The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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Recommended: Literary theme in the yellow wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper, has an autobiographical element to it. It was

written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The piece of work concentrates

on many different aspects of literature.

"The Yellow Wallpaper," has an autobiographical element to it. It was

written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The piece of work concentrates on

many different aspects of literature. It can be evaluated with ten

different types of literary criticism: formalist, biographical,

historical, psychological, mythological, sociological, gender,

reader-response, deconstructionist, and cultural studies.

Formalist criticism regards human knowledge that needs to be examined

on its own terms. It concentrates around the style, structure,

imagery, tone, and genre. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the tone is quite

depressing. The main character is going through depression and she is

restrained from doing what she loves most, writing. She is trapped in

a room that she hates, which is covered in yellow wallpaper.

Deconstructionist criticism rejects the traditional assumption that

language can accurately represent reality. The author, Charlotte

Perkins Gilman, writes this piece in such a way that the reader must

read between the lines to get the true meaning of the story. For

example, the main character peels back the wallpaper every night in

her room not only because she is depressed but because she sees the

woman as being trapped. All she wants to do is free her from her

captivity. This resembles and shows imagery of the woman and her life.

This story is much more than a woman that is insane and is ignored by

her husband. She wants to escape her depression, and the woman she

imagines trapped behind the wallpaper is only an image of herself. The

struc...

... middle of paper ...

.... Her husband disregards her and

leaves her in the room alone to heal her depression without being able

to experience what she is going through.

Cultural studies focuses on understanding the social power encoded in

"texts." Cultural studies basically combines all the methods of

literary criticism. "The Yellow Wallpaper," Gilman demonstrates

symbolism, style, imagery, and the society throughout her work. The

story is a narrative that mirrors the author's life and experiences.

It also focuses around the time period and women's struggle during

that time.

"The Yellow Wallpaper," is a unique story written by Charlotte Perkins

Gilman. It is not just a story about a woman trapped in a room by

doctor's orders. It shows symbolism and has deep meaning once it is

analyzed and thought over. Gilman does an excellent job of including

issues of society in her work.

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