The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892. The short story speaks of a young mother (narrator) who is suffering with post-partum depression and is given the treatment of “rest cure” by her over controlling husband/physician. The narrator is kept in a nursery with yellow wallpaper in the couple’s summer home. As the story progresses the narrator becomes immensely intrigued by the patterns in the yellow wallpaper. The narrator begins to pick and scratch at the wallpaper because she sees a women behind it, a women trapped in the patterns. The narrator becomes so obsessed with the wallpaper she loses complete touch of reality itself. The woman trapped behind the wallpaper represents the narrator. The narrator

is a women with no opinions imprisoned behind male patriarchy. The reason behind “The Yellow Wallpaper” being written was for Gilman to stand up to the well-known psychiatrist, Weir Mitchell, who often treated patients (especially women) with rest cure. Gilman wanted other women to know the dangers of rest cure and wanted to discredit the treatment itself. Gilman was not afraid to stand up to her male psychiatrist during a time where women’s voices were suppressed. This inspired other women of this era to fight against Victorian patriarchy.
During the eighteenth century women were heavily suppressed, women simply lived in a man’s world. In the nineteenth century women belonged to either their fathers if not wed or their husband’s (Grin.com). Women were never seen as an individual, so they could never make any decisions individually. Women could never buy a home; since the rights to purchase property or sign contracts were reserved for men only. Also, in the occasion that a couple was to get a divorce it would be extremely challenging for women to exit a miserable relationship then it would be for a male to free himself from the marriage. If the male did not support the divorce the women had no choice but to endure the dreadful relationship. Divorce, like most other things during the nineteenth century was a male’s decision. Women were only expected to do housework, look after the children, and basically cater to the husband’s needs. Young girls were not offered the sort of education boy’s received. Girls were often taught subjects such as literature at home, a subject often given to the “weaker sex.” Therefore, women lacked strong intellectual capabilities so not much was expected from them. Girls grew up to believe that they only lived to serve males and believed that they were inferior to them. This oppression is shown in “The Yellow Wallpaper” through the use of symbolism, Gilman so eloquently thought of.
Many writers such as Loralee MacPike looked deep into “The Yellow Wallpaper” in order to discover the hidden truths behind the narrator’s struggle.

The struggle being female oppression and women not acting upon the fact they are being treated unfairly. Some of the symbolism MacPike scoped out of the short story, she displayed in her article, Environment as Psychopathological Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” the symbols being the nursery, nailed bedstead, and barred windows. The nursery symbolizes the narrator being trapped in childhood, since she is not allowed to make any of her own decisions. The barred windows symbolize the narrator’s lack of mobility since she is unable to break free from her husband’s rules and must stay in that nursery, trapped. Lastly the nailed bedstead symbolizes the narrator’s inability to express her sexuality and her ability to act like a woman. She is even not allowed to care for her infant, she is rid of all outlets to express her womanhood and there is nothing she can do about it. Other writers have noted the symbolism behind the sunlight and the moonlight in the short story (davidpublishing). The sunlight represents a time when women must attend to the house and women fall under the control of their husband’s. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the narrator did just that, she obeyed her husband’s rules when the sun came up. The moonlight represented a time when the narrator would burst with activity and would rip scratch the wallpaper. This was a time when the narrator disregarded all of her husband’s orders and did as she pleased. These are a few examples of symbolism in the “The Yellow Wallpaper” that show the female

oppression.
The Victorian era was a time that was not characterized by equality between men and women, but by the apparent differences between them (Victorian-era). Some feminist that came out of this era were Victoria Woodhull, Susan B Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These women were some the first wave of feminist. Victoria Woodhull who received no formal education became one of the first female brokers on Wall Street, first woman to run for president, and became the leader of the women’s suffrage movement. She often spoke up about women’s rights and even addressed her issues to a group of small minded men in Congress. Woodhull, like Gilman was unafraid and unapologetic when speaking up about her issues. Woodhull was seen amongst her colleagues as one of the greatest advocates of their cause. She believed in free love, birth control, and was an advocate for abortion; Woodhull was a woman well beyond her years. Though she lived in a male dominated era, Woodhull made the most with the resources available and made tremendous efforts in women’s suffrage. Woodhull became such an inspiration that in 2003 the ‘Woodhull Freedom Foundation’ was founded and it is an organization that is “Working to advance the recognition of sexual, gender, and family diversity” (WoodhullFoundation). Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were also members of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and transformed one of the most recognized women’s movements ever known in the United Sates. Gilman who was also a feminist and was heavily involved in women’s rights organizations like Woodhull, Stanton, and Anthony. In 1896, Gilman even spoke up in an American Women’s Suffrage Association convention (loyno.edu). Gilman looked up to free spirited feminist women like Woodhull. Unknowing that eventually she would became an inspiration to other women around the world to be able speak up about the things they believe in and to not be afraid to do so.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” in order to discredit “rest cure” also known as neurasthenia a treatment that psychiatrist, Silas Weir Mitchell, discovered. In Weir Mitchell’s, book Fat and Blood (1877) he mentions that women would fake sickness in order to escape house chores and thought that women would over-exaggerate their level of sickness. As stated by Weir Mitchell, “the 'rest-cure could be used to discipline women whose illness became a means of avoiding household duties" (Stiles, 4). Gilman, who was actually recommended the treatment of rest cure by Weir Mitchell, quickly realized it only made her nervous tendencies worse. Gilman realized that the way to overcome her nervous disorder was by going on with daily life and continuing to do the activities that freed her mind. After Gilman recovered, she wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” in order to help others from going mad the way the narrator did in the short story. Weir Mitchell eventually altered the treatment after reading the story. Gilman had no fear standing up to a male physician and making him aware that his treatment actually made her worse. Gilman was an exceptionally brave woman for her era. She could have kept quiet about how she overcame the nervous condition but instead she wrote a feminist piece that not only showed the true dangers of rest cure but it allowed the readers to see the true pains of female oppression. The narrator of the story knew that rest cure was making her condition worse, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change would do me good” (Gilman 801). Once revealing this news to her husband, he did not understand or care to understand. Gilman, in a way, stood up to the well know psychiatrist which ultimately inspired women to stand up to the males in their lives.
When “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published, it received many mixed reviews in result of people viewing it as a “horror story.” Many did not understand the true meaning behind it or what it truly represented. Once readers read a little deeper with a feminist perspective on the text, they truly grasped the literary genius behind it. Scholarly sources have stated that “The Yellow Wallpaper” was recognized as an early feminist indictment of Victorian patriarchy” (Lonestar.edu). During the publication of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the Victorian era was coming to an end. At this time, it most definitely helped inspire women to fight against male patriarchy. Not only did Gilman help women by writing “The Yellow Wallpaper” but she also became a women’s right activist. She became heavily involved in Women’s Suffrage Movements. She also influenced this area of social justice to such a degree of writing another book titled, Women and Economics. Gilman received many letters from women around the world, thanking her for the work that she has done by bringing awareness to women’s rights and inspiring other women (radcliffe.harvard.edu). Her work (such as “The Yellow Wallpaper”) gave motivation to numerous women around the world, to speak up because they do have a voice. Gilman’s legacy is stated as “to take pride in her womanhood, to courageously assert her own viewpoint to be fearless in the face of censure, and to achieve through serving society at large” (faculty.webster.edu). Without “The Yellow Wallpaper” sparking Charlotte Gilman’s famous career as an activist, many women would not have had the courage to stand up and speak up against Victorian patriarchy, otherwise known as male patriarchy.