' The Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Trapped Within

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was a confusing piece of writing; there were many hidden messages that leaves the reader wondering if the narrator/protagonist, who went unnamed throughout the story, suffers from some type of nervous depression, mental issues, or she just was living under society ways. The narrator showed signs of hallucination throughout the story; like having seen an imaginary woman in a wallpaper that she would later compare too . She was left going back and fourth contemplating whether to stay in the nursery that she placed in to help better her condition. While in the nursery, she discovered a wallpaper that she describes as "a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken

The story is a smaller summary of what Gilman went through in her own life. Our narrator was going through postpartum depression, similar to our author. In the late 1800 's, suffering from depression, a physician would advise anybody to stay away from all types of life, confine yourself away criticism from others;our narrator was recommended to do the same. Writing "The Yellow Wallpaper" was like taking a crucial part of Gilman 's life and putting it into a story that would help youths of that time. Not only was Gilman relating to our narrator, but also audience all around the world dealing with the same problems. Many people can relate to the symptoms from depression; having a answer to deal with it another thing. "Like the narrator/protagonist she created, Gilman was both a writer and a reader. Gilman’s own defiance of doctor’s orders—her persistence as a writer—is well known to students of her work" (Hochman 12). Gilman did her own studies by doing the things that kept her mind busy, and doing the opposite of what anybody had to say. If you were going through similar problem and didn’t think a physician or doctor orders were doing the opposite of curing, then it was 'ok ' to find another way of handling it. That’s exactly what Charlotte Perkins Gilman did by picking up a pen and book and writing journals and

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