In the 19th century society was different from what it is today. More specifically, women’s society was far from modern day. Women were not in the workforce, could not vote, or even have a say in anything. Women were not allowed to give evidence in court, nor, did they have the right to speak in public before an audience. When a woman married, her husband legally owned all she had. If he died, she was entitled to only a third of her husband’s estate. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wanted to change this, and in doing so, she would give women a voice through symbols in her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” She wanted people to understand the struggle of women in the 19th century. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the author uses symbols to show restrictions on women, lack of public interaction, and the struggle for equality in the 19th century.
To begin with, “The Yellow Wallpaper” itself is one of the largest symbols in the story. It can be interpreted to symbolize many things about the narrator. The color yellow is often associated with sickness or weakness, and the narrator’s mysterious illness is an example of the male oppression on the narrator. The wallpaper in fact makes the narrator more “sick” as the story progresses. The yellow wallpaper, of which the writer declares, “I never saw a worse paper in my life,” (Perkins) is a symbol of the mental screen that men attempted to enforce upon women. Perkins writes, “The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing” this is a symbolic metaphor for restrictions placed on women. The author is saying that the denial of equality for women by men is a “hideous” act, and that when men do seem to grant women some measure of that equality, it i...
... middle of paper ...
...estrictive bonds of society, men put the down and enforce the idea that they are inferior, almost to the point of brainwashing them.
Ultimately, throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Gilman Perkins uses various symbols to show the oppression of women by men, and the continuing struggle to escape that oppression. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is an indication of the mental restrictions that were placed upon women by men during the 1800s. Perkins shows that the possibilities of women are as good as those of man, and that during the 19th century those possibilities were severely restricted. The writer sees other doing acts she could do herself, just as women saw acts of man that they could do with the same level of capability. Entirely, “The Yellow Wallpaper” gave women a view of the oppression on them by mankind and gave them a whole new voice to escape that disaster.
... The women had no choice but to go along with the men’s choices. Nineteenth century women did not have much of a role in society, and it was meant to stay that way. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is classified as a feminist text because it portrays the desire for women to escape the society that has neglected them for so many years. Works Cited Ford, Karen.
For a long time, women were oppressed and controlled by men. Particularly in early 19th century, these thoughts and stereotypes bound women stronger than ever. "The Yellow Wallpaper", written by Charlotte Perkins, Gilman shows us how men and women were treated differently during early 19th century by alluding men and women figures into her two characters, the narrator and her husband. “Yellow Wallpaper” is about one man who controls the narrator and forces her to hide herself and makes her isolated from the world by giving her wrong diagnosis and one woman who is absolutely forbidden to do anything and isolated from the world because of her “depression”. In the story, Gilman conveyed her view of men as authorized, controlling figure that doesn’t appreciate women’s feelings or thought and women as powerless figure that were ignored and oppressed by men through the use of characterization of husband, wife (the narrator), and symbolization.
The story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about control. In the time frame in which the story was written, the 1800’s, women were looked upon as having no effect on society other than bearing children, maintaining a clean house, and food on the table etc. etc. There was really no means for self expression as a woman, when men not only dominated society but the world. The story was written at a time when men held the jobs, knowledge, and society above their shoulders. The narrator on, "The Yellow Wallpaper" in being oppressed by her husband, John, even though many readers believe this story is about a woman who loses her mind, it is actually about a woman’s struggle to regain, something which she never had before, control of her life.
The time period in which Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written, it was during the Victorian time period where a man’s word was law. It was a very patriarchal society where a family, community, or society is based on a system governed by men. Where men were the sole bread winners and forward thinkers. A woman’s role and identity in
“There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!” The late 19th century hosted a hardship for women in our society. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman expressed a form of patriarchy within the story. Gilman never addressed the woman in the “The Yellow Wallpaper” by a name, demonstrating her deficiency of individual identity. The author crafted for the narrator to hold an insignificant role in civilization and to live by the direction of man. Representing a hierarchy between men and women in the 19th century, the wallpaper submerged the concentration of the woman and began compelling her into a more profound insanity.
As the narrator’s mental state changes so does the way she perceives things around the house. The most prominent example of this is the imagery of the wallpaper and the way the narrator’s opinion on the wallpaper slowly changes throughout the story; this directly reflects what is happening within the narrator’s mind. At the beginning of the story the narrator describes the wallpaper as “Repellent...revolting... a smoldering unclean yellow” (Gilman 377). As the story continues the narrator starts to become obsessed with the wallpaper and her opinion of it has completely changed than that of hers from the beginning. Symbolism plays a big part in “The Yellow Wallpaper” too. This short story has a multitude of symbols hidden in it but there are specific ones that stand out the most. The recurrence of the wallpaper definitely makes it a symbol. An interesting interpretation is that the wallpaper represents women, in the sense that the 18th century woman was considered almost decorative and that is exactly what the purpose of wallpaper is. Another prominent symbol that runs parallel with the wallpaper, are the women the narrator would see in the wallpaper. The women appear trapped behind bars in the paper and one could argue that the women the narrator sees represents all women of her time, continuously trapped in their gender
The Yellow Wallpaper was written as a realism story. It showed how woman felt they had the same opportunities as men in their personal choices. In this story, the woman expressed her worries to her husband who through good intentions, required that his wife stay in bed 24/7, and not do any of the things she would normally do. In effect his wife became worse until she reached the limit. The behavior of the husband at this time was completely normal. Men were the higher power over women and women, like the one in this story, felt that they couldn?t stand count for themselves.
On my first reading of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", I found the short story extremely well done and the author, successful at getting her idea across. Gilman's use of imagery and symbolism only adds to the reality of the nameless main character's sheltered life and slow progression into insanity or some might say, out of insanity.
The color yellow has many different meanings. It can bring hope and happiness but it can also bring cowardice and deceit. The shade of yellow tells the whole story. Bright, beautiful shades usually denote cheerfulness or joy but it can also have a hint of danger. Dull, dingy shades usually denote caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy. The dull and dingy yellow sets the scene for this dramatic story. The story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has many symbolic undertones throughout the story but none as great as the yellow wallpaper being a symbol for the main character’s sanity as well as her entrapment both physically and mentally.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," Gilman makes adamant statements about feminism and the oppression of women during the 19th century. This story allows the reader to see into the mind of a woman who is slowly going insane and suffering from postpartum depression. During the 19th century, women were forced into a certain stereotype, that of wife and mother. Women were not allowed to express and challenge themselves the way men were. Just as the narrator of the story is trapped in her room, women are trapped in pretentious acts that do not allow them to explore their creativity and intelligence. Gilman displays how easily one can go insane when they are suppressed by a patriarchal society. Gilman’s illustration of a subordinate wife, fully dominated by her husband, proposes a sense of gender stereotypes, as well as the treatments prescribed for the mentally ill; as the narrator is forced to become unproductive, John continues to act superior to his wife and treat her like a prisoner and child.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is the disheartening tale of a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Set during the late 1890s, the story shows the mental and emotional results of the typical "rest cure" prescribed during that era and the narrator’s reaction to this course of treatment. It would appear that Gilman was writing about her own anguish as she herself underwent such a treatment with Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell in 1887, just two years after the birth of her daughter Katherine. The rest cure that the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" describes is very close to what Gilman herself experienced; therefore, the story can be read as reflecting the feelings of women like herself who suffered through such treatments. Because of her experience with the rest cure, it can even be said that Gilman based the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" loosely on herself. But I believe that expressing her negative feelings about the popular rest cure is only half of the message that Gilman wanted to send. Within the subtext of this story lies the theme of oppression: the oppression of the rights of women especially inside of marriage. Gilman was using the woman/women behind the wallpaper to express her personal views on this issue.
“The Yellow Wallpaper:” a Symbol for Women As the narrator presents a dangerous and startling view into the world of depression, Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces a completely revitalized way of storytelling using the classic elements of fiction. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” combines a multitude of story elements that cannot be replicated. Her vast use of adjectives and horrifying descriptions of the wallpaper bring together a story that is both frightening and intensely well told. Using the story’s few characters and remote setting, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the wallpaper as both a representation of the narrator and the story’s theme, as well as a symbol for her descent into the abyss of insanity. As the story opens, the suspiciously unnamed narrator and her husband, John, temporarily move into a new home (226).
“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman explores the oppression of women in the nineteenth century and the constant limitation of their freedom, which many times led to their confinement. The short story illustrates male superiority and the restriction of a woman’s choice regarding her own life. The author’s diction created a horrific and creepy tone to illustrate the supernatural elements that serve as metaphors to disguise the true meaning of the story. Through the use of imagery, the reader can see that the narrator is living within a social class, so even though the author is trying to create a universal voice for all women that have been similar situations, it is not possible. This is not possible because there are many
The yellow wallpaper itself is one of the largest symbols in the story. It can be interpreted to symbolize many things about the narrator. The wallpaper symbolizes the mental block mean attempted to place on women during the 1800s. The color yellow is often associated with sickness or weakness, and the narrator’s mysterious illness is an example of the male oppression on the narrator. The wallpaper in fact makes the narrator more “sick” as the story progresses. The yellow wallpaper, of which the writer declares, “I never saw a worse paper in my life,” is a symbol of the mental screen that men attempted to enforce upon women. Gilman writes, “The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing” this is a symbolic metaphor for restrictions placed on women. The author is saying subliminally that the denial of equality for women by men is a “hideous” act, and that when men do seem to grant women some measure of that equality, it is often “unreliable.” The use of the words “infuriating” and “torturing” are also descriptions of the feelings of women in 19th century society.
The short story titled, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is given its name for no other reason than the disturbing yellow wallpaper that the narrator comes to hate so much; it also plays as a significant symbol in the story. The wallpaper itself can represent many various ideas and circumstances, and among them, the sense of feeling trapped, the impulse of creativity gone awry, and what was supposed to be a simple distraction transfigures into an unhealthy obsession. By examining the continuous references to the yellow wallpaper itself, one can begin to notice how their frequency develops the plot throughout the course of the story. As well as giving the reader an understanding as to why the wallpaper is a more adequate and appropriate symbol to represent the lady’s confinement and the deterioration of her mental and emotional health. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the color of the wallpaper symbolizes the internal and external conflicts of the narrator that reflect the expectations and treatment of the narrator, as well as represent the sense of being controlled in addition to the feeling of being trapped.