The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Isolated within a bedroom with nothing to do but analyze the walls, “The Yellow Wallpaper” By Charlotte Gilman illustrates the treatment of womans’ mental health in the early 1900s. This work exhibits the inner monologue of a woman falling into postpartum depression after a miscarriage. Under the control of her manipulative husband Jonn, she is convinced to spend all her time in a run-down bedroom, where the lack of entertainment leaves her to obsess over the wallpaper. Charlotte Gilman uses imagery and sentence structure in “The Yellow Wallpaper” to create an erratic tone.
When the wife is not around anyone she documents what she sees in the walls in her journal, these in-depth and repetitive descriptions of the wallpaper patterns give insight

The second time she mentions the pattern she says, “I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion. I know a little of the principle of design and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation or alteration of repetition of symmetry or anything else that I ever heard of,”(Page 4 C. Gilman). This lack of consistency and control illustrates how the narrator sees her own illness; in the early 1900s little was known about mental diseases and this lack of knowledge causes distress in the narrator which quickly transforms into self-critique. Not being able to follow the pattern on the wall symbolizes her inability to understand the inner workings of her own illness; ignorant of the effect her miscarriage has had on her. After attempting to bring up her dwindling condition to her husband but being given complete disregard, her frustration with the pattern intensifies, “You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face and knocks you down and tramples upon you. It is

The author's use of complex and simple sentences helps communicate the irregular moods the narrator experiences. In the beginning of this short story her husband could do no wrong, “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes. I’m sure I never used to be this sensitive. I think it's due to this nervous condition,” (Page 1 C. Gilman). At first her thoughts are very concise and to the point, she’s aware of her problem and even offers reasoning for it; misguided as it may be. The simple sentence structure allows the narrator to come off as level headed and in control. However by the end of the short story her infatuation with John has dwindled significantly and it reflects in her thoughts, “ John knows I don't sleep very well at night, for all I'm so quiet! He asked me all sorts of questions too, and pretended to be very loving and kind. As if I couldn't see through him!” (Page 5 C. Gilman). The author begins using run on sentences to demonstrate how disoriented the narrator is. When she is unable to form complete thoughts her emotions are pushed further towards the surface, this causes chaos and a lack of structure in her writing. The juxtaposition the author uses between complex and simple sentences allows the reader to easily see the deterioration of the narraotrs mind, creating a manic tone throughout the