Literary Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

In literature, women are often depicted as weak, compliant, and inferior to men. The nineteenth century was a time period where women were repressed and controlled by their husband and other male figures. Charlotte Gilman, wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper," showing her disagreement with the limitations that society placed on women during the nineteenth century. According to Edsitement, the story is based on an event in Gilman’s life. Gilman suffered from depression, and she went to see a physician name, Silas Weir Mitchell. He prescribed the rest cure, which then drove her into insanity. She then rebelled against his advice, and moved to California to continue writing. She then wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is inflated version of her experience. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the main character is going through depression and she is being oppressed by her husband and she represents the oppression that many women in society face. Gilman illustrates this effect through the use of symbols such as the yellow wallpaper, the nursery room, and the barred windows. The nursery in the story symbolizes the way women were treated like children. In the story, the narrator's husband places her in a nursery room, because she was going through post pardon depression, and he felt she shouldn't be able to see her child while she was sick. As she starts settle into the room, the more she begins to act like a child. Like a baby she could not leave the room whenever she wanted to, she couldn't do nothing but look at the wall and ceiling, and she was kept in one place under the care of her husband. John would treat her like a child by calling her names like "blessed little goose," and "little girl." Just like a baby she would cry for nothing most of the... ... middle of paper ... ...demonstrates the oppression that women had to face in society during the nineteenth century. The nursery room, the yellow wallpaper, and the windows, all symbolize in some way the oppression of women done by men. She bases the story on one of her life experiences. Charlotte Gilman wrote the story because she believed that men and women should be treated equally. Works Cited Beekman, Mary. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman." Webster University. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. "Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman." Britannica: Academic Edition. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper"—Writing Women." EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web. Web. 05 Mar. 2011. Gilman, Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Literature a World of Writing: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays. Ed. David Pike, and Ana Acosta. New York: Longman, 2011. 543-51. Print.