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The Yellow Wallpaper

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Introduction
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century modernism gained great importance in fictive writing. Mentioning modernist writing, one of the first, most influential authors that should come to one’s mind is Virginia Woolf. The following work will take a closer look at her short story “The Mark on The Wall” as well as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” regarding gender roles and feminist perspective that is portrayed in these short stories. Both stories focus on the objects which are first mentioned in the title of each story. Although they might seem to be insignificant for the reader they reappear several times throughout each story, guiding the narrator’s thought process. Moreover, a closer look …show more content…

In the beginning the differences are not quite obvious. One thinks about what they see, the thoughts drift off, leading to further thoughts. Yet, as the stories evolve, the differences become more obvious. Woolf’s protagonist first thinks of the mark, then thoughts about historical events, life in general and metacognition follow, always leading back to the mark. The protagonist of Gilman’s story begins to think about the house and the garden, then she thinks about the room and its history until she starts thinking about the wallpaper and her mind is so fixed on it that she becomes obsessed with it. The mark and the wallpaper evoke different thoughts and feelings for each protagonist. Hence, when looking beyond the surface one realises that the topics are not as similar as they appear to be in the beginning. The only thing they have in common is that in both stories the walls or rather the wallpaper and the mark play a significant role. As Harker states, “‘The Mark on The Wall’ is a story of a body actively working to control its vision” (8) in which the protagonist is preoccupied by the mark on the wall. Whereas, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as described by Kolodny tells the story of a woman with “a sane mind entrapped in an insanity-inducing situation” (154). In this case the protagonist is not preoccupied by the wallpaper, but much rather becomes obsessed with it. …show more content…

The topics both stories deal with vary in such a way

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Another item that is extremely important in both stories is the use and importance of fate. Both characters rely on their fates for assistance and for achieving

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As the narrator becomes more fascinated with the wallpaper she moves progressively away from her normal day-to-day routines and lifestyle. When the narrator finally recognizes herself as the woman trapped in the wallpaper she screams at her husband "I 've got out at last," (Gilman 656) "you can 't put me back" (Gilman 656). She realizes woman are forced to hide behind the internal patterns of their lives and they need that she needs to be

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Although, they have similarity, the two stories has major differences also. First, both author differs the way they introduce and develop their lead characters to the reader. Second, they also differ in perspective from which their stories are being told. Third, they differs on the choice of settings and how it impact to the stories.

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During her time in the room she felt the room “at night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars!” (Gilman 304). The narrator of the yellow wallpaper descends into madness to escape the cruel dominance of her society. As the story progresses the yellow wallpaper becomes a constant companion. She first dislikes the color and despises the pattern, but after closely studying the pattern “a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design” and after obsessing over the painting she finds bars hidden.

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Initially, the narrator is disgusted and irritated by the paper, claiming, “I never saw a worse paper in my life. One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” (339). This reaction mirrors that of a sane person’s--fearing the unknown, they distance themselves from insanity and any iteration of it, seeing it as grotesque and shameful. Yet, as she spends more time in the room, she grows interested in the wallpaper and begins to investigate. She comes to the conclusion that: “I didn 't realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind, that dim sub-pattern, but now I am quite sure it is a woman” (346).

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The narrator is a woman who is imaginative trying to make her mind think and realize the meaning of the yellow wallpaper. She describes the wallpaper as, “repellant, almost revolting; smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow turning sunlight” (Gilman 641). This specific wallpaper makes the narrator feel a certain way. At first, she does not like the color or how it looks. But then not having anything else to do in the room, she starts examining the wallpaper.

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The woman the narrator spots appears to be trapped within a bar like pattern of the wallpaper, as she moves the pattern she tries to break free. It could be argued that, the woman is a symbol of femininity. As the narrators insanity deepens, she believes she is trapped within the wallpaper too. Unable to break free from the wallpaper, like the narrator, the woman in the wallpaper has only the stereotypical option of taking the role as a wife or mother.  

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Domestic Imprisonment in The Yellow Wallpaper The Yellow Wallpaper is an epistolary short story written in 1892 using conventions of the psychological Gothic horror to critique the position of women in the domestic circle within a Victorian society by prominent American feminist and social reformer Charlotte Perkins Gilman who lived from 1860 to 1935. This work of fiction is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century towards women’s health, both physical and mental. In this essay, I will be discussing the portrayal of imprisonment within the domestic sphere in The Yellow Wallpaper with close commentary on space and setting primarily, as well as supporting references to other

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While both of the writer 's center their stories around

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Martin states that the narrator’s confinement in the upstairs bedroom fortifies her mental illness developing into “a frightening hallucinatory world constructed around the pattern of the yellow paper on the wall.” This shift in her identity happens as the shift in her disposition towards the wallpaper changes. The wallpaper is a visible metaphor that eventually becomes her identity. In the beginning of her stay in the bedroom she says the wallpaper is “committing artistic sin” (Par34) and can push anyone to “suddenly commit suicide” (Par35) These comments show her despise towards the wallpaper and the separation she originally has from it.

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It 's here where she discovers the yellow wallpaper that leads to her mental demise. What is the symbolic meaning of the yellow wallpaper and how do her interactions with the wallpaper represent the change in her feelings towards her husband and society. The yellow wallpaper symbolizes women 's suffrage and the struggles women went through, and her interactions with the wallpaper represent the problems woman had with their husbands and society. The main symbolism present in the story is how the yellow wallpaper represents woman suffrage and the problems they endured during the 19th century.

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The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story full of imaginative symbolism and descriptive settings. However, without the narrator’s unique point of view and how it affects her perception of her environment, the story would fail to inform the reader of the narrator’s emotional plummet. The gothic function of the short story is to allow the reader to be with the narrator as she gradually loses her sanity and the point of view of the narrator is key in ensuring the reader has an understanding of the narrator’s emotional and mental state throughout the story. It’s clear from the beginning of the story that the narrator’s point of view greatly differs from that of her husband’s and other family in her life.

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(678) in this statement she is challenging herself and this shows the reader she is facing some confusion. The yellow wallpaper in the main characters (the narrator) bedroom is a major point in the story. The yellow wallpaper plays a major role in the woman’s insanity. The woman’s obsession with the wallpaper creates her problem and affects her mind and judgment. This is shown in, “It dwells on my mind so!”

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Enclosed to the four wall of this “big” room, the narrator says “the paint and paper look as if a boy’s school had used it” because “it is stripped off” indicating that males have attempted to distort women’s truth but somehow did not accomplish distorting the entire truth (Perkins Gilman, 43). When the narrator finally looked at the wall and the paint and paper on it, she was disgusted at the sight. The yellow wallpaper, she penned, secretly against the will of men, committed artistic sin and had lame uncertain curves that suddenly committed suicide when you followed them for a little distance. The narrator is forced to express her discomfort with the image to her husband, he sees it as an “excited fancy” that is provoked by the “imaginative power and habit of story making” by “a nervous weakness” like hers (Perkins Gilman, 46). Essentially, he believes that her sickness is worsening and the depth of her disease is the cause of the unexpected paranoia.

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The woman was obsessed with the wallpaper she begins to hallucinate that something was creeping on her. She had locked herself in the room and would not let anyone in the bedroom with her because she was trying to trap the creeper that she thought she saw. The narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” say,“‘Open the door, my darling!’ , ‘I can’t,’ said I. ‘ The key is down by the front door under a plantain leaf’”

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