The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

The pursuit of freedom: An Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkin’s Gilman’s story, “The Yellow wallpaper”, is a piece of gothic fiction that clarifies the idea of patriarchal dominance over women in society. Gilman, an outspoken feminist herself, expresses the notion of woman’s freedom and status quo. The “Yellow wallpaper” takes to ground when the narrator and her husband move into new residence for the summer after giving birth to their child. The narrator is supposedly in a delirious situation and is locked up in a room to heal, paving way to her expressing her emotions. The dilemma between the husband and the narrator seems to be purely psychological in the idea that the husband talks down to her, perceiving the

She feels that John shows her nurturing and care and that he wouldn’t anything drastic happen to her mental status. Even in situations where the narrator talks to her husband about her mental situation, he shrugs it off by referring to it as “draught” (Perkins 132) and nothing more. She has accepted the realms of her reality by succumbing to her husband’s every word. This is conclusive in a scene where the narrator hides her book from her incoming husband- to avoid criticism that she would receive by stating that “he hates to have me write a word” (133). The narrator is in the belief that John is talking to her in a patronizing manner, perceiving her more as a child than his wife. Even when she wishes for a change of scenery, instead of discussing the matter in a sophisticated fashion, he calls her “a blessed little goose”. As a result, the narrator starts developing an inferiority complex towards her husband, trying to reason with her husband but being shut down by him. It becomes evident as she intuitively describes the situation through her