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The Yellow Wallpaper Essay

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“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story included in the American literary canon that remains relevant decades after being published in 1892 due to continued study and deep analysis of this captivating example of literature. In her short story, Gilman’s goal was to reflect on personal experiences in a creative fictional way. The topic and overall message of “The Yellow Wallpaper” relates closely to Gilman’s life when she was dealing with frequent depressive episodes followed by an unethical doctor’s treatment plan. The doctor was hired by Gilman’s husband at the time, Charles Stenson. Stenson hired the doctor who prescribed Gilman to remove all creative outlets from her life to attempt to cure her depression. …show more content…

The author of one academic journal Mr. Amina Arnautovic’s opinion regarding the short story’s purpose falls along the lines of “Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s fictional short story The Yellow Wallpaper, is very much autobiographical” (155). One major motif is the fact that Jane is portrayed to be Gilman, and the story mirrors her life. If Jane is the short story's narrator, Gilman practically crafted a fictional nonfictional story about herself. She uses first-person pronouns numerous times in her masterpiece “The Yellow Wallpaper.” One example of this is when Jane says, “if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me.” (Gilman 320). Interpretation of this line and many others play into Charlotte’s feud with depression. Jane’s depression is represented as post-partum depression, which is when a mother after birth can feel mood swings. The story closely relates to Charlotte’s life during her darkest …show more content…

As the story progresses, Jane loses her grip on reality due to her isolation. In his academic journal, Arnautovic mentions how “Dr. Mitchell’s methods of treatment alone are the reason for the narrator’s progressive insanity” (157). Gilman found freedom while using her talent in the creative production of literature in her life. Jane also found freedom by keeping a journal listing daily occurrences while alone in the prison-like nursery. The story takes a turn when Jane begins to become comfortable with herself in isolation. In her mind, the yellow wallpaper is now comforting and less creepy because she sees the beauty in the patterns. The patterns in the wallpaper seem to change into a face of a woman. Jane’s character develops negatively in a fashion of insanity when she realizes that she must free the woman in the paper which is interpreted as finding personal freedom from John and the room (Gilman 328-330). Gilman regained her freedom after a tough internal struggle that ended happily, and Jane’s story was

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