Color Symbolism: The Yellow Wallpaper

Madison McDonald Dr. Jeann Owens English 2110 November 25, 2016
Color Symbolism
Colors hold a great significance for many people around the world, varying throughout cultures, religions, and ethnic groups. Colors are also used to evoke different emotions in our soul such as; red for power and aggression, bright colors like yellow and orange representing warmth and happiness while blue and black portray sadness and depression. Along these same lines, do authors compose their symbolistic work. Throughout history authors have used color to express a deeper level of intellectual thinking to their audience, we refer to this as color symbolism.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman chose an ordinary color in one of the most well known examples of color symbolism,

She spends most of her time now examining the murky yellow wallpaper in the room, she is being treated in, "half the time now, am awfully lazy and lie down ever so much." Could her eyes be tired and weak from constantly being smothered by this color and the patterns it hides in its dingy crevices? Medically, can the narrators negative attitudes toward her physician husband be caused by the dreadful color? "Yellow can also create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies are more likely to cry in yellow rooms." (Cherry) Why does the narrator begin to obsess over the repetitive patterns though? According to Kendra Cherry, yellow is also an "attention getting color used to draw notice". So, not only is the narrator physically in a yellow room, but psychologically her mind is drawn to the yellow walls. Thus, the wallpaper is mentally holding the narrator captive as well as her demanding physician husband. However, we never see the narrator push her luck with the husband. Time and time again we see the narrator justify his reasoning for keeping her, but does she really want to leave? Soon after, Gilman comes to the conclusion that she is a part of the wallpaper, and it apart of her. The woman in the wallpaper is in fact her own self, "I have found out another funny thing, but I shan't tell it this time! It does not due to trust people too

So, the prince rounds up 1,000 of his courtiers who have not been inflicted by the plague into his abbey to protect them from this illness. After several months the prince decides to throw a grand ball. Decorating every room a different color, the last completely black with stained red windows, "A deep blood color" (Poe) The night of the grand ball when the clock struck twelve, a giant figure appeared. Killing the prince the figure reveals to the townspeople it is death, and the party-goers are doomed.
There are many symbolic figures in "The Mask of the Red Death" but the few that stuck out to me most were the clock, Prince Prospero, and the rooms. The Ebony clock is placed in the black room, signifing death. The clock represents the idea of death getting near and nearer each passing minute.
The seven rooms run east to west, much like the sun rises and its each day, demonstrating the cycle of life. Each room represents a new stage of our life according to the color. Room one is blue for birth. Room one is associate with a new beginning for all. Room two is purple, a mixture of blue (birth) and red (life), this room is suggested to represent growth and moving forward. Room three is green for the spring of life and youthfulness. Room four is bright orange for the summers of life. The fifth room is white, mimicking age, white hair and frail bones.