The Yellow Wallpaper

346 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in yellow wallpaper

In The Yellow Wallpaper, a short story by Charlotte Gilman, there are many symbols within the text that one can construe a myriad of ways. One of the most prominent and perhaps the most important symbol is the titled yellow wallpaper. To the main character, Jane, the wallpaper is at first a nuisance, then an obsession, and finally salvation. The material of the paper itself represents Jane's everyday life. The illogical pattern that decorates it, reflects the absence of logic in her mind. The very color of the paper depicts the illness that yellows her sight and imprisons her within an unpredictable life.
The wallpaper is at first a great annoyance to Jane; she claims that it is confusing and contradicting. Because her disease confuses her mind and contradicts her logic, the paper parallels her mental state at this point. Desperately attempting to unravel the mystery she imagines in the wallpaper, she becomes obsessed with deciphering its meaning. As her illness progresses, she begins to hallucinate and finally concludes that there is a woman trapped within that 'pointless pattern.'; Jane knows that she is the only one who can see the woman and, therefore, the woman's only chance of freedom.
Slowly detaching from reality, Jane becomes the woman within the paper not only because of her obsession with it, but because of its parallel to her own life. In her final step toward insanity, she tears the paper off the walls to release the woman and herself. When her husband finds her, with the wallpaper and her sanity about her feet, she forcefully exclaims, 'I've got out at last...in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back.

Show More
Related

  • The Analysis of Jane’s Insanity

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” speaks of a woman who struggled of more than mere insanity, but also the pressures of life. Her life continuously seemed to weigh her down and she felt trapped by what was expected of her along with her mental disease. Her environment, marital relationship, and desire to escape her illness thrust Jane deeper into insanity. In the end Jane finds a way to truly escape her disease.

    Read More

  • Yellow Wallpaper Misfit Analysis

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    She must take note of the woman that she sees in the pattern to make sense of its mysteriousness: “Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard.” Not only is this woman a core part of the misfit held in some sort of prison, so is Jane. In the “bright spots”, in view of her husband and other people, she must “stay still” and pretend she is alright. However, in the “shady spots”, when she is alone, Jane allows herself to let go and, thanks to the misfit, is able to be aware of the bars that surround her own life. This exact woman and the misfit that she is a part of, is the exact reason why Jane is even given the opportunity to escape the prison that makes up her current reality.

    Read More

  • Mental Aquation In Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

    1877 Words  | 4 Pages

    As readers know, the narrator was barred from doing any “exciting” or strenuous activities such as reading, writing, or even visiting family members. Therefore, the only “interesting” source of mental stimulation available to her was the yellow wallpaper in her “prison”, thus resulting in her increasing infatuation. The start of her obsession begins after John’s refusal to let the narrator move to another room, which is when readers first uncover her disgust towards the wallpaper, as shown when she writes, “No wonder the children hated it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long” (Gilman). But, her hatred doesn’t stop there, for after a failed attempt to persuade John to remove the wallpaper, her repugnance only intensifies as she begins to read further and further into the wallpaper. The narrator states, “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down” (Gilman), which shows that she is beginning to visualize disturbing images in it. However, her obsession truly takes a life of its own after John refuses to let the narrator visit her relatives, as this is when she begins to believe that the wallpaper is a “alive”. It is after

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    “There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will” (Gilman 483). Using the central symbol of the wallpaper Ms. Gilman allows her protagonist, Jane, to articulate the state of her own mind via her obsession with the wallpaper of her room. The descriptions of the wallpaper change in complexity to reflect the degree with which the Jane’s mind has descended into psychosis. The wallpaper’s description also serves as a visual frame of reference for the reader as the main character begins to hallucinate.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Compare And Contrast Essay

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although both protagonists in the stories go through a psychological disorder that turns their lives upside down, they find ways to feel content once again. In Charlotte Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a nervous wife, an overprotective husband, and a large, damp room covered in musty wallpaper all play important roles in driving the wife insane. Gilman's masterful use of not only the setting, both time and place, but also of first person point of view, allows the reader to process the woman's growing insanity. The narrator develops a very intimate relationship with the yellow wallpaper throughout the story, as it is her constant companion. Her initial reaction to it is a feeling of hatred; she dislikes the color and despises the pattern, but does not attribute anything peculiar to it. Two weeks into their stay she begins to project a sort of personality onto the paper, so she studies the pattern more closely, noticing for the first time “a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design” (Gilman). At this point, her madness is vague, but becoming more defined, because although the figure that she sees behind the pattern has no solid shape, she dwells on it and

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Jane In The Yellow Wallpaper

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the end of the story Jane has it in her mind that there is a woman in this wallpaper. This lady that Jane says that in the wallpaper needs to be set free. Jane begins to tear down the wallpaper, the next day Jennie comes in tearing down this wallpaper and Jane see her and gets mad. Jane provides this evidence by saying “How she betrayed herself that time! But I am here, and no person touches this paper but me,—not alive!”(Dulaney) So Jane then gets the key and locks herself in this room. Jane takes the key and throw it out the window. “I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Escape In The Yellow Wallpaper

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    She starts seeing trapped women dancing around in the wallpaper of her room. Then she starts crawling or “creeping” (according to her words) around the room, running her hand in a line just above the base of the wall, until she finally wears a crease in the wall from doing this all the time. Not only does she do this, but she also tears off almost all of the wallpaper in the room. When John comes into the room and sees this, she says “I’ve got out at last, in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” So it turns out, she did escape but she had to go completely insane and forget who she is to do so. She escaped from her own mind, which obviously is not a good thing anyways, but more importantly she is still trapped in the room with the yellow wallpaper. Being unable to think rationally, she will continue to “creep” down that wall until she either chooses to stop or until she is no longer physically capable of doing

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper Women

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Her identity of a wife and mother is stifled through the work of her husband and sister in law. Both John and his sister Jennie, do not want her to think about her condition, however that is the only thing she is able to think about. She had given birth to her baby a short time before moving into the house with the yellow wallpaper. Perhaps she suffered from postpartum depression, however not much was known about this during these times. If she had gotten proper treatment for her depression, maybe she would have overcome her illness. Instead, she was essentially locked away in a room and told to rest. She strives to form her own identity that has been lost due to her illness. Ultimately the narrator loses her whole identity to the wallpaper. She transforms from the depression filled wife and mother to one of the women creeping behind the wallpaper. The narrator destroys the wallpaper in an effort to escape the hold her husband has over her. In the end she loses her identity along with her

    Read More

  • The Theme of Women Oppression in Gilman's 'The Yellow Paper'

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    While it may seem as though the speaker is becoming deranged, her bold action of tearing down the wallpaper is symbolic of her finally breaking free of the stereotypical roles of a woman. The author illustrates this in the last lines of the story, “I’ve got out at last, said I, “in spite of you and Jane! And I’ve pulled off most of the paper so you can’t put me back!” (pg. 167)

    Read More

  • Yellow Wallpaper Diary

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    The yellow wall paper, for which the story is named, plays a major role. The narrator becomes obsessed with deciphering its illogical, incomprehensible pattern. She writes in her diary that she feels the wallpaper contains a malevolent force that threatens the home. When left alone she studies the wallpaper and begins to imagine seeing a figure within it. Once she realizes this she tries to convince her husband to leave the home, but John feels she is improving and wants to stay. The narrator declines in mental state, the obsession of the wallpaper takes over, she writes in her diary that she believes she is starting to make sense of the pattern; she grows paranoid of her husband and sister Jennie. The top pattern of the wallpaper contains stripes which she believes are bars, and behind the bars she feels there is a trapped woman who creeps whom she is determined to

    Read More

  • The Meaning of the Wallpaper in The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Imagery: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wallpaper, the narrator's obsession, destroyed the peace of mind for all parties concerned. The imagery, used in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", paints a vivid picture and the reader becomes a front row spectator to the mental deterioration of the narrator to utter insanity.

    Read More

  • Unraveling Jane's Mind in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” readers watch as Jane, the dynamic main character, escapes from the confines of the wallpaper that imprisons her. While the story develops the reader discovers that she believes that she is imprisoned in the wallpaper of her room in the rest home she is at. Due to her mental instability she starts to dismiss her present dilemma. Gilman presents Jane as a mentally unstable prisoner who is in denial of her current predicament.

    Read More

  • Reflection On The Yellow Wallpaper

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paper looks to me as if it knew what vicious influence it had” (Gilman 3)! You can tell that the wallpaper is beginning to influence her state of mind. Furthermore, “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don’t when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone” (Gilman 3). This shows that when she is alone she is starting to lose herself. The isolation is causing her to begin to start mentally breaking down.

    Read More

  • A Prison Without Bar Analysis

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wallpaper also represents her lack of power. She creeps by day and stays still by the moonlight. She animates herself through the wallpaper, because she ‘creeps’ when John is away treating people, and is still by night when he is home, because he would see her and not approve of her actions. The woman does all she can do to tear off the paper, and in the end, ends up becoming one with the paper. It seemed when the wife focused more and more on the wallpaper, her condition continued to develop. Patterns started to develop in the wallpaper when she stared at it for a long time, and she started to see shapes and shadows in it. She saw bars, which made the room her literal prison, and she saw the shadows which could be the way that the woman depicted herself in this time, as a shadow of her former self: Before the baby, before the illness, when she was healthy. Both of these stories are symbolically women crying out for acceptance as equal members in

    Read More

More about The Yellow Wallpaper

Open Document