The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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“There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will” (Gilman 483). Using the central symbol of the wallpaper Ms. Gilman allows her protagonist, Jane, to articulate the state of her own mind via her obsession with the wallpaper of her room. The descriptions of the wallpaper change in complexity to reflect the degree with which the Jane’s mind has descended into psychosis. The wallpaper’s description also serves as a visual frame of reference for the reader as the main character begins to hallucinate.
When Jane arrives at the summer estate with her husband, a physician of some repute, she immediately begins to fantasize that the location is haunted, at the least strange, she can “feel it” (479). We begin to see that something is occurring with her mentally, that possibly she is the one feeling strange. “This is our first intimation that all is not right, though whether with the house, or with Jane, we have yet to be told. However, the fact that she tells us at the beginning that this is not a haunted house, suggests that the "queerness" will lie with her” (Kerr). This is again reinforced in the next lines when she confesses that she get “unreasonably angry” with her husband (479). She is sure that she “never use to be this way” (479). This is the effects of her suffering from postpartum depression, finally falling under a psychosis by story’s end.
Jane’s condition would have likely been an embarrassment her prominent husband and explains why he is personally treating instead of having referring her to another physician. We can surmise from the text she works as a writer, but has been “absolutely forbidden to work” until she is well again (478). She admits continuing to write, but has to hide the fact or face “he...

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... the breakdown we see in the story.

Works Cited

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Walpaper." The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eleventh Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 478-489. Print.

Johnson, Greg. “Gilman’s Gothic Allegory: Rage and Redemption in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 277-293. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Karpinski, Joanne B. “An Introduction to Critical Essays on Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 277-293. Print

Kerr, Calum A. "Literary Contexts in Short Stories: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." Literary Contexts In Short Stories: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

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