moves into the room in the old house, the wallpaper intrigues her. Its pattern entrances her and makes her wonder about its makeup. But slowly her obsession with the wallpaper grows, taking over all of

Paul's father had abused him emotionally, and probably physically, throughout Paul's life. He did so much to Paul's flagging self-image that he had to boast to others to make himself feel big, when he felt tiny inside. When he finally achieved that "bigness" that he always wanted, the glamour of "the good life," his father found him out and took that away from him, or rather, made Paul give it up. This made Paul feel even smaller and made him feel that he would be better off dead. So Paul decided to make his life "better off" and

Author Charlotte P. Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a complex short story that discusses the thoughts and feelings of a woman who is kept confined in a small upstairs bedroom by her husband. The woman suffers from depression and anxiety, yet her spouse whom is a physician claims that she is not terribly ill. Despite all the strange thoughts she acquires, she continues to force herself to accept her new life style and awkward place of living. As she comes to find herself overwhelmed with her personal bedroom, we soon discover that the room’s yellow wallpaper is what affects her directly and is the reason for her many interpretations. The symbols in the story take a great part in the overall plot and

Paul feels completely isolated home, which is where he should feel safe and secure. He feels as though he needs to hide who he is to prevent facing his father. After Paul comes home late from work he attempts to sneak in, for the fear of facing his father makes him nervous and visibly uncomfortable, showing his complete disconnect. “Then, again, suppose a day should come when his father would remember that night and wish there had been no warning cry to stay his hand?” (Cather). Paul feels so isolated from his father that he contemplates whether or not his dad wants him alive. The secluded nature of Paul’s personality informs the reader on how Paul may be struggling with who he is, not only in his father’s eyes, but in his own as well. The reader can tell that Paul is lonely, and the theater is his only means of escape. The grandeur lifestyle intrigues him and that is something his father will never understand. The attachment and pleasure he gets from viewing the upscale, rich art brings him so much happiness, his father does not understand that huge part of his life; ultimately, leading to their broken

Paul’s first ambition, writing, would become his final task. When Breath Becomes Air, was unfinished and derailed because of Paul’s rapid decline. But this is an essential component of the truth of the reality Paul faced. “During the last year of his life, Paul wrote relentlessly, fueled by purpose, motivated by a ticking clock.” This example taken from the epilogue directly shows Paul’s strength and his ability to never

This story is basically about a little boy sacrificing his life for his selfish, ungrateful, materialistic, and oblivious mother. She never acknowledged that he was only doing this to get her attention. She only cared about the money nothing else nothing more. My heart goes out to Paul because he died not knowing whether he accomplished his main