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Character Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper

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“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, raises many questions from readers and makes us think about what has really caused the narrator to become insane in her story. Due to her husband’s controlling nature as a physician, there have been many moments where he treats her like a child that should be kept away from the outside world, which eventually drove her to insanity. She says, “dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick. I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn’t able to go, nor able to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was …show more content…

(Gilman 8) Since he is someone who doesn’t believe in things that are not felt or seen, he also doesn’t believe that his wife is sick because she doesn’t look sick in appearance. He tells her, “you really are better, dear, whether, you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you.” (Gilman 8) He then tells her in a condescending manner, “bless her little heart! She shall be sick as she pleases! But now let’s improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning!” (Gilman 8) John could have prevented her from going insane at the end, but he uses his position as a doctor to deny his wife’s feelings about her own …show more content…

Despite of her mental illness, Gilman started writing again which was against her doctor’s orders. She explains that without doing work, she wouldn’t be living at all because that is what keeps her mentally and physically better. As a response to women who are suffering from rest-cure treatments, she wrote, “work, the normal life of every human being; work, in which is joy and growth and service, without one is a pauper and a parasite.” (Gilman 15) Although, women were expected to live a domestic life during that time period. Gilman defied the idea of domesticity and gender roles through writing, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is what makes this story so influential for women in

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Treichler starts off her article by grabbing the attention of the reader adequately by presenting the controversial ideas of improper diagnosis by a domineering husband taking advantage of the time periods stereotype of hysterical women. She then persuasively depicts the setting of the story and adds some sympathy for the narrator who is being forced to accept her diagnosis. The introduction she gives is excellent because it provides the background information to the story and adequately prepares the points that she wants to get across to the

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Her husband is a doctor, “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” (Gilman). She eventually convinces herself that he knows everything about her mental and physical health both, “If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression--a slight hysterical tendency--what is one to do?” (Gilman). This is during the time period where men were more in control of their wives and had a higher say so. “John says if I don't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall,” her husband was in complete control of where she went (Gilman).

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Gilman incorporates the literary techniques of tone and diction to provide the reader with a clear understanding of how the narrator falls into the beliefs of society, while she is confined and oppressed by her husband’s diagnosis of her being “Nervously Depressed”. Gilman’s use of both techniques allows the work to come together as a whole, and demonstrates the idea that women are content with living in a world were men is seen as more intelligent, able-minded and higher in standard than woman,

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Gilman uses this quote to emphasize on the narrator’s depression and the extent of how it was affecting her. She is shown to be blaming John for not being more understanding of her condition and forces herself to believe that her nervousness is what has made her become so miserable. She feels overwhelmed as she comes to terms with her incapability of performing even the most basic of tasks. She is unable to care for her child which, according to John, is because of her ailment. However, he has misjudged her depression for a “nervous condition”, as keeping her away from her child is doing her more harm than good.

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can you trust me as a physician when I tell you so” (322)? He doesn’t see how isolated she is and seems to worsen her case. John believes that it is wrong to disobey authority. He wants her to listen to him because he

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Many women were in fact belittled by the ideal of true womanhood and exhibited characteristics such as submissiveness or piety. Gilman also employs somber diction throughout the story, such as “crawl”(55) and “creep”(58) to suggest that covert agency is the only way for women to improve their situations at

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Jane tells John, her husband, what she is feeling, but he does not listen to her and assumes everything is fine ( Gilman 527). John decides to ignore her feelings instead of trying to help her; this suggests that their relationship is not healthy. According to Suess, Jane also has an unhealthy relationship with the medical language. One of the reasons she feels this way is because according to doctors, there is nothing wrong with her health. Mental problems, such as depression, are issues men in the nineteenth century do not seem to be aware of (Suess).

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Knowing she is breaking his trust, she still intends to keep intact John’s expectations of her as the obedient wife. “There comes John, and I must put this away, -- he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 4). Later she implies that her husband hates to have her write a word. Perhaps John was not comfortable with his wife working because women are not meant to work. This then develops an outward profile of marriage that serves John’s logical perceptions of her as a wife and what she should be.

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John considers mental illness to be something that one is responsible for. John does not understand that mental illness is not a physical illness. Additionally, he tells the narrator to use her, “...will and self-control” (6) to become better. Mental illness is not something one

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As result, Jane stops requesting things and slowly stops sharing information with John. Jane explains that she gets angry with John, but is quick to blame her feelings on her illness as she feels bad because he is taking care of her (Gilman p. 648). John's toll on Jane makes her feel guilty about being sick; she judges and blames herself for her

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Most would require only minimum time and effort. Jane suggests that she be allowed to go and visit her cousin Henry and Julia. She asks to instead sleep in one of the many downstairs rooms or even to just have more stimulus. These small requests are denied and John replies that he “would as soon put fireworks in [her] pillowcase” (page ) than give Jane the stimulus she believes will improve her health. Jane tries multiple times to communicate the feeling that she isn’t getting better, with John.

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She wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” in an effort to open the public’s eyes to the unfairness of this treatment. By infusing Jane’s narrative with childish language and actions without ever actually calling “Jane” by her name, Gilman creates a universal experience any woman of the time could insert herself into. This allowed women to fully realize the injustice they faced. John’s belittlement of Jane also serves to create both a universal and eye opening experience for the women reading it. Additionally, for those who were willing to read into the symbolism, the nursery and the meaning underlying it added to the injustice Gilman conveys.

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Everything from how her interactions with her family to her perception of her environment and how it evolves throughout the story allow the reader to almost feel what the narrator is feeling as the moves through the story. In the beginning, the only reason the reader knows there may be something wrong with the narrator is because she comes right out and says she may be ill, even though her husband didn’t believe she was (216). As the story moves on, it becomes clear that her illness is not one of a physical nature, but of an emotional or mental one. By telling the story in the narrator’s point of view, the reader can really dive into her mind and almost feel what she’s feeling.

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The story focuses on the main character who is a woman suffering from mental illness. It is very clear that the woman is ill when she states, “You see, he does not believe I am sick!” (677) speaking of her husband who is a doctor. So first she admits she is sick then later she states, “I am glad my case is not serious!”

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To be trapped in one's own mind may be the worst prison imaginable. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator of the story is constantly at battle with many different forces, such as John, her husband, the yellow wallpaper that covers the walls of her room, and ultimately herself. Throughout the story the narrator further detaches herself from her life and becomes fixated on the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her in her temporary home, slowly driving her mad. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a major and dynamic character as she is the main character of the story, and throughout the story her personality and ways of thinking change drastically.

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