The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis

The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis The short story by Charlotte Gilman about a woman who has become mentally ill covers many controversial topics that are still very prevalent today. The large issues that are covered are shown by the imagery throughout the story from the woman’s thoughts, the interactions with the characters, and the social normalcies at the time. A few times in the story, the speaker uses deep imagery to portray her extreme mental illness and obsessions with the patterned wallpaper. The deep descriptions lead to an eventual belief that someone is trying to escape from the wallpaper, just as the woman in the story if trying to escape from the room and her life (Delashmit). The speaker finally gains freedom from her mind by becoming the woman and escaping from the wallpaper. The imagery of the pattern, color, and odor of the wallpaper add to the woman’s extreme obsession and issues with the wallpaper that
The piece was mainly to criticize the treatment known as “rest-cure” that was very common at the time (Knight). Mental illnesses were not understood well at all in that time, and the cure was simply resting constantly. Gilman’s personal background with very similar mental illnesses comes through in the woman’s storyline. Gilman too had mental issues and was given the same cure as the woman in the story (Knight). This reality coming through the piece was genuine and able to address such a disregarded issue at the time. Gilman had an unhappy marriage and knew that the treatment only made her state worse (Knight). A few times the woman mentioned wanting to do things herself and go visit family, but the man would not allow her to do absolutely anything, even housework. The speaker and Gilman are both trying to explain that doing things independently would be helping them get