The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

1009 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary analysis essay of the yellow wallpaper

Her Psychology of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Since its publication in New England Magazine in 1891, The Yellow Wallpaper has been one of the most contested and most analyzed pieces of literature. Literary critics have looked at the piece from many different perspectives including feminist and anti-feminist perspectives, psychological perspectives, and even perspectives looking at The Yellow Wallpaper as a science- fiction piece. Many analysts have even claimed that the work’s narrator is a direct reflection of
Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her political view on psychology of the time. However, most frequently, there have been two major critical psychological perspectives: psychology from a literary perspective, which tends to blame the illness of the narrator on the patriarchy of society; and psychology from a physician’s perspective, which looks at legitimate medical causes for the depression that the narrator suffers from. What these analyses of The Yellow Wallpaper lack is a balance that accepts both social and biological causes for the narrator’s insanity.
In order to better one’s understanding of The Yellow Wallpaper , one must first understand the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born in Hartford,
Connecticut in 1860. Gilman’s father left her mother shortly after Charlotte was born. Gilman was related to some of the most influential women of the time including Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . Charlotte attended Rhode Island School of Design for a time before moving on to work as a commercial artist and a teacher. She married a fellow artist named Charles Stetson in 1884 and they had a daughter the following year. She fell into a deep depression afte...

... middle of paper ...

...ngrando, J. S., eds. The Mixed Legacy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman .
Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 2000.
Hume, B. A. “Managing Madness in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper”.” Studies in
American Fiction . 30.1 (2002): 3-20.
Marecek, J. “Disappearances, Silences, and Anxious Rhetoric: Gender in Abnormal
Psychology Textbooks.” Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psy. Vol. 13. No.
2. 1993: 114-123.
Post, S. L. “His and Hers: Mental Breakdown as Depicted by Evelyn Waugh and Charlotte
Perkins Gilman.” Literature and Medicine . 9 (1990) p. 172-180.
Scott, H. “Crazed Nature: Ecology in “The Yellow Wall-Paper”.” The Explicator . 67.3
(2009): 198-203.
Tucker, P. et al. “Helping Medical Students Understand Postpartum Psychosis Through the
Prism of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” Academic Psychiatry , 28:3,
Fall 2004: 247-250.

Show More
Related

  • John Ernst Steinbeck

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    helped support the struggling couple. They divorced in 1942. She lived in Carmel Valley, CA after and died February 8, 1983.

    Read More

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on June 14, 1811. Her father was Lyman Beecher, pastor of the Congregational Church in Harriet’s hometown of Litchfield, Connecticut. Harriet’s brother was Henry Ward Beecher who became pastor of Brooklyn’s Plymouth Church. The religious background of Harriet’s family and of New England taught Harriet several traits typical of a New Englander: theological insight, piety, and a desire to improve humanity (Columbia Electronic Library; “Biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe”).

    Read More

  • MLA Biography Project

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Unfortunately, she got married to Claude Glenn, but she never really said it publicly since she knew he wasn’t really for her life so s...

    Read More

  • How Women Writers Of Uncle Tom's Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    Written expression is a beautiful thing and is a freedom Americans are granted when becoming citizens here. Harriet Beecher Stowe is known as “the most important American woman writer of the nineteenth century” (Showalter). Famous for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet published ten novels during her writing career. Stowe began writing in the 1830’s to support her family of seven children and husband, Calvin Stowe. Stowe wrote with a comedic tone, but yet, she also had intention. She was a very bright, intelligent leader, and a visionary of equality amongst all. Stowe lead in a different way, she made history through her writing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Despite writing

    Read More

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

    1645 Words  | 4 Pages

    Published in the early 1850’s, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a huge impact on our nation and contributed to the tension over slavery. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a woman who was involved in religious and feminist causes. Stowe’s influence on the northern states was remarkable. Her fictional novel about slave life of her current time has been thought to be one of the main things that led up to the Civil War. The purpose of writing it, as is often said, was to expose the evils of slavery to the North where many were unaware of just what went on in the rest of the country. The book was remarkably successful and sold 300,000 copies by the end of its first year. It is even rumored that upon President Lincoln’s meeting Stowe, Lincoln said, “So this is the little lady who made this big war.”

    Read More

  • Harry Truman

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    two married at the ages of 35 and 34, respectively. Eventually, they had one daughter,

    Read More

  • Bonnie And Clyde Research Paper

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    She was beautiful and full of life. At the age of sixteen, she married her high school sweetheart, Roy Thorton. The marriage turned sour but they did not divorce even though Roy was incarcerated.

    Read More

  • Lena Horne

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1924 she went back to live with her mother, traveling and being schooled all over the state until she was fourteen. At the age of fourteen she decided to drop out of school and go to work. Because she was talented and light skinned it was not hard for her to find a job. She became a chorus girl in Harlem’s Cotton Club where blacks entertained a strictly all white crowd. At that time she was making about $25 a week. It was here that Lena got to meet and observe now famous artists such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethal Waters, and Billie Holiday.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Somebody Somewhere Poem By Donna Williams

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her

    Read More

  • Imagery: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wallpaper, the narrator's obsession, destroyed the peace of mind for all parties concerned. The imagery, used in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper", paints a vivid picture and the reader becomes a front row spectator to the mental deterioration of the narrator to utter insanity.

    Read More

  • Internal Struggles in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Yellow Wallpaper” tells the story of a woman who is trapped in a room covered in yellow wallpaper. The story is one that is perplexing in that the narrator is arguably both the protagonist as well as the antagonist. In the story, the woman, who is the main character, struggles with herself indirectly which results in her descent into madness. The main conflicts transpires between the narrator and her husband John who uses his power as a highly recognize male physician to control his wife by placing limitations on her, forcing her to behave as a sick woman. Hence he forced himself as the superior in their marriage and relationship being the sole decision make. Therefore it can be said what occurred externally resulted in the central conflict of” “The Yellow Wallpaper being internal. The narrator uses the wallpaper as a symbol of authenticy. Hence she internalizes her frustrations rather then openly discussing them.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Uncle Tom's Cabin

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin along with other lesser known works. Stowe wrote to bring to light the wrongs in society, most notably slavery. The literary period, the historical period, the community in which she lived, her family background, her religious beliefs, and her education all influenced Stowe’s desire to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin illustrating the lives of slaves. Despite the criticism she received, she continued to support the abolitionist movement with the same conviction, her actions eventually fulfilling her true goal: freedom.

    Read More

  • Nina Simone

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Married twice and had one daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud (AKA Simone Kelly) who followed in her mother’s musical steps. In her later years, she became a world wanderer and preferred Europe to America.

    Read More

  • The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote The Yellow Wallpaper in 1890 about her experience in a psychiatric hospital. The doctor she had prescribed her “the rest cure” to get over her condition (Beekman). Gilman included the name of the sanitarium she stayed at in the piece as well which was named after the doctor that “treated” her. The short story was a more exaggerated version of her month long stay at Weir Mitchell and is about a woman whose name is never revealed and she slowly goes insane under the watch of her doctor husband and his sister (The Yellow Wallpaper 745). Many elements of fiction were utilized by Gilman in this piece to emphasize the theme freedom and confinement. Three of the most important elements are symbolism, setting and character.

    Read More

  • The Story Of An Hour And The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The desire to be a free person is very worthwhile. To be free means you are no longer the victim of fear, anger, craving, or suspicion” (Hanh). There are two women who share their thoughts and experiences with freedom through their writing: Kate Chopin in the “The Story of an Hour” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the “The Yellow Wallpaper”. During the time period in which these short stories occured, women were often looked down upon. In creating these works of literature, these female authors were breaking the stereotype and speaking out against the norm. In each of these story stories a theme of the women in the relationship having a strong desire to become free exists. At the end of the stories, each woman in their own way became free

    Read More

More about The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Open Document