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Symbolism the yellow wallpaper
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Rivkah Nakhon Introduction: “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story that was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and published in January of 1892. This intriguing short story exemplifies the overall theme of women’s inferiority toward men in marriage. Gilman has proven to be an advocator for women’s rights and social justice during her lifetime. In my research paper, I would like to further research this theme by exploring the norm of the time period in which the story was written and reflect that back to the portrayal of the inequality the narrator experienced in the short story.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” strongly reflects the marital sexism in the late nineteenth century. Throughout the story, Perkins Gilman describes the mistreatment and gender discrimination she faces, which encourages her path to feminine equality. Due to her husband John taking on a roll of a misogynistic physician, as opposed to a doting spouse, the newly post-partum woman attempts to break through the chains of feminism, due to her beliefs being dismissed as she was deemed uncredible and less intelligent for being a woman. Throughout the story, the new mother and wife who narrates, exudes her bashfulness and cowering personality that allow a lack of feminism and independence.
When I read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, the four main things that stood out to me were the narrator's mental state, the symbolism of the yellow wallpaper, the role of women in society during that time, and the isolation experienced by the narrator. Firstly, the narrator's mental state is a significant theme throughout the story. As she becomes increasingly obsessed with the yellow wallpaper, it becomes clear that she is suffering from some form of mental illness. This is particularly striking because it highlights the lack of understanding and treatment of mental illness during the late 1800s.
Imagine being trapped in a room with no one to talk to and absolutely no one knows what you are going through. You are completely and utterly alone. How would that make you feel? The narrator, of the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, knows almost exactly how that feels. Misogyny and sexism are problems that have been going on for hundreds of years, women have been belittled and ignored by men which makes them feel alone.
A Analysis on Patriarchal Society in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Hysteria is a term that means uncontrollable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. It was a common misdiagnosis for women in the nineteenth century who were struggling with depression. The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” describes how the narrator slowly drives into insanity as her mental state worsens when living in a "rest cure" mental institution on a country estate with her family. The story illustrates a mind that is already plagued with anxiety and depression deteriorates as it gets constantly taken away from performing healthy activities.
Throughout the last few centuries, women have been viewed in the role of being weak and not being able to take care of themselves politically or financially. During these times, specifically in the 1800s, there have been novels written by powerful authors such as Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. They used literary elements to advance readers' ideas about women's roles in society and how it was discriminatory. Through their novels they used these literary devices to highlight women's struggles with mental illness, marrying for survival, and having to only depend on the powerful male figures in their lives. Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, uses symbolism to show the struggles of women's mental health in
Because of this, the narrator dissolves into a mental state that cannot be cured. She hungers for freedom as her illness
Charlotte Gilman’s short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, (1899) is a text that describes how suppression of women and their confinement in domestic sphere leads to descend into insanity for escape. The story is written as diary entries of the protagonist, who is living with her husband in an old mansion for the summer. The protagonist, who remains unnamed, is suffering from post-partum depression after the birth of her child and is on ‘rest’ cure by her physician husband. In this paper, I will try to prove that ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ acts as a subversive text by portraying the protagonist’s “descent into madness” as a result of the suppression that women faced in Victorian period.
The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a prime example of descent into madness. Set in the Victorian Era, “The Yellow Wallpaper” focuses on the declining mental state of a woman in the nineteenth century, a time where females had no say in society and were seen as inferior
Women in the 1800’ and early 1900’s were treated the same as slaves, second class citizens who had no voice or decision over their lives. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892 with a late American 19th century setting. The main character, a nameless woman, fights depression and anxiety along with being oppressed by her husband John and wanting to rise against the norms of
Women have been receiving the short end of the stick for years and many authors have been expressing this concern through fictional writing for centuries. The three pieces of fiction: Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” all convey the idea that women must act a certain way within society and the realism of the issue with gender inequality in the theme. For this specific piece, Kincaid was inspired by her own experience with her mother growing up and the unfair treatment she came into contact with in society while receiving her education. Chopin also was inspired by personal experiences when writing this piece. She lost her father at a young age and after many
Early nineteenth century American Literature proves to be a very appealing subject. My research has focused on a piece of nineteenth century American literature, The Yellow Wallpaper. This story was written by a female author that was seen as an early pioneer for women’s rights. I will analyze the concept of women’s oppression in The Yellow Wallpaper.
During the nineteenth century, gender roles became more sharply defined. Women were considered physically and emotionally weaker than men, which gave men the need to control and direct their way of life. In Sweat, by Zora Neale Hurston, and in The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the social ideology of the image of women and dynamics of male authority in the family greatly affected the actions and self-image of the main characters in both stories. The character, Delia Jones, in Sweat and the unnamed female narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper are influenced by what their societies deemed the proper roles and behaviors a married woman should do and have. By comparing the character of the women in The Yellow Wallpaper and Sweat, we
The story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892 shows mental illness through the narrator first hand. The theme in this story is going insane verses loneliness as well as being trapped. These themes are shown through the main character (the narrator of the story) as she works through her own mind, life, and surroundings. First, the theme of the woman’s state of mind is the main focus in this story.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a first-person written feminist short story that critiques and condemns the nineteenth-century American male attitude towards women and their physical as well as mental health issues. In the short story, Perkins Gilman juxtaposes universal gender perspectives of women with hysterical tendencies using the effects of gradually accumulating levels of solitary confinement; a haunted house, nursery, and the yellow wallpaper to highlight the American culture of inherited oblivious misogyny and promote the equality of sexes. The narrator and her husband, John, embody the general man and woman of the nineteenth century. John, like the narrator’s brother and most men, is “a physician of high
