Understanding Yellow Wallpaper: Summary and Analysis (2023)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, tells the story of a young woman's gradual descent into psychosis. "The Yellow Wallpaper is often cited as one of the first feminist works.predates women's suffrage in the United States. The author was involved in the first wave of feminism and her other works questioned the origins of the subjugation of women, mainly in marriage. "

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a widely read work that raises difficult questions about the role of women, particularly in relation to their mental health and their right to autonomy and self-identity. We will go through the summary, themes and symbols of yellow wallpaper, discuss them and provide some important information about the author.

Summary of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

"The Yellow Wallpaper" describes thatDeterioration of Women's Mental Healthwhile she and her family do a "recovery cure" at a rented summer estate. Her obsession with the yellow wallpaper in her room marks her descent into psychosis from her depression throughout the story.

Yellow Wallpaper's narrator begins the story by talking about moving to a beautiful property in the summer.Her husband, John, is also her doctor., and the move is intended in part to help the narrator get over her "illness", which she explains as a nervous breakdown or jitters after the birth of her baby. John's sister Jennie also lives with them and works as a maid.

Although your husband thinks he will be better off resting and not worrying about anything,The narrator has an active imagination and enjoys writing.. He discourages his astonishment with the house and dismisses his interests. She mentions her baby more than once, although there is a nurse taking care of the baby and the narrator herself is too nervous to take care of her.

The narrator and her husband move into a large room that hasugly yellow wallpaperwhich the narrator criticizes. She asks her husband if they can switch rooms and go downstairs and he declines. The longer he remains in the room, the more the narrator's fascination with the hideous wallpaper grows.

After welcoming a family on the 4th of July, the narrator expresses feeling even worse and more exhausted. You are having trouble carrying out your daily activities and your mental state is deteriorating. John encourages her to get more rest, and the narrator hides her writing from him because he disapproves of her.

In the period between the 4th of July and your departureThe narrator apparently freaks out over the yellow wallpaper.; She sleeps all day and stays up all night looking at him believing he will come to life and the patterns will change and move. He then begins to believe there is a woman in the wallpaper, changing the patterns and watching her.

A few weeks before they leave, John is going to spend the night in town and the narrator wants to sleep alone in her room so she can look at the wallpaper undisturbed. She blocks Jennie andI think you see the woman in the wallpaper. John returns, desperately trying to get in, and the narrator refuses; John manages to enter the room and finds the narrator crawling on the floor. She claims that the woman on the wallpaper is finally gone, and much to her surprise, John collapses.

Background for "The Yellow Wallpaper"

The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was a professor of social reform, and her faith and philosophy play an important role in the creation of The Yellow Wallpaper and the themes and symbolism of the story. "The Yellow Wallpaper" also influenced later feminist writers.

charlotte perkins-gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, known as Charlotte Perkins Stetsman when married to her first husband, was born in 1860 in Hartford, CT. Young Charlotte considered herself smart, but her mother was not interested in her education and Charlotte spent a lot of money on the library.

Charlotte married Charles Stetsman in 1884, and their daughter was born in 1885. She suffered from severe postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter Katharine.Her battle with postpartum depression and the doctors she treated during her illness inspired her to write The Yellow Wallpaper.

The couple separated in 1888, the year Perkins Gilman wrote his first book,Art treasures for the home and fireplace.He later wrote The Yellow Wallpaper in 1890 while in a relationship with Adeline Knapp and living apart from her lawful husband. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1892, and in 1893 he published a book of satirical poetry.In this world of ourswhich made him famous.

Eventually, Perkins Gilman officially divorced Stetsman and ended his relationship with Knapp. She married her cousin Houghton Gilman,and claimed to be happily married.

Perkins Gilman earned his living as aSpeaker on women's issues, labor issues and social reforms. He has traveled throughout Europe and the United States as a speaker and founded his own magazine,O precursor.

publication

"The Yellow Wallpaper" was first published in January 1892New England Magazine.

During Perkins Gilman's lifetime, the role of women in American society was severely restricted, both socially and legally. At the time of publication, women were stilltwenty-six years to acquire the right to vote.

This view of women as childish and weak meant that they were discouraged from having control over their lives.Women were encouraged or forced to yield to their husbands' opinions under all circumstances., including financial, social and medical. The writing itself was revolutionary as it created a sense of self and was considered too much for inherently fragile women.

Women's health has been a particularly misunderstood area of ​​medicine, as women were seen as nervous and hysterical beings and discouraged from doing anything to "bother" them further. The prevailing wisdom at the time was that rest would cure hysteria, when indeed it did.The constant boredom and lack of goals likely made the depression worse..

Perkins Gilman used her own experiences of her first marriage and postpartum depression as inspiration for The Yellow Wallpaper, which illustrates how a woman's lack of autonomy is detrimental to her mental health.

after its launchPerkins Gilman sent a copy of The Yellow Wallpaper to the doctor who prescribed his rest regimen.for her postpartum depression.

Characters from "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Although there are only a few characters in the story, they all play an important role. As the story revolves around the narrator's mental decline, her life relationships are essential to understanding why and how she got to this point.

The storyteller

The narrator of the story is a young woman from the upper middle class. She is witty and a natural writer, though she refrains from exploring that part of herself. She's a new mom and she's destined to have it."hysterical tendencies"or suffer from nervousness. Her name may be Jane, but it's unclear.

John

John is the narrator's husband and doctor. He restricts her activity as part of her treatment. John is extremely practical anddiminishes the imagination and emotions of the narrator. He seems concerned for her well-being, but thinks he knows what's best for her and won't let her do anything.

Jenny

Jennie is John's sister who works as a housekeeper for the couple. Jennie seems concerned for the narrator, as evidenced by his offer to sleep with her in the yellow paper room.Jennie seems satisfied with her domestic role.

Main Themes of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

From what we know about the author of this story and from the interpretation of the text, some themes clearly emerge from the analysis of a yellow wallpaper. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was a serious literary work that dealt with women's issues.

The role of women in marriage.

Wives were expected to be submissive and completely obedient to their husbands.assume exclusively domestic duties within the home. Upper-middle-class women, like the narrator, can walk without leaving home for long periods of time. History shows that this arrangement resulted in the reduction of women to a state of naivety, dependency and ignorance.

John believes he has the right to determine what's best for his wife, and that authority is never questioned. Olessens your worries, both concrete and derived from your depression, and is told, so ignore her and "laugh at her" when she says, "that's to be expected in marriage". He doesn't take her concerns seriously and makes all the decisions about her life.

As such, you have no say in your life, including your own health, and neither can you protest.

Perkins Gilman, like many others, clearly disagreed with this state of affairs and wanted to show the detrimental effects of women's lack of autonomy.

identity and self-expression

Throughout the story, the narrator is prevented from doing the things she wants and the things that come naturally to her, like writing. On more than one occasion,She runs to put her diary away when John approaches..

She also forces herself to pretend she is happy and content to give the impression that she is recovering, which is worse. She wants to be a good wife, depending on how she's chosen, but she has a hard time fitting in, especially when she has so little real work to do.

The narrator is forced into silence and submission by the cure of rest, andurgently needs an intellectual and emotional outlet. However, he doesn't get one, and it's clear this arrangement is taking its toll.

the rest heals

The rest cure was commonly prescribed to women who were "on edge" during this period in history. perkins gilmanhave strong opinions about the benefits of rest healing, self prescribed. John's insistence that the narrator take "air" at all times, and his insistence that she not do anything that requires mental or physical stimulation, is clearly pernicious.

The storyteller is also discouraged from activities, whether they be domestic activities like cleaning or babysitting, as well as things like reading, writing and exploring the grounds of the house.She is suffocated and confined physically and mentally, which only exacerbates her condition..

Perkins Gilman condemns convalescent healing in this story, pointing out its deleterious effects on women and positing that women need mental and physical stimulation to be healthy and that they should be free to make their own decisions about their health and lives.

The analysis of the yellow wallpaper: symbols and symbolism

Symbols are a way for the author to add meaning to the story and provide clues about themes and characters. There are two main symbols in yellow wallpaper.

the yellow wallpaper

This is, of course, the most important symbol in history. The narrator is instantly fascinated and disgusted by the yellow wallpaper, her understanding and interpretation fluctuating and intensifying as the story progresses.

The narrator turns to the yellow wallpaper as something to analyze and interpret because she has nothing else to think about or other mental stimuli. The pattern eventually comes into focus as a bar.then he sees a woman within the pattern. This represents the feeling of being trapped.

At the end of the story, the narrator believes that the woman has come out of the wallpaper.This indicates that the narrator is finally completely absorbed in her psychosis., and become one with the house and tamed discontent.

Jenny

Although Jennie does not play a major role in the story, she does present a slide for the narrator. Jennie is John's sister and governess, and the narrator believes that she is content to lead a domestic life. Although he often expresses his gratitude for Jennie's presence in his home,He clearly feels guilty about Jennie's ability to run the household smoothly..

Irony in Yellow Wallpaper. Free wallpapers and backgrounds

The yellow wallpaper makes good use of dramatic and situational irony. Dramatic literary device in which the reader knows or understands things that the characters do not. Situational irony is when the character's actions are intended to do one thing, but are actually doing something else. Here are some examples.

For example, when the narrator first enters the room with the yellow wallpaper,she thinks it's a kindergarten. However, the reader can clearly see that the space could easily have been used to accommodate a mentally unstable person.

The best example of situational irony is the way John continues to prescribe the rest cure, significantly worsening the narrator's condition. He encourages her to lie down and sleep more after meals, which keeps her awake and alert at night when she has time to sit and examine the wallpaper.

abstract yellow wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is one of the formative works of feminist literature. Writing about a woman's health, whether mental or physical, was considered a radical act at the time Perkins Gilman wrote this story. Writing about women's lives was considered frivolous at best and dangerous at worst. If you look at the analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper, the story is an important insight into the role of women in marriage and society, and will likely be a mainstay of the feminist literary canon.

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