The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

Critique of Hume’s Summary

In her article Gilman’s “Interminable Grotesque”: the narrator of the “yellow wallpaper", Beverly A. Hume argues that the unnamed narrator of the story "misreads the yellow wallpaper" not because of her mental illness, but because of her failure as an artist to appreciate the "comically grotesque texture" of her story (477) . While there may be some validity to this point, by providing a relevant information of how women were treated harshly by the nineteenth century society. But I feel she goes a bit too far by stating that the unnamed narrator had misread the yellow wallpaper. I would maintain that the narrator didn’t misread the yellow wallpaper, but rather wrote with the aim of empowering those who have lost

In this quote Hume does not discount the critics who have said that Gilman’s theme behind “yellow wallpaper” is patriarchy, but with her grotesque interpretation of the yellow wallpaper in her article she indicates another dynamic looking at the role of the female, repressed narrator than what critics have done. In addition to Hume article there is a comically grotesque texture as Hume described John “as one more victimized than victimizing” (478) Hume didn’t mean to say that John now lack power and unable to resist his wife under his rules. However, John victimization towards his wife is painful followed with gender hostility. So Hume point was to show a grotesque texture about John but not to make him a weak person who is incapable to rule his

Since then, her obsession started to intensify with the yellow wallpaper because she believes that writing can make her feel better, as well as, she wanted to share her experiences with other women who agonize from the gender misconception by a chance of saving somebody’s life. John and Weir Mitchell both agree that narrator would recover faster without being actively involved in writing diaries. “Weir Mitchell is a psychiatrist from the nineteenth century” (477) he also has gender misconception about the women. In this manner, the narrator doesn’t agree with this part of her treatment and hates not being allowed to practice writing while she rests. However, she suspects that writing and being creative could speed up her recovery much faster. Moreover, in Hume article John locks and isolate his wife away in order to enhance by providing her a treatment. Nevertheless, his wife encounters a dilemma as it mentioned that “ghostly presences live in ancient, decaying mansions” (479) It is ironic; by indicating that he controls nearly everything about her, also he can make her feel ungrateful for not valuing his help. The narrator felt unpleasant as John kept her inside his hereditary mansion. She concluded that it is not a colonial mansion, but it is more of a haunted estate; “it reach the height of romantic felicity, but that would be asking too much of fate”