yellow wallpaper
English II Essay 1
October 8, 2013
A Women of Many Struggles
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talks about a woman who is newly married and is a mother who is in depression. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband - doctor forbid it. The narrator feels trapped by both her husband and surroundings. The woman she sees behind the wallpaper is a symbol of herself and the Victorian women like her.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that the woman behind the wallpaper parallels the narrator’s struggle with her expected role in a male dominated society, which is expressed in this passage. The narrator uses the wallpaper to represent the society she lives in. Not only does the wallpaper affect the narrator, but also it has an effect on everyone that comes in contact with it. The way the wallpaper is described in this passage shows how the narrator is using the wallpaper to represent her society. For example, the pattern of the wallpaper is said to be “gaudy or for show that has a pattern that twists and winds.” Like the pattern, society is also very complex and intertwined. For the narrator, this role is that of a woman in the nineteenth century. The narrator is expected to submit to her husband John’s rules, do her house chores and have children and care for them. These rules, or expected guidelines, are set forth and enforced by the society the narrator is a part of.
The narrator is a young upper middle class woman, is newly married and a mother, and is having undergoing care for depression. She is a highly imaginative and a natural storyteller. Her doctor thinks she has slight hysterical tendency. The story is told in the form of her secret journal, in which she records her obsession with the yellow wallpaper and thoughts
October 8, 2013
A Women of Many Struggles
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talks about a woman who is newly married and is a mother who is in depression. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband - doctor forbid it. The narrator feels trapped by both her husband and surroundings. The woman she sees behind the wallpaper is a symbol of herself and the Victorian women like her.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that the woman behind the wallpaper parallels the narrator’s struggle with her expected role in a male dominated society, which is expressed in this passage. The narrator uses the wallpaper to represent the society she lives in. Not only does the wallpaper affect the narrator, but also it has an effect on everyone that comes in contact with it. The way the wallpaper is described in this passage shows how the narrator is using the wallpaper to represent her society. For example, the pattern of the wallpaper is said to be “gaudy or for show that has a pattern that twists and winds.” Like the pattern, society is also very complex and intertwined. For the narrator, this role is that of a woman in the nineteenth century. The narrator is expected to submit to her husband John’s rules, do her house chores and have children and care for them. These rules, or expected guidelines, are set forth and enforced by the society the narrator is a part of.
The narrator is a young upper middle class woman, is newly married and a mother, and is having undergoing care for depression. She is a highly imaginative and a natural storyteller. Her doctor thinks she has slight hysterical tendency. The story is told in the form of her secret journal, in which she records her obsession with the yellow wallpaper and thoughts
Cited: Perkins Charlotte. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and writing. Eds. X.J.Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2012. 46-46. Print.