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The Yellow Wallpaper Gender Analysis

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Upon first glance, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman seems to be a psychological horror tale of a women slowly going insane, but in actuality, the short story comments on the gender and authoritative differences between men and women. The tension that is found within the story, whether between the narrator and her family, the surroundings, conventional gender roles, or herself, all show her confinement in tradition and domesticity, and many symbols and diction choices reflect this overarching theme. Due to her condition, the narrator is ordered to halt all forms of work, leaving her reliant on others, like John or his sister Jennie, to help run the household. John symbolizes the classic head-of-household, practical, reliable, …show more content…

This mirrors the narrator’s internal struggle with feeling trapped and restricted. The house is three miles from the village, a distance that represents a physical separation of the narrator from civilization. Due to his job, John is able to leave the house for other cases, but the narrator is forced to remain separated and distant, symbolic of the mentality that women were supposed to devote all their time to the house. She also comments on the “hedges and walls and gates that lock” as well as the “separate little houses for the gardeners and people”, statements that invoke imagery of separation and …show more content…

Through her hatred of the wallpaper, she is repelling that notion, and is showing her interest in shedding the boundaries that accompany a female role. At the beginning of the story, she has a initial dislike of the wallpaper, but her disgust grows exponentially, and quickly becomes completely fixated on the pattern. As she examines the paper, she sees the image of the trapped women inside, which symbolizes her feelings of confinement. On the surface, she appears to be coping, but precisely like the wallpaper, when she focuses on what is under the top pattern, she reveals a anguished women underneath. At the climax of the story, the narrator tears the paper from the wall, showing her desire to eliminate traditional norms and John’s

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