The Theme Of Identity Crisis In The Yellow Wall-Paper

1371 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary analysis of "the yellow wallpaper

The theme that I intend to analyze is the theme of identity crisis, which essentially is quite significant. I am truly interested in this theme, because as we go through life, we are consistently defining our identity and learning more about ourselves. As I am attending college, I am finding that I am learning more and more about myself. The texts that I will analyze are “The Yellow Wall-paper” “Why I Live at the P.O.” and “To a Daughter Leaving Home.” In two of the three stories, depression essentially is a key role to the characters. The three texts all share the theme of identity and this can be seen through character struggle, names, and family. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wall-Paper” in 1892. The story is mainly about how
“I was getting along fine with Mama, Papa-Daddy and Uncle Rondo until my sister Stella-Rondo just separated from her husband and came back home again” (Welty 659). Her sister took away her identity by turning her family against her. Which led to her realizing that something needed to change, she needed to change. This forced her to create a new identity and moved away from her family. Linda Pastan wrote “To a Daughter Leaving Home.” The poem is about a daughter who is growing up and is about to leave home. The mother reflects back to the time when the she was teaching her daughter how to ride a bicycle when she was eight years old. The mother is gripping onto the memory and realizing how quickly the daughter’s life went by. The mother is sad that her daughter is growing up and leaving home. In this poem, the characters of the mother and daughter are both dealing with identity issues. The daughter is growing older and not needing the mother, while the mother is sad about the daughter not needing her as much. “I kept waiting/for the thud/of your crash as I/sprinted to catch up” (Pastan lines 11-13). This quotes shows that mother was waiting to help the daughter, but the daughter was fine on her own. Since the daughter is leaving home, it means that both the mother and daughter are going to be starting new identities. Because they did not have names, they could be used to represent any mother-daughter

Show More
Related

  • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Contributions

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    The descriptions and words used create the most vivid images of a mother’s escape to freedom with her son. This poem takes you on both a physical and emotional journey as it unravels through the treacherous demands of freedom. A beautiful example of her ability to rhyme both internally as well as externally can be seen here,

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sestina For The Working Mother

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on

    Read More

  • Bruce Dawe - Americanized

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stanza three again shows doubtfulness about the mother’s love. We see how the mother locks her child in because she fears the modern world. She sees the world as dangers and especially fears men. Her fear of men is emphasized by the italics used. In the final line of the stanza, the mother puts her son on a plastic pot. This is somewhat symbolic of the consumeristic society i.e. manufactured and cheap.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Yellow Wallpaper and A Streetcar Named Desire

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1684-1695.

    Read More

  • Characterization of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper and Desiree's Baby

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1892. The New England Magazine. Reprinted in "Lives & Moments - An Introduction to Short Fiction" by Hans Ostrom. Hold,

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, is a first-person narrative written in the style of a journal. It takes place during the nineteenth century and depicts the narrator’s time in a temporary home her husband has taken her to in hopes of providing a place to rest and recover from her “nervous depression”. Throughout the story, the narrator’s “nervous condition” worsens. She begins to obsess over the yellow wallpaper in her room to the point of insanity. She imagines a woman trapped within the patterns of the paper and spends her time watching and trying to free her. Gilman uses various literary elements throughout this piece, such as irony and symbolism, to portray it’s central themes of restrictive social norms

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz And The Ballad Of Birmingham Family Bonds

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her

    Read More

  • The Movement for Women's Rights Inside The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University

    Read More

  • The Fury of Overshoes

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are a couple of similes the author uses in the poem to stress the helplessness she felt in childhood. In the lines, “The tears/ running down like mud” (11,12), the reader may notice the words sliding down the page in lines 12-14 like mud and tears that flowed in childhood days. The speaker compares a...

    Read More

  • Gender as Portrayed in “The Yellow Wallpaper”

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gilman, Charlotte P. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The story and its writer: An introduction to short fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 340-351.

    Read More

  • Response to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    The woman behind this work of literature portrays the role of women in the society during that period of time. "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a well written story describing a woman who suffers from insanity and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The author uses her own experience to criticize male domination of women during the nineteenth century. Although the story was written fifty years ago, "The Yellow Wallpaper" still brings a clear message how powerless women were during that time.

    Read More

  • Parent and Son Relationship in one of Nye, Naomi Shihab´s Poems

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper"—Writing Women." EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web. Web. 05 Mar. 2011.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Gender In The Yellow Wall-Paper

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    the nineteen hundreds. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is no different in the way that the females are treated in society within this time period. The narrator is treated as less then equal. Through out the story the narrator is belittled and reduced as a woman. With such belittlement within the story of women, the discussion of gender mistreatment is brought forth within the novel.

    Read More

  • Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    The rifts between mothers and daughters continue to separate them, but as the daughters get older they become more tolerant of their mothers.  They learn they do not know everything about their mothers, and the courage their mothers showed during their lives is astounding.  As they get older they learn they do not know everything, and that their mothers can still teach them much about life.  They grow closer to their mothers and learn to be proud of their heritage and their culture.  They acquire the wisdom of understanding, and that is the finest feeling to have in the world.

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Identity Crisis In The Yellow Wall-Paper

Open Document