The Yellow Wallpaper Rhetorical Analysis

936 Words2 Pages

In the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the protagonist, whose name is most likely Jane, to share the pivotal summer of her life. Her husband, John, takes her to spend the summer in the country, thinking that keeping her in a quiet, isolated space with windows would be best for her to rest and regain her energy. As the story continues, the reader develops a clear understanding that John’s hopes are not the case. Gilman’s way of drawing the reader into a seemingly normal woman’s life is a very effective technique that reflects insight and understanding into the process of mental deterioration.
At the beginning of the story, Jane seems like an average, everyday woman. She is a mother of a recently born baby …show more content…

At the beginning, she says, “It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (238). Then a little while later, after discovering a pattern in the wallpaper, she claims, “There’s one comfort, the baby is well and happy, and does not have to occupy this nursery with the horrid wallpaper” (241). Not being able to be with her son is probably extremely hard on her, and being isolated from others does not help her sadness. She is most likely lonely and is feeling trapped, which leads to the …show more content…

While observing the wall one night, she writes, “The front pattern does move—and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. 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” (245). She truly believes there is a woman trapped in the paper and is trying to escape. As if this isn't strange enough, at the very end of the story, when John walks in to check on her, she believes she is a completely different person; she has taken on the persona of the woman she believes was trapped in the wallpaper. She sees John and says, “‘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!’” (247). She is no longer Jane, she believes she has been trapped in the yellow wallpaper and finally

Open Document