A Critical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A Critical Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

'The Yellow Wallpaper' written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a

riveting story of a dejected woman locked away as if she were insane.

Her passion is to write and by doing so we are able to follow her on a

journey in which she is victimized by those closest to her. The

significance of the story is tremendous as it delves into the

underlying issues of 'a woman's place' and feminism in the 19th

century. The story not only gave an insight into the public perception

of mental illness but it later caused a famous psychiatrist, Silas

Weir Mitchell to alter his treatment of neurasthema.

As the story begins, the woman-whose name we never learn-tells of her

depression and how it is dismissed by her husband and brother who are

both medical practitioners. "You see, he does not believe I am sick!

And what can one do?" We are able to see that the narrator has

maintained the traditional patriarchal feelings, as many women and men

did in 19th century, where women are discouraged from venturing out of

their 'given sphere', due to the political makeup of the era. It

becomes apparent that her mind was alluding to this point by the way

she speaks about her husband, "John laughs at me, of course, but one

expects that." The structure of this sentence highlights the male

laughing and the woman acquiescing, showed by the short sentence and

the full stop - silencing any of her thoughts and opinions. An example

of the dominant submissive relationship between them. He treats her as

if she was a child and he was the controlling, domineering, yet loving

parent. "What is it, little girl?' h...

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self-analysis, and was symptomatic of the degeneration rife in

society. This illustrates the protagonists warped head state as

although yellow is associated with negativity, she craves it. This is

portrayed when the protagonist claims that everything outside is

'green instead of yellow'. Her mind is so twisted that she feels

everything outside of her 'sphere' is evil.

The ending of the story is open to a variety of different

interpretations. She feels victorious for escaping from her husbands

grasp however in reality she is now trapped within herself. We feel

that she may commit suicide due to her frustration, however the

situation was reversed, and I was given the impression that she may

have tried to murder her husband, in an attempt to free herself.

However what ultimately happens we are never able to learn.