Natalie Choi Ms.

Effinger Language Arts 10/08/2013 Literary Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper "I've got out at last, in spite of you and Jane you can't put me back!" (The Yellow Wallpaper). Many people contemplate the true meaning of The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and how it resonates as such a strong memory in the minds of its readers. Some say it is the anonymity; others say it is the powerful writing; still others say it is the glimpse into a woman's mind at a time when women weren't allowed to think. Intense analysis of the story has shown that it is made memorable through the eerie setting and mood, well-developed characters, and eloquent figurative language. The Yellow Wallpaper was written by the turn-ofthe-century author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Female authors were almost unthinkable during this time,

because social roles for each gender were so strict that women were almost forbidden to write or publish. Female authors, along with a taboo topic, like a woman going insane, were unheard of. This story scared families into allowing their relatives back into normal life, and was a calling to many doctors to change their cure to depression and other mental illnesses. In fact, when Gilman finished writing it, she sent a copy to the specialist who prescribed the bed and rest cure to her during her period of neurasthenia and almost drove her insane (Gilman). The treatment during this time period was not therapy or pharmaceuticals, or anything that would be the norm nowadays. The bed-and-rest cure was the most common and popular response to most illnesses. This cure consisted of temporarily exiling the patient to somewhere with no stimulus, family, friends, exercise, or normal daily life. Gilman brings this story to life through the variety of characters she uses: indirect, direct, round, flat, and static. The narrator, also the main character, is dynamic because she undergoes the most drastic

change-- from minor postpartum depression to a major mental instability, most likely bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Her illness is the result of being oppressed for no other reason than her gender, and an inability to hide her feelings or thoughts any longer. She is also indirect, because the change in character is never said directly; instead the audience must draw from her actions and thoughts. Since the woman is the narrator, she never says her own name, but her statement that she's gotten out, despite him [John] and Jane, (The Yellow Wallpaper) implies that she is no longer herself, Jane, and she thinks shes the woman in the wallpaper, creeping around. This also shows the increase of mental instability. "Now, why should he [John] have fainted?" (The Yellow Wallpaper) If a grown man who is a physician and experiences strange behaviour everyday as a career, faints, he has probably seen something very unsettling and upsetting to him. The Yellow Wallpaper has a very taboo abstract conflict: mental illness. She eventually loses herself to her illness, but the story ends unresolved so the

readers don't know if she is able to conquer her illness and recover or if she will be stuck in her unstable state forever. The other characters, like John and Jennie, don't undergo much change, and they are predictable, logical, and straightforward to balance out the mentally ill and unpredictable main character. These characters also drive her to insanity because of the way they treat her-- with condescension and childish delicacy, like calling her a blessed little goose (The Yellow Wallpaper). Gilman's figurative language also contributes to the resonance of the story. One example is yellow, the colour of the wallpaper. It is symbolic to the story in many ways because yellow can be a happy yellow, like daffodils or lemons, but Gilman describes it as a sickly sulphur tint, which could simply be describing the colour, but it could also be foreshadowing sickness in the story. The main character also says, "The great bedstead [was] nailed down..." (The Yellow Wallpaper) Gilman had stated previously that it was a nursery and playroom before they rented the house, so it's quite

possible that the bed was simply nailed down so the children wouldn't hurt themselves, but mental asylums often do the same thing. This, and the barred windows, allude to the story's ending and mental illness. Gilman also says, "Still, I will proudly declare there is something queer about it" (The Yellow Wallpaper). This quotes tone and mood foreshadows something queer and unsettling in the house and the characters aren't aware of it. "They [tears in the wallpaper] suddenly commit suicide plunging off at outrageous angles" (The Yellow Wallpaper). This kind of gruesome and grotesque tone gives the reader a feel of death and eerie terror. The use of setting and mood, characterisation, and figurative language make the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, inexplicably resonant in many readers' minds. Through these elements, Gilman is able to portray the intense emotional conflict and suspense contained within this story of a woman slowly descending into insanity. It was not intended to drive people crazy, but to save

people from being driven crazy, and it worked(Gilman).

(Gilman): Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, October 1913 issue of The Forerunner, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper): The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilma