The Review of Yellow Wallpaper and Its Symbolizm

What does the Yellow Wallpaper symbolize Charlotte Perkins Gilmans' late 19th century work The Yellow Wallpaper examines the position of women in a society based totally on social expectations. She refers to the sexual popularity identification that ladies regularly encounter. She criticizes the woman's obligation to be the perfect spouse or the ideal mother. Her work The Yellow Wallpaper criticizes the sexual variations between husband and wife and the identities imposed on them by society. In Fredu's Oedipus Complex thesis, he says that girls favor to have male genitalia. At the same time, she states that the hysterical disease that happens after childbirth is more likely to be considered in female due to religion and social pressure. Of course, we see that Gilmans does no longer agree with this thesis as it is. However, it is tons greater probable that the 'hysterical' sickness will happen in a woman at a time when the girl is in a country of sexual assault, exploitation, violence and humiliation.

The Yellow Wallpaper highlights the events of the decay of a women’s health whilst she is trying to recover from being sick and is based around the life of a wife and her husband who’s an outstanding physician. The prose extract depicts the narrator’s progress into madness through the use of visual imagery, personification, and an extended metaphor to create a powerful story in order to illustrate the suffering of ‘temporary nervous depression’. The structure of this prose is in the form of a diary which interacts with the reader by telling them her experiences when her husband, John, is around. The beginning of this extract discusses her move to a ‘hereditary estate’, which symbolises the help to overcome her illness and further transfers to the revolting yellow wallpaper that the narrator constantly criticises.

The tone of this extract switches between being content to being troubled and more dismal. The use of the explanation when describing the estate ‘the most beautiful place!’ highlights how she feels appreciative of her current situation as she has somewhere to stay. The use of the adjective ‘beautiful’ diverts her addition from her condition to how observative she is of the house and where she is currently staying. However, this is immediately juxtaposed as she describes it to be ‘quite alone’, this draws a parallel to how she feels very isolated and separated from the rest of society. The theme of alienation and loneliness is highlighted here as she is moved into a deserted house and isolated in her room. The narrator often refers back to the husband being ‘caring and loving’ however, continues to address the fact that ‘she doesn’t like the room one bit’ which illustrates the frustrations she feels being stuck in the room.

The main imagery of this prose is seen through the use of the extended metaphor of the yellow wallpaper, and the more she stays in this room the more the fascination with it grows. The wife is driven insane by the yellow wallpaper, ‘I never saw a worse paper in my life’. The use of the colloquial language ‘never saw’ highlights how disruptive the wallpaper is to her, and she can’t make sense of it which leaves her confused and less likely to recover. This could further, allow the readers to relate to the mood of the poem as it is more relaxed and free flowing which makes it easier to understand the narrators point of view. Furthermore, Gilman uses the imagery of the wallpaper to signify the feeling of being trapped within your own thoughts ‘for the windows are barred for little children, and there are ring and things in the walls’. By comparing the room to being a like a nursery, highlights how it is unsettling for her and shows evidence of how John treats her like a child due to not being in the right state of mind. It is impossible for her to leave a room which is similar to being a child or living in a prison. The use of rhyme seen in this quote ‘rings and things’, is unusual due to being the only evidence of rhyme, and further gives the impression that the room was perhaps in fact not designed for a children’s nursery but designed in the form of a mental hospital. The imagery of the paint and wallpaper being destroyed with ‘things’ in the wall is paralleled to her distraught from the struggle of her depression. Moreover, the use of the list when analysing the wallpaper could be a personal symbol of the narrator’s inner self, ‘the colour is repellent, almost revolting, a smouldering, unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow turning sunlight’. This could be ironic as the wallpaper perhaps yellowed with age just like the women lying in bed over a long period of time trying to get over her illness. There could also be a sense of juxtaposition, as the colour yellow usually has warming connotations, relating to the sun. However, in this extract the purpose is the complete opposite as the women is going insane from ‘nervous depression’; instead, the yellow wallpaper refers to her frustration she feels being forced to stay in this old room which is further driving her insane. Lastly, the wallpaper could perhaps represent the structure of her relationship with her husband, as the ‘revolting’ wallpaper is a symbol of her trapped and broken life.

The narrative voice of The Yellow Wallpaper is seen through the use of the first-person pronouns and the unnamed women. The use of ‘I’ could suggest that Gilman wrote this story based on her own experience with depression and therefore this plays a part into the descriptive language. The use of the constant ‘I’ and ‘me’ allows the reader to connect with the narrator from a different perspective as they can understand or perhaps relate directly to her. Usually, it could incorporate a feeling of sympathy towards the narrator, and due to her not meant to be writing ‘he hates to have me write a word’, the reader follows the narrator into her emotions and confused mind. The narrator becomes closer with the inner reality of her life as she focuses on the setting around her and tries to ignore the fact that she is in fact ill by living in denial ‘John laughs at me’. The use of the verb ‘laughs’ continues to illustrate the idea that John doesn’t take her or her illness seriously, this could highlight the dominance he holds over her as he doesn’t trust her own judgement of her mental state.

Consequently, Gilman uses a variety of long, complex, and short simple sentences to change the balance and tone of the extract. She is able to pack a lot of information into her sentences without loosing interest to the reader and making them loose track.