Symbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper

Prior to the twentieth century men defined and assigned women’s roles, perpetrating an ideological prison where women were subjected and silenced. The rise of the feminist movement in the 1960s to 70s showed women’s fight for equality and freedom from a patriarchal regime, which is evident throughout Gilman’s portrayal of The Yellow Wallpaper, as the confined narrator frees herself from the suffocating wallpaper through a turn of events.

Gilman uses symbolism throughout to present the confinement of the wallpaper through many different aspects, such as the pattern, lighting, and smell. The paper’s pattern slowly develops from “bulbous eyes” to a woman shaking the bars, which may suggest a presence of male authority and domination as the “eyes” are always watching over her. These “eyes” may symbolise a superior figure in the oppressive household, such as her husband John or his sister and
John’s career as a physician causes him to disapprove of the narrator’s illness as it is not proved by science, a common ideal of the nineteenth century as many women who experienced postnatal depression didn’t reveal their symptoms and those who did were often diagnosed as “neurotic”. Gilman may have presented the narrator’s illness in this way as a critique of the patriarchal ideology of the time that dominated the medical field which can easily be seen in the detrimental effects the intended cure has on the narrator, supported by Lois Tyson who says this piece “critiques patriarchal ideology, specifically as it manifested itself in nineteenth century marriage and medical practices”. However, from Gilman’s own experience of mental illness she may simply be portraying the care John and other doctors are trying to provide for the narrator, suggesting a focus on the treatment of mental illness rather than a feminist