Examples Of Literary Devices In The Yellow Wallpaper

Literary Devices in The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an American novelist, author and feminist. Born July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, she died August 17, 1935 in Pasadena, California. She is best known for her short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper', the story of a young couple, John and Charlotte, who also happen to be new parents. The wife not only suffers from postpartum depression, but she also slowly descends into a state of psychosis due to the yellow wallpaper from her room in the summer house where they were staying. This short story is rich in literary devices such as imagery, symbolism, and personification, which will soon be explored in depth.

To begin, Charlotte's use of imagery is especially potent throughout

Near the end of the story, as Charlotte gradually descends into a state of psychosis, Miss Perkins' use of personification becomes noticeably more potent. For example, on page 7, she says ''It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you.'' and on page 8 she says ''I find it hovering in the dining-room, skulking in the parlour, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs.'' to describe the smell of the wallpaper. This personification is used to illustrate her obsession with this wallpaper. Giving it human-like characteristics makes it seem alive, which feeds her perception that the pattern on the wallpaper is moving, and that there are characters and life to be found within

Being part of the early feminist movement, Miss Perkins added metaphors to represent and symbolise her beliefs. For example, on page 1, Charlotte says "It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the win-dows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls." These bars on the windows could represent the feeling of being trapped, which she certainly is, both literally and theoretically. Not only is Charlotte physically trapped in this summer home, but John, being a physician, believes her symptoms to be simply physical, and does not believe Charlotte is suffering from a mental illness. Because at that time men were seen as superior, and generally had more power over women, Charlotte is at the mercy of his words and what he tells others. She has no independence and no freedom to express her psychological struggles. This idea is further reinforced on page 7, when Charlotte writes "At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamp light, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be." This woman behind the bars, whom she so desperately tries to set free, could also be symbolism for her struggling for her independence,