hhhh

The story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” centers on the life of a woman, whose name we never learn, narrating her daily experiences as she slowly starts to lose touch with reality after giving birth. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Gilman uses the internal and external conflicts of the narrator to reflect the expectations and treatment women encountered during the time period. Furthermore Gilman uses the yellow wallpaper in the story to symbolize the central character, while also emphasizing her sense of entrapment. In this short story the narrator is confined to an isolated room where her only outlet is her thoughts. The narrator’s situation is representative of a period where men dominated women.

In the beginning of the story the narrator and her husband John, acquire a colonial mansion for the summer. Early on it is stated that John is a physician whose beliefs are possibly partially to blame for his wife’s condition. Gilman states, “John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind–) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (238). This statement implies that due to the fact that her husband is also her physician, that this conflict of interest is perhaps detrimental to her recovery. The narrator goes on to describe the helplessness she feels in her situation, which was is a recurring theme in the story.

Roberts 2

Gilman states, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? . . . So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, a...

... middle of paper ...

...or used the wallpaper to represent the restriction of women during this time period while highlighting the misunderstandings of medical problems concerning women due to lack of communication.

In the story the narrator is initially depicted as a women who has recently given birth, and may be suffering from post-partum depression. Due to an inability to fully communicate with her husband and a fear to express her true feelings, she goes misdiagnosed and suffers because of it. By the end of the story through her madness she is able to gain the strength to break out of the confinement of her husband. Gilman, in one fail swoop has expressed what can happen when women decide to stay quiet and adhere to the rules implemented by men. Without the freedom of expression women will never be able to emerge from the internment of their situation to reveal their true identities.