It represents the psychological block that society attempts to place on women during the 1800’s. The color distinct color yellow is connected with sickness and weakness which displays the gender differences of how society sees women as weak and men inferior. The wallpaper in fact makes the main character feel “sick” as the short story develops. As a matter of fact, the wallpaper draws a line between insanity and sanity that the narrator faces. Quawas offers honest insight and advice on “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and its symbolic significance that is portrayed throughout the short story.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” to express her opinions about feminism and originality. Gilman does so by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman's psychological disorder, her entire mental state characterized by her encounters with the wallpaper in her room. She incorporates imagery and symbolism to show how confined the narrator is because of her gender and mental illness. Gilman incorporates strong imagery throughout "The Yellow Wallpaper" to set the scene for the story and foreshadow the certain madness that is to come of the narrator. As the story progresses, so does the woman's declining mental status.
According to Carol Westcamp, "the author designed the wallpaper...to be yellow for a reason" ("Smouldering"). Even though "yellow is often viewed as a cheerful, joyful color...[it] can also cause unpleasant, exciting, and hostile moods due its symbolism" (Westcamp). The wallpaper takes on a distinctive odor that " 'creeps all over the house,' drenching every room in its subtle aroma of decay" (Gilbert 35). The only thing the narrator "can think of that [the smell] is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell" (Kivo 23).
The Truth Hidden Behind the Yellow Wallpaper Throughout the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman the reader can identify how the narrator’s interpretation of the yellow wallpapers changes as she became mad and fixated on the pattern hidden within. As the story progresses, the viewer can discover how the wallpaper becomes significant to the narrator, through her fascination with the ostensibly formless model, and urge to figure out what it means. The pattern within the unsettling yellow wallpaper is a vital symbol within the text because as the narrator’s interpretation of the pattern changes, the wallpaper figuratively begins to reflect how she feels trapped. The narrator’s obsession with the patterned wallpaper
In 1892 Author, Poet, and Feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a heart gripping short story that would shock the world and bring awareness to a serious illness of depression called The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte was not just an ordinary author, she was intelligent, courageous, creative and also a social activist who believed in independent economic status for women. (Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Bio. Par. 4) Unfortunately, Charlotte also battled severe depression in her life time, and had to seek constant treatment for nervous breakdowns that would cloud her mind, she also brought light to her depressive illness by tapping into her deep inner-creative imagination.
The use of the fallen scarlet ibis as a symbol for Doodle stresses the similarities in the fragility of Doodle and the bird. Both were driven to gruesome deaths and if readers were to imagine witnessing a gruesome death, it forces them to feel sympathy for those involved in the death. Therefore, the death of the Doodle makes readers feel sympathy, thus creating a dreary mood in the section. With the use of diction and symbolism during Doodle’s death, the author is able to create a dreary mood in the section. To conclude, in the novella, “The Scarlet Ibis,” various events occur, mainly including periods of death, terror, and selfishness.
Schizophrenia in The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wall-Paper," does more than just tell the story of a woman who suffers at the hands of 19th century quack medicine. Gilman created a protagonist with real emotions and a real psych that can be examined and analyzed in the context of modern psychology. In fact, to understand the psychology of the unnamed protagonist is to be well on the way to understanding the story itself. "The Yellow Wall-Paper," written in first-person narrative, charts the psychological state of the protagonist as she slowly deteriorates into schizophrenia (a disintegration of the personality). Schizophrenia manifests itself through a number of symptoms.
In The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses setting as the basis for the resolution and actions of the narrator and main character. The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story of a sick woman, with details of the building, weather, smell, and objects in the story allowing for an effective vision of the story. Along with Charlotte Gilman’s advanced diction setting is used as an effective expression of the intended atmosphere. The expansion of setting can be seen in details about mansion the family moves to and the environment surrounding them. Being part of setting, the location in which the family moved to is made very important and an evident focal point for how the story results.
In this short story, the author used her own experience with her depression after giving birth to share how she feels. Gilman shows in her writing how the perception of the society influences in a women illness, in which the best solution was isolated her. The social context in the nineteenth-century represented women just as housekeepers which made Gilman’s recuperation more frustrated. In The Yellow Wallpaper, when the narrator is diagnosed
Gilman and Chekhov use the protagonists, the narrator and Varka, to effectively demonstrate the danger of oppression in its many forms. Through “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman was able to expose the poor medicinal practices of Dr. Weir Mitchell and the danger of his famous “rest cure” regimen, a ploy to reinforce gender roles; Mitchell was sent a copy of the story upon its publication (Kautz). Through “Sleepy,” Chekhov exposed the danger of psychological and physical abuse, as well as the mistreatment of those in servitude, two issues relating to his own background and upbringing (Bloom). Although the oppression of the narrator and of Varka stem from differing forces, both characters eventually reach a psychological breaking point, demonstrated through Gilman and Chekhov’s use of powerful symbolism and imagery. Both stories include extreme endings, which reflect the psychological state of each protagonist and how it influences their final act to break free from oppression.