1. If the narrator is the protagonist in this story, who (or what) is the antagonist? With whom (or what), exactly, is she in conflict? What does the narrator seem to want, and what prevents her from getting it? Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is peculiar in and of itself due to the fact that there is no clear antagonist. Some may argue that it is the narrator’s husband, John, or even the narrator herself, and each are viable choices, owing to the fact that she is in conflict with both. In the first case, the narrator is in conflict with John because she is sick and he doesn’t believe she is, thus preventing her from getting the treatment she wants and so desperately needs. Additionally, the narrator longs for some sort of …show more content…
The two seem to have a solid relationship, as any husband and wife should, with the narrator stating, “He is very careful and loving” (Gilman), with John urging his wife to rest and gain strength so she could recover quickly. Despite this, one may argue that John doesn’t listen to his wife and therefore treats her poorly, seeing as how he wouldn’t let her do what she wanted like change rooms, visit family, or write. But, this is done for a reason, because as a physician, John truly felt that he was doing what was right for his wife, believing she only needed a restful break without any strenuous activity after concluding that there was nothing medically wrong with his wife, insisting it is only “temporary nervous depression” (Gilman). However, it’s not that John is a bad husband per se, for he genuinely cared for his wife, it’s just that he wasn’t giving her the proper help she deserved and failed to realize it. John’s treatment wasn’t want our narrator needed, as seen when she states, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman), and ultimately led to her increasing instability. But, we must also remember that during the time period this story is set in, mental illness was not widely understood nor accepted. In fact, it was common practice to have people with mental illnesses (and, in some cases, those who didn’t) locked away in an asylum indefinitely. Perhaps John knew that there was something mentally unstable about his wife ever since the birth of their child, which may be why he insisted that she wasn’t sick in the hopes that she would “snap out of it”. Chances are that John was trying to avoid the asylum outcome at all costs, knowing what truly happens to those who were mentally unstable and trying to prevent his wife
1.Who is the narrator of the story? How is he or she connected to the story ( main character, observer, minor character)?
When a person attempts to control someone else’s life, it only reflects the lack of control they have on their own. My mother always used to tell me “don’t let someone change who you are, to become what they need.” After reading the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman I thought of my mother’s saying. This short story is very interesting. It begins by the perspective of a women who is suffering from temporary nervous depression. The narrator begins by describing a huge mansion that she and her husband, John, have rented for the summer. John is a mysterious man who is also a physician. Their move into the country is partially motivated by his desire to expose his suffering wife to its clean air and calm life so she
The "Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman is a great story about the repression of women in the late 1800's but is still representative of issues faced by women today. She writes from her own personal experiences and conveys a message that sometimes in a male dominated society women suffer from the relentless power that some men implement over women.
In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a woman living in the 19h century is telling about a summer she spent in a house, which turns out to be an eerie and gloomy stay. A woman, who is suffering from depression, tells the story in 1st point of view. She tells about her experience and how she felt. She even lets us in on her thoughts. She eventually finds a way to escape from her imprisonment.
a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal-" (p801) It
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses symbolism to explain the purpose of the wallpaper, and why it’s one of the largest symbols in the story. The narrator is part of the wallpapers symbolism and the reason why it deprives such a massive part of the story. The women trapped behind the wallpaper explains the mental block men attempted to place on women. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a symbol of the restriction on women, the struggle for equality, and the possibilities of the female sex during the 1800’s. Charlotte Perkins Gilman prepares her readers to experience the many life troubles the narrator is going through by putting her story in first person.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be perceived in a few different ways. Greg Johnson wrote an article describing his own perception of what he believed the short story meant. In doing so, it can be noticed that his writing aligns well with what can be perceived from Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story. The narrator Jane, experiences many things throughout Gilman’s story, which Johnson describes thoroughly. It is because of these descriptive points that allow Johnsons article to be a convincing argument. The main ideas that Johnson depicts that are supported and I agree with from the story include Janes developing imaginative insight, her husband and sister-in-law’s belief on domestic control, and her gained power through unconsciousness.
The short story titled, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is given its name for no other reason than the disturbing yellow wallpaper that the narrator comes to hate so much; it also plays as a significant symbol in the story. The wallpaper itself can represent many various ideas and circumstances, and among them, the sense of feeling trapped, the impulse of creativity gone awry, and what was supposed to be a simple distraction transfigures into an unhealthy obsession. By examining the continuous references to the yellow wallpaper itself, one can begin to notice how their frequency develops the plot throughout the course of the story. As well as giving the reader an understanding as to why the wallpaper is a more adequate and appropriate symbol to represent the lady’s confinement and the deterioration of her mental and emotional health. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the color of the wallpaper symbolizes the internal and external conflicts of the narrator that reflect the expectations and treatment of the narrator, as well as represent the sense of being controlled in addition to the feeling of being trapped.
"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, depicts a woman in isolation, struggling to cope with mental illness, which has been diagnosed by her husband, a physician. Going beyond this surface level, the reader sees the narrator as a developing feminist, struggling with the societal values of the time. As a woman writer in the late nineteenth century, Gilman herself felt the adverse effects of the male-centric society, and consequently, placed many allusions to her own personal struggles as a feminist in her writing. Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes a psychological journey that correlates with the advancement of her mental condition. The restrictions which society places on her as a woman have a worsening effect on her until illness progresses into hysteria. The narrator makes comments and observations that demonstrate her will to overcome the oppression of the male dominant society. The conflict between her views and those of the society can be seen in the way she interacts physically, mentally, and emotionally with the three most prominent aspects of her life: her husband, John, the yellow wallpaper in her room, and her illness, "temporary nervous depression." In the end, her illness becomes a method of coping with the injustices forced upon her as a woman. As the reader delves into the narrative, a progression can be seen from the normality the narrator displays early in the passage, to the insanity she demonstrates near the conclusion.
Yellow Wallpaper - Bedroom.. As the story progresses in, The Yellow Wallpaper, it is as if the space of the bedroom turns in on itself, folding in on the body as the walls take hold of it, epitomizing the narrator's growing intimacy with control. Because the narrator experiences the bedroom in terms of John's draconian organization, she relies on her prior experiences of home in an attempt to allay the alienation and isolation the bedroom creates. Recalling her childhood bedroom, she writes, "I remember what a kindly wink the knobs of our big, old bureau used to have, and there was one chair that always seemed like a strong friend. . . I could always hop into that chair and feel safe" (Gilman 17).
The story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story about control. In the late 1800's, women were looked upon as having no effect on society other than bearing children and keeping house. It was difficult for women to express themselves in a world dominated by males. The men held the jobs, the men held the knowledge, the men held the key to the lock known as society . . . or so they thought. The narrator in "The Wallpaper" is under this kind of control from her husband, John. Although most readers believe this story is about a woman who goes insane, it is actually about a woman’s quest for control of her life.
The narrator claims that John loves her, “He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick” (651). The narrator believes that John loves her and wants to get her better. If the narrator is correct, then John would provide the best treatment for his wife; especially, because he is a “…physician of high standing…” (648). John provides rest as a recommended treatment, “I lie down ever so much now. John says it is good for me, and to sleep all I can” (653). In this quote, the narrator is saying that he is offering advice that he thinks is best for her. “The Yellow Wallpaper” has a historical setting that occurs during a time in medicine where any physician can treat a patient’s physical body or their physiological well-being. In today’s health profession, there are now doctors who treat the physical body and doctors who work solely on the physiological part of the body. Since there isn’t any specialist on the mental part of health, a common treatment for depression is “rest cure”. When one is treated with the “rest cure”, a part of the treatment is to get a lot of rest, so John is simply giving her what treatment is available in her time period. In addition to John’s affection and professional opinion of the narrator’s mental health, the narrator declares, “John says if I don 't pick up faster
There are multiple possible causes for the internal conflict the narrator faces. The first being nervous depression and the other is the fact that her life is being controlled by her husband. Her husband is in full control because in the beginning of the story, John, her husband, influences how she should act. He decides the actions that should be taken in regards to her health and sanctity. Although she finds herself disagreeing with his synopsis, she is confined and does not admit how she feels to him. This also brings about another a major conflict that occurred in the 19th century, men being dominant and woman being categorized as inferior. Evidence can be found when the narrator states, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with o...
"If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression -- a slight hysterical tendency -- what is one to do?" (Gilman 1). Many women in the 1800's and 1900's faced hardship when it came to standing up for themselves to their fathers, brothers and then husbands. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator of the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", is married to a physician, who rented a colonial house for the summer to nurse her back to health after her husband thinks she has neurasthenia, but actually suffers from postpartum depression. He suggested the 'rest cure'. She should not be doing any sort of mental or major physical activity, her only job was to relax and not worry about anything. Charlotte was a writer and missed writing. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is significant to literature in the sense that, the author addresses the issues of the rest cure that Dr. S. Weir Mitchell prescribed for his patients, especially to women with neurasthenia, is ineffective and leads to severe depression. This paper includes the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in relation to women rights and her contribution to literature as one of her best short story writings.
The woman behind this work of literature portrays the role of women in the society during that period of time. "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a well written story describing a woman who suffers from insanity and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The author uses her own experience to criticize male domination of women during the nineteenth century. Although the story was written fifty years ago, "The Yellow Wallpaper" still brings a clear message how powerless women were during that time.