The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

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

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a creative woman whose talents are suppressed by her dominant husband. His efforts to oppress her in order to keep her within society's norms of what a wife is supposed to act like, only lead to her mental destruction. He is more concerned with societal norms than the mental health of his wife. In trying to become independent and overcome her own suppressed thoughts, and her husbands false diagnosis of her; she loses her sanity. One way the story illustrates his dominance is by the way he, a well-know and

“The Yellow Wallpaper” a short story about a mentally ill women,written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman at age 32, in 1892 is a story with a hidden meaning and many truths. Charlotte Perkins Gilman coincidentally also had a mental illness and developed cancer leading her to kill herself in the sixties. The story begins with Jane, the mentally ill woman who feels a bit distressed, and although both of the well respected men in her life are physicians she is put simply on a “rest cure”. This rest cure as well as many symbols such as the Yellow Wallpaper, her journal, and her inevitable breakdown are prime examples of the typical life of a woman in this time period and their suppressed lives that they lived even with something as serious as a

In a classic piece of feminist writing, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman depicts the mental deterioration of a woman diagnosed with hysteria and prescribed the rest cure, an infamously ineffective treatment for anxiety and depression pioneered by Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell at the turn of the nineteenth century. The story is framed as the narrator’s journal entries, which are infrequent and rushed because writing them violates the rest cure, thus making her writings a better representative of her descent into madness as well as her potent emotions regarding her confinement than had she written one for every day of her three month stay in the room with the repellant and titular yellow wallpaper. Gilman expresses the narrator’s societally mandated respect for her husband in addition to her resentment of the inferior treatment of women through her formal and impassioned tone and virulent imagery in reference to the setting in her 1892 short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

In the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman she writes of a woman severely oppressed in her marriage. The women in the story is an open mind individual. John; her husband is a psychologist and thinks that his wife has a mental disorder because of all the free thinking and puts her through the rest cure. Through analysis of the story, we can see that this story displays a creepy tone in order to depict a serious matter at a time when women’s oppression was at large and feminist protest was in full swing to put a stop to it. The writer uses literary devices such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony in order to show the reader how the main character has to overcome her oppression through insanity.

John is introduced into the story by the narrator as soon as the story starts. The narrator describes him as "practical in the extreme." He has "no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talks of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures." Although the narrator describes him as these things, they are married and she, undoubtedly, loves him. She continues on by saying " John is a physician and perhaps... that is one reason I do not get well faster." This description paints the husband, John, as controlling over his wife.

to the story John the husband of the narrator follows the physician’s advice and take his wife to

Charlotte Perkins Stetson in “The Yellow Wallpaper” has come upon many obstacles, but as struggling with Post-partum Depression, she was limited as a woman even more, since women at that era were already being deprived from their rights and power. Women at this time were controlled by their husbands and basically any male figure. Stetson states that she’s suffering from an illness which makes her imaginative and a highly emotional woman, and with her husbands lack of belief she is unable to rejuvenate and by using repetition and metaphors she expresses the fact that her husband has the dominant power and she gets no way.

According to Oxford English Dictionary, patriarchy is defined as the “predominance of men in positions of power and influence in society, with cultural values and norms favoring men.” This social structure in particular was prevalent during Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s time and played a large role in her involvement with feminism and women’s rights. Along with the patriarchal influences, Gilman provides an autobiographical basis upon which she built the framework for “The Yellow Wallpaper” as she was forced to undergo the dreaded “Rest Cure” depicted in the short story. Through the eyes of the narrator, Gilman provides illumination regarding the role of women imposed by the patriarchal society of the 19th Century and the implications of such

Shadowed Gardens: Happiness Untouched Everyone desires something. It could be the newest clothes, car, or phone. But for the woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper," it is freedom she wants. Until the 1960's, it was difficult for women wanting freedom as they were expected to be an obedient mother and wife.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Stetson is a short story told from the viewpoint of a young woman who has been taken to a house in the countryside to improve her health. The concept of truth explored within the story is equivocal as the way in which the characters are presented is inhibitory when deciding what is true and what is not. To begin, the young woman’s mental and physical health is a great point of dispute between her and her husband, John, as he “assures friends and family that there is really nothing the matter with [her] but temporary nervous depression” (Stetson 648) while she “disagree[s] with [his] ideas… [and] believe[s] that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do [her] good”

Throughout history and cultures today, women have been beaten, verbally abused, and taught to believe they have no purpose in life other than pleasing a man. Charlotte Perkins Gillam uses her short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a weapon to help break down the walls surrounding women, society has put up. This story depicts the life of a young woman struggling with postpartum depression, whose serious illness is overlooked, by her physician husband, because of her gender. Gillman 's writing expresses the feelings of isolation, disregarded, and unworthiness the main character Jane feels regularly. This analysis will dive into the daily struggles women face through oppression, neglect, and physical distinction; by investigating each section

For instance, the other women in this story, like Mary and Jennie, have traditional women jobs. The story states, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby…[Jennie] is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession” (3, 5). These women do not address the oppression of women, so they do not become insane. They are each happy doing traditional “housewife” work, but because the Narrator is not, she becomes crazy. This sets the Narrator apart from the other women in the story by making her an “other.” Also, the Narrator’s husband regulates and controls everything she does. As the story states, “[John] is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. I have a schedule prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me…” (2). John is completely in charge of the Narrator, and this lack of control over her own life may have caused her start of insanity. In additional to this, John does not believe that the Narrator’s condition is real. Page 3 states, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” Because the Narrator was a woman, her depression was over-looked by all the males in the story, like her husband and brother, as just a “temporary nervous depression” (1), and she did not get the kind of

The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman delineates the life of an imaginative but trapped woman. The narrator is an exceptional writer who dreams of continuing to expand her work. However, she isn’t able to because of her “mental illness and also the restrictions from her over controlling husband. Instead of treating the narrator like a normal human being and helping her through her illness, John, her husband who is a doctor, puts her in one room with nothing to do all day. This leads to her fascination of “The Yellow Wallpaper. Gilman portrays the controlled, restricted life of a woman in the 19th century.

As the story begins, the narrator’s relationship with John is already erupting. She does not agree that extensive rest is the best thing for her and feels that “congenial work, with excitement and change,” would be more suitable for her needs. However, she does feel that he knows best and seems consciously guilty of overlooking it. She informs the reader that “I have a scheduled prescription for each hour in the day; he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more” (Gilman 239). These conflicting emotions cause the narrator to have stress. There are times when she wishes she could write in her journal freely, but she knows that John would disapprove and condemn her for it. Writing is her way of expressing feelings and thoughts, but keeps it hidden from John which is tiring. As