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Symbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper

897 Words4 Pages

Would you be able to remain sane if you were unable to do anything? In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator, Jane, is sick and her husband, John, prescribes her with the rest cure. This cure keeps Jane isolated and prohibits her from any form of interaction and work. Her condition worsens due to her treatment and begins to see a woman within the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. The woman is imprisoned inside the wallpaper and struggling to escape. The story explores traditional gender roles through a “domestic” woman and an “active working” man. Gilman utilizes symbolism to depict women’s oppression in marriage in the nineteenth century. Analysis of Jane The narrator is never referred to by name, this anonymity causes the narrator to lack an identity. However, one can assume …show more content…

John represents society, since the same way John oppresses Jane, society oppressed women to remain in unhappy marriages and behave according to societal norms. Men would limit women by having women confined to live inside a box, thus affecting their overall well-being leading to insanity and mental destruction. For example, both the narrator's husband and brother forbid Jane from having any form of interaction and doing any type of work. This isolation hinders her mental state, thus Jane’s fascination with the wallpaper. Likewise, John regards Jane as a child, unable to think for herself. For instance, Jane states that “he took me in his arms and called me a blessed little goose,” treating the narrator as a child implies that John controls her and she has little to no say in her life. John’s control causes her to have an infantile mind-set, unable to make her own decisions. This type of control displays the restrictions on women along with their innocence, since they don’t recognize their husbands manipulating

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