The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis

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“The Yellow Wallpaper” By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The mind is a fragile thing, and holding it back could just as well lead to its destruction. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author expresses several big themes that underlay in the bold text, the subservience of women in their marriages, and being able to let out ones self expression.
The narrator is an imaginative woman, she tells of how when she was younger she would scare herself, because of her intense imaginative skills. She could look at a blank wall and see waves and stories while other people would just see a pale, still pallet. John, the narrators husband and a physician, tries to force his wife to hold back her mind. This is what ultimately drives the narrator to insanity.
Her imagination, strong will, and thoughtful mind are looked badly upon. Her husband tells her that her normal feminine responses, such as crying and emotions are an “illness” that need to be controlled before she can go anywhere or see anyone. She is taught to be a passive and well behaved lady, whom is only allowed to lay in her bed while every one else does everything for her, even take care of her child. She even has to hide the fact that she writes down her thoughts for fear that she will be scolded and made fun of, she continues to say, “But I MUST say what I feel and think in some way—it is such a relief!” (Gilman) She is basically held captive behind the bars on the windows of the room, with the occasional walk in the garden. “ There are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.” (Gilman 1.19) The author purposefully describes the structure of the house in a manor to highlight the Narrators confine...

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...er her imaginative release. Her obsession leads her to have to discover how to let the woman out before anyone else, she needs to let herself out. But her fancy towards the paper is insanity, because she cannot let the woman out, no matter how hard she tries, she will always be a captive. (Gulullo)
Even though the narrator is confined and silenced throughout the story, she triumphs. She is trapped in her gender role as the lame, and weak female, therefore she may not express her creativity, but in the end, her fascination with her only outlet of thought other than hiding from her peers, leads to her achievement of a greater sense of self as she acts out her madness. She can finally express herself without caring what people say or who will do something to her. Her insanity was a great step for her, because she can now think how she wants to think. She is now free.

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