“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story published in 1892 and written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This story depicts a woman in marriage from this time period and showcases how domestic women are stripped of their freedom to express free thought and speech in the late 19th century. Mrs.Gilman heavily uses symbolism in her story with the yellow wallpaper in the narrator’s room being the most obvious one. The wallpaper has parts to it which symbolizes different concepts. These parts include the wallpaper as a whole, the randomly intricate design upon the paper, and the woman inside of the wallpaper, behind the design.
The main function of the wallpaper is to symbolize traditions of society during this time period. During the time of 1892, women have already began the fight for suffrage and equal rights as men. Mrs.Gilman was a socialist during this time and wrote this short story based on her own life experience. She used the wallpaper to symbolize relations like family authority, social standings, and medical practices. In Mrs.Gilman’s story, she depicts the narrator as a woman who is slowly and gradually driven insane by the wallpaper in her room.
The design in the wallpaper was seen as prison bars of a cell. It symbolizes the restrictions of society that are implemented during this time period. The narrator in the story observed how the women in the wallpaper desperately searched the pattern for a means of escape. When some of the women were successful in squeezing through the small spaces in the pattern, they were strangled by the pattern to death. This event symbolizes how when a woman would try to speak out and convey to the world her thoughts, society would silence and strangle her, sometimes even leading her towards death.
As the story progresses, the narrator becomes more aware of the woman behind the design in the wallpaper. This shadow woman symbolizes the reality the narrator is in. The shadow woman is constantly “creeping” and crawling about within the wallpaper in search of escape. The longer the woman in the wallpaper stays there, the more bizarre she becomes; furthermore, it is as if the shadow woman is gradually becoming more insane within her confinement. This symbolized how restriction of free expression can in turn harm you mentally, driving you insane.
The main function of the wallpaper is to symbolize traditions of society during this time period. During the time of 1892, women have already began the fight for suffrage and equal rights as men. Mrs.Gilman was a socialist during this time and wrote this short story based on her own life experience. She used the wallpaper to symbolize relations like family authority, social standings, and medical practices. In Mrs.Gilman’s story, she depicts the narrator as a woman who is slowly and gradually driven insane by the wallpaper in her room.
The design in the wallpaper was seen as prison bars of a cell. It symbolizes the restrictions of society that are implemented during this time period. The narrator in the story observed how the women in the wallpaper desperately searched the pattern for a means of escape. When some of the women were successful in squeezing through the small spaces in the pattern, they were strangled by the pattern to death. This event symbolizes how when a woman would try to speak out and convey to the world her thoughts, society would silence and strangle her, sometimes even leading her towards death.
As the story progresses, the narrator becomes more aware of the woman behind the design in the wallpaper. This shadow woman symbolizes the reality the narrator is in. The shadow woman is constantly “creeping” and crawling about within the wallpaper in search of escape. The longer the woman in the wallpaper stays there, the more bizarre she becomes; furthermore, it is as if the shadow woman is gradually becoming more insane within her confinement. This symbolized how restriction of free expression can in turn harm you mentally, driving you insane.
In the ending, the narrator comes to the conclusion that the woman she constantly sees in the wallpaper was actually herself and she needed to break herself free from the prison. To do this, she tears and rips the wallpaper from the walls as to symbolize she is tearing apart societies expectations of her and setting her mind free. However, the cost of her mind being free is losing her sense of reason and becoming completely insane. Mrs.Gilman wished to portray this finale as society's view of which if women were to be allowed to reach complete freedom, then they would in turn be seen as insane. However, the readers of the story know the narrator was turned insane because of the restrictions placed upon her by society, not the freedom itself.
Very interesting!! I really like the conclusion at the end. I never thought about how society turned her insane instead of kept her from going insane. You're basically saying that society is counterintuitive. That's a very good point and I would like to hear more about it.
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