The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is about a woman suffering from a temporary nervous depression as described by John, a physician, and her husband, during the 19th Century. After being diagnosed with this condition, the couple decides to stay in a colonial mansion during the summer, where the woman who is also the narrator of the story is restricted to extreme rest to overcome her condition. Her husband constantly prohibits her from writing and isolates her from society, family, and friends. Soon, she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper of the room she is staying in and starts picturing a woman trapped inside. In the end, she rips off this wallpaper and announces herself as the woman behind the …show more content…
Gilman lets the woman of the story remain nameless throughout the story, and only referred as “little girl”, “my dear” and other sweet names by her husband. This a reflection of how little of an identity a woman has. The narrator’s identity is being a wife and a mother, her name does not matter because her individuality is lost and she just becomes an image which she must follow so she doesn’t embarrass her husband. The importance of fulfilling this image for John is reflected when the narrator says “He [John] said I was his darling and his comfort and all he had, and that I must take care of myself for his sake, and keep well” (Gilman 136). John is more concern about himself and how the condition affects him rather than her. At various points, he isolates the narrator from society and prohibits of meeting with the people she likes, which she desperately wants. After trying to have a reasonable talk with John about her desire to meet with Cousin Henry and Julia, she ends up crying because he does not let her go (Gilman 136). John is afraid of letting her go since it would show her condition to other people and expose the facade he’s really living in while destroying the image of the perfect family he wants the society to believe he