Symbolism and Repression in The Yellow Wallpaper - 2041 Words

Symbolism and Repression in The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is as a wonderful example of the gothic horror genre. It was not until the rediscovery of the story in the early 1970’s that â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was recognized as a feminist indictment of a male dominated society. The story contains many typical gothic trappings, but beneath the conventional faà §ade hides a tale of repression and freedom told in intricate symbolism as seen through the eyes of a mad narrator. It is difficult to discuss the meaning in this story without first examining the author’s own personal experience. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† gives an account of a woman driven to madness as a result of the†¦show more content†¦Many of the passages concerning the husband can be interpreted as containing sarcasm, a great many contain irony, and several border on parody (Johnson 528). It is true that the husband’s language is exaggerated at times, but dismissing the husband’s character as caricature seems extreme. He is instead the natural complement to the narrator’s madness and uncontrolled fancy: the character of John is control and â€Å"sanity† as defined by Victorian culture and is therefore the narrator’s opposite. Greg Johnson notes that John exhibits a near-obsession with â€Å"reason,† even as his wife grows mad. He is the narrator’s necessary counterpart, without whose stifling influence her eventual fr eedom would not be gained. And he is also transformed at the end of the tale—in a reversal of traditional gothic roles—because it is he, not a female, who faints when confronted with madness (529). Central to the story is the wallpaper itself. It is within the wallpaper that the narrator finds her hidden self and her eventual damnation/freedom. Her obsession with the paper begins subtly and then consumes both the narrator and the story. Once settled in the long-empty â€Å"ancestral estate,† a typical gothic setting, the narrator is dismayed to learn that her husband has chosen the top-floor nursery room for her. The room is papered in horrible yellow wallpaper, the design of which â€Å"commit[s] every artistic sin†(426). The design begins to fascinate the narrator and sheShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1511 Words   |  7 Pagesaddress controversial social issues of the time period. One of these writers was Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Her work, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, addresses the reality of gender status and roles and the treatment of psychological disorders during the nineteenth century. When explicating her work through a psychological perspective, it is clear to see how Gilman uses setting, symbolism, and personification to portray a realistic view of a woman with a psychological disorder and her treatment. CharlotteRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1472 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, is a great example of early works pertaining to feminism and the disease of insanity. Charlotte Gilman’s own struggles as a woman, mother, and wife shine through in this short story capturing the haunting realism of a mental breakdown.The main character, much like Gilman herself, slips into bouts of depression after the birth of her child and is prescribed a ‘rest cure’ to relieve the young woman of her suffering. Any use of theRead MoreComparison and Contrast of the Yellow Wallpaper and the Rose for Emily1078 Words   |  5 PagesParis Claypool Eng 120 Essay 1 06/12/2010 A Rose for Emily and The Yellow Wallpaper â€Å"A Rose for Emily’’ By William Faulkner and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,† are two short stories that both incorporate qualities of similarities and difference. Both of the short stories are about how and why these women changed for lunacy. These women are forced into solitude because of the fact that they are women. Emily’s fatherRead MoreThemes, Symbols, and Feelings in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman763 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist symbolizes the effect of the oppression of women in society in the Nineteenth Century. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the author reveals the narrator is torn between hate and love, but emotion is difficult to determine. The effects are produced by the use of complex themes used in the story, which assisted her oppression and reflected on her self-expression. The yellow wallpaper is a symbol of oppression in a woman who felt herRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Gilman992 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The yellow wallpaper† The Yellow Wallpaper is a story about women’s repression in the 19th century. This story shows an immense difference between men and women inside society. While the men are the one making the decisions and taking responsibility, women must accept their obligations. The protagonist is repressed and appear for the effect of the oppression of women in society. This effect is develop by the use of complex symbols such as, the room, the wallpaper, the window which facilitates herRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper829 Words   |  4 Pages The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper first appeared in 1892 and became a notary piece of literature for it s historical and influential context. Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper was a first hand account of the oppression faced toward females and the mentally ill,whom were both shunned in society in the late 1890s. It is the story of an unnamed woman confined by her doctor-husband to an attic nursery with barred windows and a bolted down bed. Forbidden to writeRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Yellow Wallpaper 1332 Words   |  6 Pagesmoonlight makes the woman behind the wallpaper become clearer night by night. This personification describes the way insanity is creeping onto the narrator. For a very long time, the moon associates with early fertility-centered societies and female power. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† the contrast between daytime with its constant limitations and nighttime with its unpredictable freedoms are symbolized by the alternating effects of sun and moonlight on the wallpaper. During the daytime the freedom ofRead MoreThe Cult Of The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1371 Words   |  6 PagesMichael Zhao K. Keogh AP Lit. Period 3 22 January 2015 The Cult of Domesticity â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts a young woman’s gradual descent into insanity due to her entrapment, both mentally and physically, in the restrictive cult of domesticity. Through the narrator’s creeping spiral into madness, Gilman seeks to shed light upon the torturous and constraining societal conditions in which women are expected to live, that permeates throughout all aspects of their livesRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1205 Words   |  5 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, written in 1892, is a short story told from the perspective of a woman believed to be â€Å"crazy†. The narrator believes her craziness to be a form of sickness. However, the narrator’s husband, John, believes her to be suffering from a temporary nervous depression. As the narrator’s condition worsens, she begins to see a woman moving from behind the yellow wallpaper in their bedroom. The wallpaper captures the narrator’s attention and as a result drivesRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Katherine Perkins Gilman And Ms. Brill1206 Words   |  5 Pagesthat most affect people. Loneliness is about feeling disconnected from the rest of the world. Being isolated have a negative impact on society, but it will also have a negative impact on the person being isolated. The two short stories, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and â€Å"Ms. Brill† by Katherine Mansfield focuses on the way two women experience loneliness, isolation, and social expectation in their society. Social expectations may hold back women from achieving their fullest potential