Symbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper

In society, it is very common to see individuals suffer from depression disorders. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays a woman who goes mentally insane after giving birth to her baby. Her husband is her doctor and he diagnoses her with a temporary depression disorder, which raises the question of post-partum depression. While staying at an estate during the summer, he confines her to one room in the home, and is unable to do anything she loves. Rao argues that the wallpaper is one dynamic symbol, which is quickly evident throughout. In Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the symbolism is how she portrays her feelings and exaggerates her imagination. Gilman demonstrates the symbolism throughout the short story by depicting her emotions and her imagination. Her husband keeps her confined to the room for their entire stay at the estate to heal her depression. In order to heal her, he takes her newborn baby away from her and tries to take her passion for writing, as well. The bedding is nailed to the ground and the door has a lock on it, so she is unable to leave. The
woman is left to only look at the wallpaper. While being confined to the room, she begins to imagine the wallpaper moving and is later convinced there is someone behind it. Imagining certain aspects of the wallpaper presents the symbolism throughout her imagination. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the woman uses her creative imagination and begins to study the wallpaper (Rao 40).
Coming into the home, she does not like the room, but soon after, she begins to admire what is around her. The wallpaper gains life and makes her relate herself to the wallpaper (Rao 40). She examines the wallpaper and imagines a woman trying to break free. She begins to peel the wallpaper off to set the woman free and realizes the woman is really herself. After peeling the wallpaper off, her husband enters the room and she says, “and I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gilman 967). At that point, the yellow wallpaper could be a symbol of herself breaking out of confinement and freeing herself from depression. Her creative imagination takes over and Gilman expresses it by using symbolism to represent the woman being trapped in the depression
state. Breaking the woman, which was actually herself, out of the wallpaper frees her from her depression disorder. Her husband continuously gives her medicine and confines her in one room for their entire stay instead of working to relieve the depression. During the time of the depression, he has control of her life. Freeing herself from the wallpaper not only frees her from depression, but also the control he has over her illness. Gilman portrays the dynamic symbol all throughout the literary piece because she relates back to “lady” inside the wallpaper. She creeps throughout the night just to continue looking at the wallpaper. She relates back to the woman behind it because they are both trapped. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the woman is trapped in a room to heal by her husband and is caught up in his expectations. He does not want her to see her baby, write, or leave the room; therefore, the only relatable object is the wallpaper. Gilman symbolizes the woman figuring out herself by relating back to the wallpaper. The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman symbolizes the woman battling depressing in the bedroom’s wallpaper. She has just given birth and gone into depression, when her husband confines her to a room to heal. In the critical article, Rao states that the yellow wallpaper is the dynamic symbol in the literary piece and backs up the claims with reliable evidence. Gilman portrays the wallpaper all throughout the entire literary work and the symbolism becomes evident to the reader.