How Does The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolism

1574 Words4 Pages

Portillo-Lopez 6

Charlee Portillo-Lopez
Mrs. Stanley
English III
5 Dec 2017
The connection between symbols and mental illness in "The Yellow Wallpaper" In the story "The Yellow Wallpaper," it shows very explicit symbols rather than very detailed characters. This vague description shown in this text about the author gives the overall idea of the treatment of women in the late 1800s. The representation of the symbols in "The Yellow Wallpaper," connects to women with mental illness during this time period. These symbols become essential to the story and the feminist ideas it was portraying. Symbols such as the wallpaper, John, the author, her journal, and her baby are what creates a sense of origin in her illness and how it was developed in …show more content…

She is trapped mentally and physically in her case. The writer uses the setting to her advantage to portray this solitude, "It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village." (Gilman 1). Along with the isolated house, then also in forced into an isolated room where her feelings evolved from just feeling trapped. In this room she describes the room itself as "…a big airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore." (Gilman 2).
However, when it comes to describing the wallpaper she only feels disgusted with it and calls it a "…artistic sin…repellent, almost revolting;" (Gilman 2). She feels so disgustedly-obsessed with this yellow wallpaper because it is a reflection of herself trapped like the woman she sees stuck in the wallpaper, "And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern I don't like it one bit." (Gilman 4). The wallpaper entraps the woman the author sees, but the people in her life are the entrapment of the …show more content…

The author feels a sense of guilt because she cannot be or raise her own child due to the illness she has. What she feels is completely normal, but even if the text says she feels guilt her tone makes her seem as she isn't emotionally attached, "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby!" (Gilman 3). This quote makes it seem like she does not have an emotional connection towards the baby. But her emotional inability is due to the fact she most likely sufferers through her post-partum depression. "With postpartum depression, feelings of sadness and anxiety can be extreme and might interfere with a woman's ability to care for herself or her family." (The National Institution of Mental Health). This is very apparent in the story, the author is not able to take herself mentally. Even if the story does not state that she suffers from this she has many symptoms that show a high possibility of it. A symptom the article mentions is anxiety or nervousness, she has shown this especially when mentioning or thinking of the child, "And yet I CANNOT be with him, it makes me so nervous." (Gilman 2). The child is another example of the vagueness of character, but it, in fact, symbolizes the female expectation in the late 1800s. Therefore, the child remains unnamed, but it is also to show the emotional detachment of the mother and child. In general, the child serves as

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