The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Topics & Samples
At some point in your studying, you might be asked to produce The Yellow Wallpaper analysis essay. Well, if you’re reading this, you have already received this task! Let’s do it step by step.
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This article by Custom-Writing.org experts contains The Yellow Wallpaper essay topics, The Yellow Wallpaper essay prompts, and writing samples. Go on reading if you want to learn more!
- 💡 Essay Topics
- ✒️ Essay Samples
💡 The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Topics
First of all, you should think about the topic of your writing. The Yellow Wallpaper is a story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman at the end of the 19th century. It is considered to be one of the strongest and prominent feminist pieces of literature.
These facts might be your first clue for choosing The Yellow Wallpaper essay topic. Try to look at this issue from your perspective. It is a tip for the guaranteed success of your essay.
In case you don’t particularly fancy the theme of feminism in The Yellow Wallpaper , there are many other options. One of the best methods is highlighting the moments that stand out for you in the story. Don’t forget to write down any questions you might have during the reading to use them later.
However, if you don’t want to waste your time on it, jump straight away to the list of topics prepared for The Yellow Wallpaper essay.
- Study the issue of the gender roles in the story and compare it to modern norms . The Yellow Wallpaper highlights the problem of the suppression of women. You may include some comments on family life as well. Since this topic is quite popular, we also suggest working on your unique interpretation of this question.
- The Yellow Wallpaper’s conclusion: different versions. How do you understand the ending of the story? Why do you think the author cut it at that specific moment? Brainstorm these questions and try to figure out what would be the most natural continuation. Don’t forget to support your opinion with fair arguments.
- What is the relationship between the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper and the diary? The main character seems to get some relief from journaling her thoughts and daily life. It doesn’t help prevent the total crash of her identity at the end of the story. Write The Yellow Wallpaper character analysis essay.
- Draw a parallel between the description of the wallpaper and the mental health of the narrator. We can notice the change in the writing as the mental illness of the narrator progresses. Look into one particular moment there, the description of the wallpaper. How does the pattern change foreshadowing future breakdown?
- Compare The Yellow Wallpaper to another feministic piece of writing of the same time frame. Here it would be perfect if you found some unique elements that Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses in her story. Don’t forget that the focus of this essay should be on feminism. For better outcomes, add a hook at the beginning of your article.
- The Yellow Wallpaper and marriage: is it the fault of the husband? Most people prefer to blame the husband in this story. Indeed, in the 19th century, women didn’t have much choice. However, we can see that the narrator has the power to resist the control of her husband. She doesn’t understand that she can do it.
- The role of personification as a tool used by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It would help if you wrote a literary analysis essay on The Yellow Wallpaper . Reread the story and find out why personification is used at some moments. How does it affect the writing’s mood, and doesn’t Gilman use some other devices there?
- Stigmatizing postpartum depression in The Yellow Wallpaper . This issue is slightly related to The Yellow Wallpaper essay on feminism. Most women’s psychological problems are neglected as only being “in the head.” Miserable were those suffering postpartum depression, as one can see from the treatment plan chosen by John in the story.
- Explore different literary devices that are used to highlight the issue of depression in The Yellow Wallpaper . Analyze what the narrator writes about her state and find the literary devices that Gilman uses to relate to it. For instance, repetition points out the confusion at one place and hopelessness at the other.
- Can we trust the narrator? The point of view in The Yellow Wallpaper plays an important role. The reader can only perceive the events through the narrator. However, it means that some things can be not that obvious. Try to analyze the hints and symbolism to find out the missing part of the story.
✒️ The Yellow Wallpaper: Essay Samples
Below you’ll find a collection of The Yellow Wallpaper essay examples. Hope you’ll find them useful!
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Key Themes
- Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper”
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Laugh of the Medusa”
- Social Values and Norms in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
- American Women in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
- Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
- The Story of an Hour and The Yellow Wallpaper: Comparison
- Mental Illness in The Yellow Wallpaper
- The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use Literature: Comparison
- Women Characters in Chopin’s, Gilman’s, Faulkner’s Stories
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Yellow Wallpaper
Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman first published in 1892. The story touches upon themes of patriarchy, misogyny, identity, disenfranchisement, and mental illness. Told from the perspective of a first-person narrator, the reader gets a glimpse into the effect of patriarchy on individual women and on women collectively. The story begins when the narrator and her husband John spend the summer in a holiday house. The narrator admits that she has "temporary nervous depression," but that her husband, even though he is a physician, does not recognize that she is sick. Instead, he believes that his wife should simply refrain from all work, including writing, and be house bound. When she protests, "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage." Thus, Gilman makes a poignant statement about the nature of heterosexual marriage within the first few sentences of the short story. The…
Yellow allpaper Breaking Free: The Ironic Liberation of "Yellow allpaper" Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" is a quintessential feminist story, even though it can be interpreted on many levels within that rubric. The narrator is married and has a child; she is thus engaged in some of the strongest trappings of a patriarchal society. However, she is removed both physically and spiritually from her stereotyped role as wife and mother. The narrator's removal from her role is, however, imposed upon her, or forced upon her by her seemingly well-intentioned but condescending husband. Therefore, the narrator calls into question her own dreams and desires. The reader is asked to investigate what a woman's dreams and desires would be independent of social norms or expectations. Although the narrator does break free from patriarchy at the end of the story, she does so symbolically and tragically: which suggests that there are few…
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1899. Retrieved online: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html
Yellow Wallpaper Portrays That the Protagonist in
Yellow Wallpaper portrays that the protagonist in the story, Jane is mentally disturbed. Due to various factors and social pressures, Jane is affected with a mental condition that causes her to lose her mind and be out of touch with reality. The diagnoses that can be made about Jane from The Yellow Wallpaper are of Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type and Bipolar Disorder Type I. Schizophrenia- Paranoid Type As defined in the DSM-IV (APA, 2000), the Paranoid Type schizophrenia consists majorly of delusions and hallucinations. Other symptoms suggestive of Paranoid Type schizophrenia are disorganized speech, behavior and inappropriate effects. (APA, 2000) As the name suggest, this form of schizophrenia is linked to excess feel of anxiety and confusion. The patient feels as if everything and everyone is going against them and wants to harm them in one way or another. Just as is characteristic of any schizophrenic patient, Jane has an amalgamation…
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders, 4th ed. DSM-IV-TR. Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.
Gilman, C. (1973). The yellow wallpaper. [New York]: Feminist Press.
Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman's
As the narrator is denied access to the world and the normal expression of her individuality, so she becomes a true prisoner of the room with the yellow wallpaper. Her life and consciousness becomes more restricted until the wallpaper becomes an animated world to her. There is also the implied suggestion in this process of a conflict between the rational and logical world, determined and controlled by male consciousness, and the more imaginative female consciousness and sensibility. On a psychological level the structure of the rational male world interweaves with the mental domination of the women. The women states that she is sick and her husband, who is a physician, declares that there is essentially nothing wrong with her. This contradiction between what she feels and his views leaves her in a confused state. A as she puts it, "If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures…
Works Cited www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96539444
Delashmit, Margaret, and Charles Long. "Gilman's the Yellow Wallpaper." Explicator 50.1 (1991): 32-33. Questia. 30 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96539444 .
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=43074282
Herndl, Diane Price. Invalid Women: Figuring Feminine Illness in American Fiction and Culture, 1840-1940. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1993. Questia. 30 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=43074283 .
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=94721939
I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still... It keep me quiet by the hour" (Hunt, 179). ith this, it is clear that Gilman sees herself as trapped in a very disruptive and confined world, one which ultimately drives her insane; also, this mysterious woman is a symbol of her physical self caught within a maze of confusion and despair, all because of the "yellow wallpaper" that clings to the walls of the nursery like some kind of dreadful disease. Finally, the narrator, driven mad by the wallpaper in the nursery, peels all of it away and says to her husband, "I've got out at last... And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!"which results in her husband fainting at her feet, "right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time" (Hunt, 183).…
Works Cited
Bauer, Dale. The Yellow Wallpaper: Charlotte Perkins Gilman. New York: Palgrave-
Macmillan, 1998.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Reader: The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Fiction. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper: A Sourcebook and Critical
Yellow Wallpaper and the Female
As the text by Davison (2004) contributes, "given that the narrator in Gilman's tale is a femme couverte who has no legal power over her own person -- like her flesh-and-blood counterparts at the time the story was published -- and that her husband is a physician whose pronouncements about his wife's illness are condoned by a spectral yet powerful medical establishment, it is no wonder that his wife grows increasingly fearful of him and suspects him of conspiring with his sister against her." (Davison, 48) This helps to drive what the research discussed here will promote as a distinct literary tradition to be known as Female Gothic, so-named for the shared condition of American women during the time of Gilman's writing, who lived in obscurity in spite of the instincts and inspirations driving them to desire more. In the narrator of this story, these instincts become a cross to…
Clemens, V. (1999). What Gothic Nightmares Do. State University of New York Press.
Davison, C.M. (2004). Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in "The Yellow Wallpaper." Women's Studies, 33, 47-75.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. (1899) The Yellow Wallpaper. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. Online at http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/gilman.htm#INSERT%203
Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins
Yet, in this case, the freedom that the author is talking about is not necessarily the liberation of women from the oppressive male society, but the freedom of each individual with mental problems to having a socially integrated life, with little or no confinement that would also make the mental problems develop. In conclusion, although it may seem that "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written with a feminist purpose, a more precise understanding of the situation is that this was written with medical purposes in mind, as the author so argues later on. Understanding this is important because it offers an insight not only in the real topic, but also offer a good understanding into the feminist approach to text. Even if it is not such a type of text, this form of analysis offers new insights in the social and individual fight for emancipation that women took…
Bibliography
Gilman, Charlotte. Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schlib and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford, 2003. pp1162-1163.
King, Jeannette; Morris, Pam. On Not Reading Between the Lines: Models of Reading in "The Yellow Wallpaper, Studies in Short Fiction, Winter 1989, Vol. 26 Issue 1
Papke, Mary E. Verging on the Abyss: The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton. New York: Greenwood P, 1995.
Yellow Wallpaper by Cp Gilman
What I have told you are just my feelings and opinion, John. Though I am do not know exactly what is ailing your wife, I do know -- as a woman's intuition would know -- that your wife is not happy being alone in that room everyday, treated like a patient with a horrifying, yet undetermined, 'disease.' I can feel the hurt in her as she only see glimpses of her children every day, and nothing of the life that we experience everyday. I beg you, dear brother, to consider changing the form of treatment you have been giving her. I believe that allowing her to live the life she used to live will restore the energy and happiness that she had before this unfortunate, undetermined illness has taken over her. Dear brother, I will wait for your response to my letter, and I hope that your love for your…
Yellow Wallpaper & Female Depression
Her account of his complete discounting of her expressed needs, (which he dismisses without a second thought), as well as her description of his attitude toward her engaging in any sort of productive work or mentally stimulating activity or social relationships of any kind also suggest that the protagonist is, on some level if not consciously, aware that her physician husband's wisdom may be lacking with respect to what is the right and most beneficial course of treatment for her depression. To be fair, physicians of the 19th century were trained to ignore many of the symptoms that modern medicine now associates with diseases of the mind, particularly in the case of women. In all likelihood, had a male patient presented with identical symptoms, the same physician would have recognized the value of productive work, intellectual stimulation, and fulfilling social relationships in depression. Ultimately, Gilman's romantic fictional narrative incorporates dark…
Branden, N. (1998) a Woman's Self-Esteem: Struggles and Triumphs in the Search for Identity. Wiley & Sons: New York de Beauvoir, S. (1974 edition) the Second Sex. Vintage: New York
Kasl, C. (1990) Women, Sex, and Addiction: A Search for Love and Power.
Harper & Row: New York
English Literature: Literary AnalysesTitle of the story: The Yellow WallpaperAuthor: Charlotte Perkins StetsonThesis of the StoryThe story The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, is about mental illness, treatment for married women, and freedom of thought and expression that bring ups and down in their emotions. The writer has offered various symbols like the diary, the yellow wallpaper, and day and night light to symbolize the story and the characters feelings.Justification of Critical PerspectiveSince the story is written by a female writer and was married too, the female experiences are different from those of men, particularly in married life, which corroborated with the Feminist perspective. The narrative parts of male and female viewpoints would be scrutinized with the given story. The female authors take on the plot events and the protagonist should be better evaluated. How and why the author thought of married life, illness, and freedom of thought…
“Feminist Gothic in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” Lone Star College, https://www.lonestar.edu/yellow-wallpaper.htm. Accessed 3 Dec. 2021.
“Literature- Critical Theory and Critical Perspectives.” St. John’s College HS, http://www.stjohns-chs.org/english/mgelso_courses/literature_critical_theory.pdf . Accessed 3 Dec. 2021.
The constant suppression of her husband to let her roam around the house, and his insistence to rest and sleep all day, became the catalyst for her to have delusions about the intricate patterns on the yellow wallpaper. Her daily 'imprisonment' inside the bedroom, and constant deliberation of where the pattern leads to and what the pattern is, revealed to the woman an important discovery: the pattern in the yellow wallpaper "... is like a woman stooping down and creeping about... By moonlight, it becomes bars!... [b]y daylight she is subdued, quiet. I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still." This summarized and showed best the woman's own feelings about her constant 'imprisonment' by her husband, and in general, by the society. The woman became aware that the pattern is a 'woman' like her. In fact, the wallpaper served as her reflection of everything that was happening…
Gilman, C. E-text of the Yellow Wallpaper. Available at: http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=GilYell.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 .
St. James, S. 2002. "Hanging the Yellow Wallpaper: Feminism and textual studies." Feminist Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2.
Yellow Wallpaper and Mental Illness in Women
Yellow allpaper" and Mental Illness in omen Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" is an important short story that delves into the issue of mental illness. It illustrates how women and their problems are trivialized, with this closely related to the role that women have in society. Through the story, it is seen that women become prisoners of their mental illness because the medical community will not help them. This leaves women to manage their own problems, an action that lead to madness. By telling this story, Gilman is urging the medical community to take a new view on mental illness, to take women seriously, and to find a genuine way to help women before the condition worsens. This makes the short story an extended metaphor for medical discourse on women and mental illness, that shows both the problems that exist and calls for a solution to those problems. In…
Crewe, J. "Queering 'The Yellow Wallpaper'? Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the Politics of Form." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 14 (1995): 273-293.
Gilman, C.P. "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Judith Tanka & Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003: 844-845.
Gilman, C.P. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Judith Tanka & Nina Baym. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003: 832-844.
Haralambos, M., & Holborn, M. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.
Yellow Wallpaper the Two Stories
Similarities in Theme in the Two Stories Prisoners: Both of these stories place the characters in a kind of prison. On the first page of Yellow allpaper the narrator has already explained that the reason she doesn't get well is because of her husband. An irony of huge magnitude, to say that one's husband is a physician and that "perhaps" that is the reason "I do not get well faster" (3). But then, she adds, this is "a dead paper and a great relief to my mind." How can a doctor (whether one's husband or not) possible cure a patient if the doctor doesn't believe the patient is ill? She is imprisoned by the wrongful prognosis of her husband. And she cannot be bailed out from this veritable jail cell she is in because she has "schedule prescription for each hour in the day." This imprisonment does not suit her,…
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers
University Press, 1993.
O'Brien, Tim. In the field.
Yellow Wallpaper How the Antagonist in The
Yellow allpaper How the antagonist in "The Yellow allpaper" by Charlotte Perkins contributes to the story's overall meaning. The physician's wife is the main character and has just given birth. She suffers from postpartum depression, but the husband tries his best to treat her. Her husband prescribes a pattern of treatment that requires her to be locked in a bedroom with a yellow paper that is lurid. The main character is a writer who has been forbidden to write; however, she writes when no one is around her. Beautiful grounds surround the estate, but she is motivated to stay indoors and not to give into fancies. She has chosen a bedroom that is darks and decrepit. The floor has scratches and the walls have holes and dents. In addition, the bed has been permanently nailed on the floor. Some sections of the floor have yellow wallpaper patches that the woman…
Gilman, Perkins. Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'? Harvard: Harvard Business Press. 2003.
Johnson, Greg. Gilman's Gothic Allegory: Rage and Redemption in 'The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Penguin Books, 2009. Print
Yellow Wallpaper a Feminist Text What Work
Yellow Wallpaper" a feminist text. What work women American culture turn century? How wife defeat patriarchal culture represented attitude husband? Consider "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a feminist text. What does the work say about women and American culture at the turn of the century? How does the wife defeat the patriarchal culture represented in the attitude of her husband? The story of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story of a 'cure' that kills. In the story, the unnamed narrator is forced to undergo a 'rest cure' in which she is denied all stimulation. Bored and unable to read or expend her intellectual or emotional energy, she slowly goes mad, eventually coming to imagine that there is a trapped, suffering woman behind the yellow wallpaper of her rented bedroom. The trapped woman is imaginary and is rather a fiction produced of the narrator's diseased brain. The imaginary woman is a metaphorical…
Gillman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." 1899. [8 Dec 2012]
http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html
Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman
The society of the time didn't support women's intellectual activities and hence doctors denied their mentally ill patients the right to enjoy something other than domestic chores. This only compounded the problem and hence Gilman decided to speak against such medical approaches. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman placed the rest cure in the cultural context of late nineteenth century. The story was a metaphor for the lives of middle-class women trapped in other people's expectations;…" (Patarca-Montero, p. 4) Gilman readily spoke against isolation and its decaying effect on human mind and in a way that is exactly what Jack London says in his story, "To build a fire." In this story, a man decides to travel alone in sub-zero temperature to meet his friends after ignoring the advice that it was not safe to travel alone. The word "alone" is important here because it somehow seems that the protagonist believed that he…
Labor, Earle. The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) Oxford University Press, USA (1998)
Patarca-Montero, Roberto. Medical Etiology, Assessment, and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue and Malaise: Clinical Differentiation and Intervention. Informa Healthcare; (2004)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper" (1913)
The Forerunner. http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html
Yellow Wallpaper American Culture at the Turn of the Century
Yellow Wallpaper," American culture at the turn of the century, Consider "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a feminist text. What does the work say about women and American culture at the turn of the century? How does the wife defeat the patriarchal culture represented in the attitude of her husband? At the beginning of Charlotte Perkin Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," a new mother, evidently suffering from postnatal depression, is placed on an enforced 'rest cure' in which she is supposed to have no stimulation of any kind. During the 19th century, intellectual activity was thought to be dangerous for women, particularly in regards to their reproductive capacities. The woman is driven mad by her 'cure' and her lack of an outlet for her creative energies. The 19th century created an ideal image of middle-class femininity, often called the 'Angel in the House.' This was an image of a woman…
Perkins Gilman's the Yellow Wallpaper
Yellow allpaper The year is 1888, the place is America, the scenes include a country home in rural Massachusetts (where the woman of the house is Dorothy Pilman), a newsroom with typewriters clicking and clacking constantly, and a doctor's office in New York. The reporter is given access to the Pilman family and is invited to conduct interviews. A Reporter's Narrative Today, a typical day in the 19th century, American women are looked at as the weaker sex, and doctors are performing some controversial procedures in attempts to "cure" women of their maladies. The woman of today struggles with any illness because the "…male dominated medical establishment attempts to silence women" because males understand women's health problems better than women understand themselves (Cutter, 2001). After all, what do women know about their own bodies and their minds in the late 19th century? Experts like doctors see women as "silent, powerless,…
Cutter, Martha J. (2001). The Writer as Doctor: New Models of Medical Discourse in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Later Fictions. Literature and Medicine, 20(2), 151-182.
Maines, Rachel P. (1999). The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's
Sexual Satisfaction (John Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology). Baltimore, MD:
Room With the Yellow Wallpaper
Infantilizing and Dehumanizing omen in the Victorian Era In 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman published "The Yellow allpaper," a tragic short story told from the first person point-of-view tracing a woman's descent into mental illness. The narrator remains unnamed, highlighting the problem of lack of identity and lack of respect for women in Victorian society, the primary theme of the story. The title refers to the wallpaper adorning a room that becomes a prison cell, in which the narrator remains trapped. The room symbolizes the trappings of patriarchy, as the narrator's husband will not allow his wife access to the outside world. The husband likewise disallows access to creative outlets, and because of this, the narrator quickly goes insane. Yet rather than realize his complicity in her insanity or the insanity of his own actions, the husband remains convinced that what he does is in the best interest of his wife.…
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Digital version: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm
Alienation of Women in The Yellow Wallpaper
Alienation of omen in "The Yellow allpaper" and "A Doll's House" Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow allpaper" and Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" share similar themes of women being alienated from the community and offer similar solutions to this problem. Nora and the narrator of the yellow wallpaper are both alienated because of the limited role that society places them in. This limited role based on their place as women in society alienates them from the community by making them inferior. This does not only refer to how others perceive them, but how they come to perceive themselves. It essentially becomes an accepted view where the two women both accept being powerless and allow themselves to be dominated. Both Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henrik Ibsen show through their works that the solution to this problem is for women to recognize their limited roles and fight to break…
Gilman, C.P. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eds. Judith Tanka & Nina Baym. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2003: 832-844.
Ibsen, H. "A Doll's House." Drama: A Harper Collins Pocket Anthology. Ed R.S. Gwynn. New York: Harper Collins, 1993: 153-212.
Madness and Gilman's Yellow Wallpaper
CharlottePerkinsGilmansTheYellowWallpaper:ADecentintoMadnessorFeministLiberationorBoth?CharlottePerkinsGilmansTheYellowWallpaperchroniclestheso-calledrestcureofanamelesswomanwhohasjustgivenbirth.Thewomansphysician-husbandsupervisesthecure,duringwhichthenarratorisdeniedallmentalstimulation.Ratherthangrowinglessanxious,thewomaninsteadbecomesmorerestiveandmiserable.Hermind,deniedthementaloutletshecraves,looksforotherformsofintellectualengagement.Shefixatesuponthewallpaperofherbedroom,convincedthatthereisawomanbehindit,demandingtogetout.Bythelastlinesofthestory,thewomanbehindthepaperandherselfhavemergedinherconsciousness,asshepeelsthepapertoliberatethewomanandherself:Ivegotoutatlast,saidI,inspiteofyouandJane!AndIvepulledoffmostofthepaper,soyoucantputmeback!(Gilman).Evenbeforethewomanbecomesmentallyunbalanced,thewomancallsthepaperanartisticsin,somethingthatissulphureousashellishdeath.Itisdullenoughtoconfusetheeyeinfollowing,pronouncedenoughtoconstantlyirritate,andprovokestudy,andwhenyoufollowthelame,uncertaincurvesforalittledistancetheysuddenlycommitsuicide(Gilman).Thepaperisdull,muchlikethewomansrestcure,anditssuicidaltendenciesmimicherowndepression.Itisyellow,thecolorofjaundiceandillness.Thereareindicationsthatthedepressionarosearoundthetimeofthewomangivingbirthtoherchild,suggestingpostpartumdepressionandherhusbandsinabilitytounderstandhiswifesneeds.Althoughitmayalsohaveadeepercause,namelyinthegeneralrefusaltoallowwomentowriteandexpressthemselvesfully.Thespecificprohibitionagainstwritingsuggestsaswellthatthemanwhobothpersonifiesmale,patriarchalauthorityandphysiciansauthorityisusingherillnessasapretexttobendhertohiswill.Thisuseofmedicalauthoritytoforcewomentoconformtospecificsocialnormsdidnotendwiththelate19thandearly20thcentury,aroundwhenthestorytakesplaceandGilmanwrote,however.InWomensEncounterwithMentalHealthEstablishment:EscapingtheYellowWallpaper,onewomandescribesbeinginstitutionalizedafterrelativelyminorteenageexperimentationwithsexanddrugsinthelate1960s.Shenotestheironyofbeingforcedtotakepsychotropicpillsforschizophrenia,whenherown,muchmilderusewasthereasonforherincarceration.ThisisanotherthemeofTheYellowWallpaper,thatthecureprescribedbymale,establishmentauthorityfiguressparkthediseaseitattemptstocure.AtthebeginningoftheGilmanshortstory,sheseemssane,ifdepressed.Sheclaimstoloveherbabyandhusband,andexpressespolitefrustrationwiththefactthatsheisforcedtorest,andherhusbandmaybecrosswithherdefianceofhisadvice,whilewriting.Attheendofthestory,shebarelyseemstorecognizeherhusband,simplyreferringtohimasthemansheiscrawlingovertopeelbackthepaperandliberatethewomanbehindtheawfulpaperwhereshehasbeenkeptforsomanymonths.Thelackofstimulationhasmadeherintothemadwomanshewassupposedtobeattheverybeginningofthetale.ShawnSt.Jeanarguesthat,giventhetexthasbeenprintedandreprintedmultipletimesinvariouseditions,thatcertainversionsofthetextmoredecisivelyindicatethewomansmadnessthanothers:forexample,inoneprintedversionofthetext,editingittosuggestthatthewomanmustrepeatedlyclimboverherhusbandassheencirclestheroomsuggestsamorecompletedescentintomadness(St.Jean402).Itisequallypossibletoargue,however,thattherealsignificanceisthenarratorreferringtothemansheoncecalledJohn,herhusband,andherphysiciansimplyasamanisarecognitionthatallarefusedintooneinhisexemplificationofmale-dominatedauthority.Thereisnorealromanticloveinthisstory,ormedicalknowledge,onlyoppressionthatthewomanmustclimbover.Madnessisthenarratorsonlyvehicleofliberation.BarbaraSuessinheressayTheWritingsontheWallsimilarlyarguesthatthestoryhighlightsthelimitsoffemaleexpression,specificallythebreakdownofwritingandlanguage.Itisnotsimplythatthewomanisdeniedthe…
Yellow Wallpaper Sources of Narrator's Insanity the
Yellow Wallpaper": Sources of Narrator's Insanity The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story about the sad descent into insanity of a woman that was first published in 1892. This essay speculates on the sources of the narrator's insanity. The main source of the narrator's insanity is the restrictions imposed on women in a male-dominated society. This social condition of women was more pronounced in the late nineteenth century when the story was written and first published. In the story the narrator's life is so overwhelmingly dominated by male figures (her brother, and later her husband) that she is unable to make her own choices about her life and is kept imprisoned physically as well as mentally. In The Yellow Wallpaper the narrator's husband is always deciding what is supposedly good for her, and she has reached a stage where she has lost confidence in her own…
Marriage Problems in The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow allpaper and the Problem of the Unhelpful ManCharlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 and descended from a proud line of rhetoricians (Silcox). Having a way with words was in her blood. Her parents separated when she was a child, and she became accustomed to a degree of independencebut when she was pressed into marriage, she found the arrangement to be oppressive and it contributed to her having a mental breakdown. The response of her husband was to give her the rest cure recommended by Freud and other high-profile physicians of the time (Silcox). Gilman did not want such a treatment, and her story The Yellow allpaper is a representation of her attitude about it: she believed that women in general suffered from a kind of neglect from men, who viewed them as inferior beings. If there was to be any cure for a womans mental breakdown it…
Works CitedEsposito, Carmine. “Gender in The Yellow Wallpaper.” Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, Facts On File, 2020. Bloom\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17332&itemid=WE54&articleId=38795. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.Esposito, Carmine. “Illness in The Yellow Wallpaper.” Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature, Facts On File, 2020. Bloom\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17332&itemid=WE54&articleId=38796. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.Rosenberg, Charles E. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Sexuality, class and role in 19th-century America.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" American Quarterly 25.2 (1973): 131-153.Silcox, Heidi M. “‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Realism and Regionalism, 1865?1914, Facts On File, 2010. Bloom\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Literature, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=17332&itemid=WE54&articleId=477054. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.Wayne, Tiffany K. Women\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s roles in nineteenth-century America. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.
postpartum depression and gilman yellow wallpaper
Long before the term postpartum depression became part of the vernacular, Charlotte Perkins Gilman deftly and sensitively describes the complex condition in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The story describes the prevailing attitudes towards women and their narrowly defined roles in society. White, upper middle class women like the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” could not easily express discontent with their position as wife and mother. The narrator’s husband—a physician—believes there is “nothing the matter” with his wife except “temporary nervous depression” and “a slight hysterical tendency,” (Gilman 648). Noting her brother is also a physician, the narrator exclaims, “But what is one to do,” when one is just a woman, and therefore a subordinate whose total financial and social dependency on their male counterparts precludes their self-determination (Gilman 649). To address her “hysteria,” the narrator’s husband and brother confine her to a pleasant enough country home, but restrict…
Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper
Medical Misunderstandings and Gender: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a brief psychological study of a woman slowly going mad over the course of an imposed rest cure, prescribed by her physician-husband. The story illustrates the extent to which limited knowledge of the female psyche and a refusal to treat women as intelligent, independent beings ironically produces the types of behaviors the psychological treatment of the era was supposed to prevent. Both women and men are guilty of limiting women’s voices when women attempt to escape the conventional confines of motherhood and domesticity. Although the main character’s love of reading and writing is a constant and sustaining force in her life, she is denied it when it is assumed her illness is due to her refusal to conform to conventional roles. As noted by history professor Hilary Marland, “The Yellow Wallpaper”…
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Q. Visit the three databases listed as great places for background information. Give two interesting pieces of information for themes about the stories you are comparing (so a total of four).Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Interpreted by some authors as a feminist tale; by others as a story of the dangers of modern technology Chopin is also the author of The Awakening, about a married woman leaving her husband for her loverThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Based on the authors breakdown after a similar type of rest cure Also the author Herland, a feminist utopian storyQ2. In one sentence, explain what are you interested in exploring about the stories. (What is your thesis statement?)The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman depict how oppression causes emotional stress and psychic disintegration for women in society, which is interpreted as…
Depression or Oppression in The Yellow Wallpaper
Depression or Oppression: The Yellow Wallpaper \\"The Yellow Wallpaper\\" is an amazing piece about Charlotte’s descent into mental impairment. Presented in diary form, the text recounts the experiences of Charlotte who is diagnosed with a nervous condition (i.e. hysteria) and is advised by her physician husband that she ought to be exposed to minimal mental stimulation in her path to recovery. Towards this end, she is essentially barricaded in her bedroom – a room wrapped in yellow wallpaper. While Charlotte is at first diagnosed with depression and supposedly put on treatment for the same, what informs her descent into further mental impairment is oppression, as opposed to depression. It is important to note that human beings happen to be social creatures. What this means is that they thrive on constant interactions with each other. Charlotte is isolated and the only persons she has access to are the nurse and her…
Moral Consciousness in The Yellow
All of this shows how society looked at women at the time. They were "fragile" and emotionally irrational. They had no power or choice in a relationship, and they were seen as weak and unable to deal with the real world. This narrator may have mental problems, but it seems they came from the way she was treated by her husband and society. It was as if women did not exist. They could not work, many did not even care for their own children, and they had little to live for or strive for. Gilman wrote this story to raise the moral consciousness of readers, and to show the plight of women in Victorian times. The reader has to feel sorry for this narrator - not because she goes mad, but because she was driven to madness by the social and moral beliefs at the time. There is little social…
Moral Consciousness in "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a disturbing look into the moral and social position of women at the time the author wrote it in 1899. The narrator slowly goes mad as the story progresses, and it is easy to see why. She is stuck away in the country while her husband is gone all day, and she has nothing to do and no interests to keep her occupied. A nanny is even raising her baby. She cannot visit others and her husband keeps her nearly a recluse because of her "delicate condition." In reality, she is a strong and vital woman who begins hallucinating because her life is so empty and she is so lonely. He has even convinced her she is sick, and then says he does not really believe it.
The female author wrote this story to show how women were treated in Victorian times. This woman wants to work and participate in her life, but the men around her convince her she is better off doing nothing. Her husband is so controlling that he even makes the decision where they will sleep, even after his wife tells him she does not like the yellow wallpaper in the room he chooses. All of this shows how society looked at women at the time. They were "fragile" and emotionally irrational. They had no power or choice in a relationship, and they were seen as weak and unable to deal with the real world. This narrator may have mental problems, but it seems they came from the way she was treated by her husband and society. It was as if women did not exist. They could not work, many did not even care for their own children, and they had little to live for or strive for. Gilman wrote this story to raise the moral consciousness of readers, and to show the plight of women in Victorian times. The reader has to feel sorry for this narrator - not because she goes mad, but because she was driven to madness by the social and moral beliefs at the time. There is little social justice here, because the husband will just believe he was right, and his wife was crazy. He will not see his own participation in the situation, or how he could rectify it by treating his wife as an equal.
Personae in Literature the Yellow
He is older, because he aches and can still feel the rung of the ladder in his foot, and the author gets all this across with the voice of the narrator in the poem. Let America be America Again" angry, hopeful, forceful, strong, determined. The structure of this poem leads to the dramatic conclusion, and helps the reader see that this narrator is frustrated and angry over the "freedom" he has not seen in America, and how unfair life in America can be. The author uses different stanzas and varies the sizes of the stanzas to show power in the narrator's words, and how America can hope to be better someday, but it will take work. This is a strong poem with a structure that adds to its strength. The varied stanzas and rhymes make the poem just a little off center, just as the narrator's theme of lack of…
Frost, Robert. "After Apple-Picking." Making Literature Matter.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Making Literature Matter.
Hughes, Langston. "Let America be America Again." Making Literature Matter.
Perspective Used for Short Stories
Yellow Wallpaper The author of this report has been asked to review and write a reaction to the short story that has come to be known as The Yellow Wallpaper. The work is a short story that is about six thousand words in length. As with many short stories of this nature, the root goal and perspective that one can glean from the story really depends on how one chooses to look at it. One can take it literally word for word while others could see flavors of feminism and the like. The author of this paper will specifically look at the reliability of the narrator. Specifically, it will be assessed how reliable the narrator is. While the short story is ostensibly a first-hand account of the story to be told and thus should be reliable, there are obviously some feelings and perceptions that are colored by emotions and other…
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. Gutenberg. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.
Setting the Story
Yellow allpaper and Paul's Case: Emancipation of Mental Captivity The two texts, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow allpaper and illa Cather's Paul's Case, portray the main characters with hysteria. Both cases are reactions to the pressures put on them by their families as well as the society. They seem to build mental barriers that cannot be brought down, so called safe heavens, escape from harsh realities and this puts them on a self-destruction course. The narrator in The Yellow allpaper is the main character, an upper middle class woman confined to domesticity and "women's role. The text reveals her inner struggles and from her eye, the reader is able to see her plight. Similarly in Paul's Case, the main character has personal issues that are products of the society he lives in. He is motherless, thin pale and dreamy adolescent who rebels from his conventional surroundings in Pittsburgh. The major…
Cather, Willa. Paul's Case . 1905.
Gilman, CP. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. New York: Dover Publications, 1892.
Oppression Repression and Madness in
John is completely blind to his wife's needs. In fact, he is being completely selfish in this situation because he is placing himself over his wife's needs. This fact, on top of everything else, allows us to see how easily oppression could transform into anger. Oppression, repression, and rage emerge as important aspects of "The Yellow allpaper." The narrator in this story represents countless women who suffered at the hands of uninterested and uneducated doctors. The story follows the course of madness through stages and reveals the delicate workings of the human psyche. Survival is an instinctive characteristic and the narrator does what she can to preserve herself before going over the edge. Gilman demonstrates the yearning for independence in a rather hopeless situation and, as a result, emphasizes the need for understanding before medication. In addition, she also demonstrates how doctors do not always know best. Perhaps one of…
Perkins-Gilman Charlotte. "The Yellow Wall-paper." The Heath Anthology of American
Literature. Vol. II. Lexington D.C. Heath and Company. 1990.
-. "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" City University of New York Online. http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html Site Accessed November 30, 2009.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look
Gilman Melville and Houston Short
"e're leaving,' he hissed. "I'm taking you straight to the hospital." hen Susan rose shakily to her feet, uncontrollable diarrhea had stained her dress and dripped from the chair. hite with fury, Charles Hay took her by the arm and led her slowly from the hall." (Melville 134) The work again intones an incredible journey through what a women sees a man thinking. The disconnectedness of Susan from her husband is so complete that her voice is only marginal in the work, but the message is clear in the literary expression of her secreted activities. The masculine is represented as the feminist idea of greater association with industry than home, to the peril of loving relationships. The writing demonstrates a character who is wholly disconnected from ethics in love and life, and in s sense is a demonized masculine archetype. Conclusion: Among these three works are three completely differing context…
Cavalcanti, Ildney. "Utopias of/f Language in Contemporary Feminist Literary Dystopias." Utopian Studies 11.2 (2000): 152.
Fludernik, Monika. The Fictions of Language and the Languages of Fiction: The Linguistic Representation of Speech and Consciousness. London: Routledge, 1993.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) available online at http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman/The_Yellow_Wallpaper/The_Yellow_Wallpaper_p1.html .
Herndl, Diane Price. Invalid Women: Figuring Feminine Illness in American Fiction and Culture, 1840-1940. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
Gilman and Henrik Ibsen Women
Finding no recourse or way to express her true feelings and thoughts, the Narrator began reflecting on her oppression through the yellow wallpaper patterns on the walls of her room: "The front pattern does move -- and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast...and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard" (Roberts and Jacobs, 1998:550). This passage can be interpreted in two ways: seeing the woman within the wallpaper patterns may signify her dissociation from herself psychologically by succumbing to insanity. However, this process may also be construed as her way of breaking out of the prison that is her marriage, the oppression she felt being dominated by John and the limits that marriage had put on her as a woman. Though…
Jacobs, H. And E. Roberts. (1998). Literature: an introduction to reading and writing. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Women in Society
Yellow Wallpaper,' the nameless narrator is compelled by those that surround her to spend time in a colonial mansion in order to rest and get well. The opposite happens; we see her descend into madness in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of the main character in 'The Shining.' We are given the sense of a controlled environment, in which a narrator is placed by male figures representing authority and familiarity (doctors: her husband and brother) in a situation where she is condemned to stare at a wall. The response of her subconscious is embodied in the changes she perceives in the character of the wall. She sees a yellow female woman trying to break free of the wall, which we interpret to represent the constrained parameters of her activity. She is a complete subordinate, dominated by men who possess professional accolades. Her attitudes mirror those we see in Ibsen…
Eastern influences are revealed in 'A Room of One's Own.' There Woolf expresses her concern for unity and balance between the male and female principles. She writes of "two sexes in the mind corresponding to the two sexes in the body" which "require to be united in order to get complete satisfaction and happiness." In each of us, she says, "two powers preside, one male, one female." According to Woolf, "The normal and comfortable state of being is that when the two live in harmony together, spiritually cooperating... Coleridge perhaps meant this when he said that a great mind must be androgynous. It is when this fusion takes place that the mind is fully fertilized and uses all its faculties."
Jean-Charles Seigneuret. Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs Vol. 1. Greenwood Press, 1988
Katie Conboy, Nadia Medina, Sarah Stanbury. Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory; Columbia University Press, 1997
Women's and Gender Studies
omen and Gender Studies Of all the technologies and cultural phenomena human beings have created, language, and particularly writing, is arguably the most powerful, because it is the means by which all human experience is expressed and ordered. As such, controlling who is allowed to write, and in a modern context, be published, is one of the most effective means of controlling society. This fact was painfully clear to women writers throughout history because women were frequently prohibited from receiving the same education as men, and as the struggle for gender equality began to read a critical mass near the end of the nineteenth century, control over women's access to education and writing became a central theme in a number of authors' works, whether they considered themselves feminists or not. In particular, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 story The Yellow allpaper features this theme prominently, and Virginia oolf's extended essay A…
Bak, John S. "Escaping the Jaundiced Eye: Foucauldian Panopticism in Charlotte Perkins
Gilmans "the Yellow Wallpaper." Studies in Short Fiction 31.1 (1994): 39-.
Carstens, Lisa. "Unbecoming Women: Sex Reversal in the Scientific Discourse on Female
Deviance in Britain, 1880-1920." Journal of the History of Sexuality 20.1 (2011):
Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
You see he does not believe I am sick!" (Gilman). In fact, there is a question as to whether the narrator drags her husband along with her in her journey into madness. Two feminist writers note, "At the moment when Gilman's narrator completes the identification with her double in the wallpaper, she experiences an epiphany. To John she exclaims, 'I've got out at last... In spite of you and Jane!'" (Delashmit, and Long 33). She has realized her freedom, but at a very heavy cost. Like Nora, she leaves behind a child and a husband in order to live in her private "mad" world. Some critics believe she is the result of a "sick" society that treats women so inhumanely they have few options but to desert their families or go mad (Herndl 114). Obviously, the cost to the women and the family is extremely high, and the obstacles they…
Delashmit, Margaret, and Charles Long. "Gilman's the Yellow Wallpaper." Explicator 50.1 (1991): 32-33.
Downs, Brian W. A Study of Six Plays by Ibsen. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1950.
Egan, Michael. Henrik Ibsen: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge, 1997.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." College of Staten Island: City University of New York. 2006. 17 Jan. 2007. http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html
Evaluating Narrating and Describing
Charlotte Perkins Gilman entitled "The Yellow Wallpaper." The best way to evaluate this essay is by identifying the various thematic elements prevalent in it. These include the waning sanity of the protagonist, the intransigence of her husband, and the subjection of women to the will of men that typified the lives of women at the time that this story was written. Such an evaluation will most likely end in a conclusion that Gilman was subtly protesting the noxious effect that men have on the lives of women, particularly husbands' own wives, as a salient social issue. There are several passages in this work of literature in which it is clear that the author is suffering from some sort of mental illness -- or, perhaps more accurately, is recovering from one and is attempting to prevent a relapse. Part of her mental illness, the author alludes to, stems from her prowess…
Caruso, G. (2007). "Literary analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper." www.helium.com. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/536002-literary-analysis-the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman
Gilman, C. (2008). "The Yellow Wallpaper." Project Gutenberg. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm
Gilman, C. (2008). "Why I wrote the yellow wallpaper." www.charlotteperkinsgilman.com. Retrieved from http://www.charlotteperkinsgilman.com/2008/04/why-i-wrote-yellow-wallpaper-charlotte.html
Communication Between Men in Women
Her physician husband, John, and those like him do "not believe" that she is "sick" or even, in her view, capable of understanding her sickness, so "what," she asks, "can one do?" (Hume). How can one view this passage without seeing a total lack of communication in a marriage? The narrator even goes so far as to say, "It is so hard to talk to John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so" (Perkins Gilman). From a purely logical standpoint, John's wisdom and the fact that he loves her so would seem to naturally suggest that he would be the most receptive person to listen to the narrator's discussions, but other things that the narrator says reveal John's patronizing attitude towards her. Instead of caring for her, John absolutely ignores the narrator's suggestions about what she thinks may help heal her. Dismissing her…
Golden, Catherine. "The Writing of 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Double Palimpsest." Studies in American Fiction. 17.2 (Autumn 1989): 193-201. Rpt. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 201. Detroit: Gale, Literature Resource Center.
Deneau, Daniel P. "Chopin's The Story of an Hour." The Explicator. (Vol. 61). .4 (Summer 2003): p210. Literature Resource Center.
Managing madness in Gilman's "The yellow wall-paper"
Hume, Beverly A.
Interpretation and Analysis
Discrimination and Madness: Examining Motifs in the Short Stories of Faulkner and Gillman "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and "A ose for Emily," by William Faulkner, though remarkably different in style and voice, feature stories where women are the main characters. Both of these stories take the reader through a raucous trip through time and sanity leaving the reader constantly guessing. In the midst of these vivid journeys through the narrative, both short stories showcase their female protagonists in fictional worlds where various pertinent social issues fester in the background. "The Yellow Wallpaper" tells a story written in the first person of a vivacious, imaginative woman who explains that she suffers from a temporary nervous depression colored by a bit of hysteria. Her husband, a doctor, who the narrator tells us is extremely practical, believes she is not sick and rents a colonial mansion for the summer so…
Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. 1930. In LitWeb the Norton Introduction to Literature Website. Retrieved from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/litweb05/workshops/fiction/faulkner1.asp
Gillman Perkins, Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1891. In LitWeb the Norton
Introduction to Literature Website. Retrieved from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/litweb05/workshops/fiction/gilman1.asp
Unraveling The Heroine of Charlotte
"I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time… I lie here on this great immovable bed -- it is nailed down, I believe -- and follow that pattern about by the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, I assure you. I start, we'll say, at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of a conclusion." She does not think of her child, and only occasionally of her husband. The wallpaper and the imaginary woman command her focus. Forced into a pointless existence, and denied the mobility and the intellectual excitement that make life meaningful, the woman's mind turns to other intellectual and imaginary pursuits, Gilman suggests. Eventually, rather than describing herself as looking at the pattern of the wallpaper, Gilman's heroine disassociates and…
Bak, John S. "Escaping the jaundiced eye: Foucauldian Panopticism in Charlotte Perkins
Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" Studies in Short Fiction. Winter 1994.
Accessed from Find Articles October 6, 2010 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2455/is_n1_v31/ai_15356232/?tag=content;col1
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Full e-text available from the University
Gilman Was a Social Activist and Herself
Gilman was a social activist and herself experienced mental illness. These elements infuse her story "The Yellow Wallpaper" with greater meaning and urgency for Feminism and for plight of females then and now. Gilman as social activist Gilman advocates for woman. The woman owned by males and disallowed by husband, male physician, and brother from leaving the room becomes mad. The woman is imprisoned -- locked in. Males stunt and kill her life. In the end she steps over them; Gilman is telling females to do so too. Gilman's experience with mental illness and its treatment Description of Gilman's experience Elaboration of the haunting description of the wallpaper. Gilman's familiarity with the psychosis E. Typical 19th century views/treatments of mental illness. Description of contemporary treatment b. Treatment of the character. It matched social beliefs and was created by males Conclusion How this knowledge enhances our understanding of the story and…
Bio.com Charlotte Perkins Gilman biography
http://www.biography.com/people/charlotte-perkins-gilman-9311669
Brainy Quote
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/charlottep402139.html#gXQCICbA9RaGTyI9.99 Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper
Huck Finn Huck in the
Can't say I disagree with him -- so I guess this yellow wallpaper crazy lady didn't have it so good, for all her money. Sure, that lady went crazy, even though she was rich and livin' a high life. But heck, I might have gone crazy myself staring at the same wallpaper all day, with nothin' to do and I don't have half a mind to get crazy, people would say -- I think I might have gone crazy just on my own steam of thinkin' about what I could be doin'. I can't just get my head around this whole other woman thing. First I thought she was like another person, then I realized that she was just a pretend woman in the imagination, behind the wallpaper -- and then, I kinda realized that the woman behind the paper was like Jim. Let me explain, I'm not sayin' that…
Charlotte Poe
monologue in Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Both Charlotte Perkins Filman's "The Yellow allpaper" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontilado" involve copious amounts of monologue. Each of these tales is narrated by a single person whose viewpoints and opinions are issued directly to the reader, coloring the events of the plot accordingly. However, there are critical distinctions between both of these tales and in both of the monologues the narrator's employ. Gilman's story is narrated by a woman whose mental health slowly, inexorably unravels -- to her detriment, and that of those who purport to care for her. Poe's story is narrated by a man who is bent on exacting revenge upon another. Thus, despite the fact that there are monologues utilized in each short story, the principle difference between them is that the monologue of Gilman's narrator spirals at its conclusion…
Poe, Edgar Allen. The Cask of Amontillado. http://xroads.virginia.edu / 1846. Web.
Human Ignorance Uncivilized Behavior Due
As a housewife confined mostly at home, the woman yearned to develop herself, to function as an able individual not just in her home but in her society as well. Thus, work became a symbolic manifestation of the woman's yearning for freedom: freedom from the oppressive label of being a housewife, and freedom from being limited and dictated what she needs to do and not do. Human ignorance is highlighted in the story when, as the woman succumbed to the fixating task of "analyzing" and following the patterns of the yellow wallpaper, her husband thought her nervous breakdown has finally escalated into insanity. As the woman begins to consider the pattern a reflection of her own life, her family, particularly her husband John, began considering her condition as one of insanity: "At night...and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars!...I didn't realize for a long time what the thing…
Gilman, C.P. (1899). E-text of "The Yellow Wallpaper." Available at http://www.storybites.com/gilmanwallpaper.htm.
Marquez, G.G.E-text of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." Available at http://www.salvoblue.homestead.com/wings.html .
Depression in Literature Minnie Wright
Then after Homer disappeared, she gave china painting lessons until a new generation lost interest, and then "The front door closed...remained closed for good" (Faulkner pp). Emily's depression caused her to become a recluse. All three female protagonists are so dominated by male authority figures that their loneliness leads to severe depression, which in turn leads to madness, then eventually acts of violence. None of the women have active control of their lives, however, each in their own way makes a desperate attempt to take action, to seek a type of redemption for the misery and humiliation they have endured by the male figures in their lives. orks Cited Curry, Renee R. "Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.'" The Mississippi Quarterly. June 22, 1994. Retrieved July 28, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site. Faulkner, illiam. "A Rose for Emily." Retrieved July 28, 2005 at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html…
Curry, Renee R. "Gender and authorial limitation in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily.'" The Mississippi Quarterly. June 22, 1994. Retrieved July 28, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.
Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." Retrieved July 28, 2005 at
Madness in Women in Most of the
Madness in Women In most of the novels and the works in consideration we see the struggle for expression and the quest to overcome masculine oppression (on the part of the author) finds expression as a deteriorating mental state of the character. Largely guided by their urge to break off from the shackles of the society and the pining for the freedom that has been sadly denied to them, women exhibit a kind of madness in their effort to restore the balance. This is fairly obvious from the many literary works created by women. These works invariably depict the quest for freedom and very often they end up as the lamenting tones of a deranged personality. In most of the novels and the works in consideration we see the struggle for expression and the quest to overcome masculine oppression (on the part of the author) is expressed as a deteriorating…
Femininity and Freedom Explored in
Perkins gives us the reason one must never go back: sanity. These characters have issues in their lives but they certainly cannot sit still and wait for things to happen around them. The power of femininity did not advance because women remained timid; it gained momentum because women realized they were separate individuals capable of living full lives without the domineering presence of men. At the same time, they understood the importance of relationships and what they bring to life. They know both can exist without one overpowering the other. hile this does not sound like much of a revelation in today's world, it was a remarkable revelation around one hundred years ago when women were expected to be happy being mothers and wives. orks Cited Allen, Brooke. "The accomplishment of Edith harton." New Criterion, Sept 2001. Gale Resource Database. Site Accessed April 13, 2011. Chopin, Kate. "Regreat." American Literature…
Allen, Brooke. "The accomplishment of Edith Wharton." New Criterion, Sept 2001. Gale
Resource Database. Site Accessed April 13, 2011.
Chopin, Kate. "Regreat." American Literature Online. Site Accessed April 13, 2011.
http://www.americanliterature.com/SS/SS11.htmL
Women's Role
Setting of Two Turn of the Century Feminist Tales The use of irony in both tales Women today Women's Role in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "A Story of an Hour" Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short tale "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Katherine Anne Porter's short story "A Story of an Hour" both depict the constrained lives of middle-class women. The protagonist of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is driven mad when she is refused her books and the healthy aspects of her daily life as a rest cure, after the woman has given birth to her first child. The rest cure merely kindles the illness within her. In "A Story of an Hour," a woman with a bad heart is denied all of the aspects of life that make life worth living, such as travel and adventure, for fear the excitement will cause her to have a heart attack. Ironically, the woman at the…
Domestic Prison Gender Roles and Marriage the
Domestic Prison Gender oles and Marriage The Domestic Prison: James Thurber's "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1939) and "The Story of an Hour" (1894) by Kate Chopin depict marriage as a prison for both men and women from which the main characters fantasize about escaping. Louise Mallard is similar to the unnamed narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is that they are literally imprisoned in a domestic world from which there is no escape but death or insanity. As in all of this early feminist fiction, the women characters are defined as 'sick', either physically or mentally, for even imaging a situation on which they might be free, for they are allowed no lives of their own. Louise Mallard was overjoyed when she heard that her husband was killed in an accident,…
Allen, J.A. (2004) The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Sexuality, Histories, Progressivism. University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Chopin, K. (1997). "The Story of an Hour" in A. Charters and S. Charters (eds). Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: Bedford Books, pp. 158-159.
Davis, S. (1982). "Katherine Chopin." American Realists and Naturalists. D. Pizer and E.N. Harbert (eds). Detroit: Gale Research, 1982. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 12.
Gilman, C. (1997)."The Yellow Wallpaper" in A. Charters and S. Charters (eds). Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997, pp. 230-242.
Comparison of Style and Purpose
Rose for Emily," which was authored by William Faulkner in 1930 and "The Yellow Wallpaper," that was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, both are intimate stories about women living in their particular times in the United States. In addition, both provide true insights into what it was like as a female living during these historic times. However, the styles of the two authors make the stories very different in their approach and effect on the readers. "A Rose for Emily," told in five separate sections, is rich with the descriptions, plot structures and mood that made Faulkner such a dynamic and memorable writer. After only a few lines into his artistic work, the reader is transposed into that period and place. For example, when reading the second paragraph, one can easily imagine the look and style of the house: "It was a big, squarish frame house that had…
Look at Specific Works in American Literature
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane details the life and experiences of Henry Fleming, who encounters great conflict between overcoming his fear of war and death and becoming a glorious fighter for his country in the battlefield. Published in the 19th century, Crane's novel evokes an idealist picture of nationalism, patriotism, and loyalty in America, especially in its war efforts. Fleming's character can be considered as the epitome of an individual who experiences internal conflict between following his heart or mind. Henry's mind tells him that he should give up fighting in the war because it only results to numerous deaths, wherein soldiers fighting for their country end up getting wounded, or worse, killed. However, eventually, as he was overcome with guilt over his cowardice and fear of death and war, Henry followed his mother's advice, following his heart. By being true to himself, he won and survived the…
Confluence of Prose and Poetry
This is why wars are fought with bloodletting, why torture takes place, and why neither violence nor war is limited to the physical carnage of the battlefield. Nordstrom 59) The early death of Clifton's mother, as a result of having to powerlessly rely on a liar and a letch who could not provide for his family, is the ultimate example of self-inflicted violence, as is Gillman's character resorting to an expression of madness to resist her powerlessness. It was only slightly more "appropriate" for a women to realize madness as it was for her to throw herself from a three story window. orks Cited Clifton, Lucille "forgiving my father" in Schilb, John & Clifford, John. Making Literature Matter 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford, St. Martin's, 2005, 314. Gelfant, Blanche H., and Lawrence Graver, eds. The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Gillman,…
Clifton, Lucille "forgiving my father" in Schilb, John & Clifford, John. Making Literature Matter 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford, St. Martin's, 2005, 314.
Gelfant, Blanche H., and Lawrence Graver, eds. The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Gillman, Charlotte Perkins "The Yellow Wallpaper" in Schilb, John & Clifford, John. Making Literature Matter 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford, St. Martin's, 2005, 917-925.
Victorian Women During the Victorian
Meanwhile, Melmotte introduces Marie into the matrimonial arena at an extravagant ball for which, in hope of favors that will come, he gains the patronage of several duchesses and other regal individuals. Marie, believed to be the heiress of millions, has many highly placed but poor young noblemen asking for her hand in marriage. She falls in love with Sir Felix Carbury, who is the most shady of them all. Felix's interest in Marie has nothing to do with love, but only with her wealth. This behavior is expected, since he is just following through on all that he has been told while growing up. He has learned his lessons well. His mother commends him often for winning Marie's heart, even if it is for the wrong reasons.. As Trollope writes: It was now his business to marry an heiress. He was well aware that it was so, and was…
Books Cited
Austin, J. Pride and Prejudice. Retrieved August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007. http://www.bookwolf.com/Free_Booknotes/Pride____Prejudice/pride____prejudice.html
Chopin, K. "Story of an Hour." Retrieved August 25, 2007. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
Eliot, G. Middlemarch. Retrieved August 25, 2007. http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/eliot/middle/
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Yellow Wallpaper" Retrieved August 25, 2007 http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/wallpaper.html
Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell
Old Nurse's Story Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Old Nurse's Story" uses gothic imagery and Victorian themes to elucidate the role and status of women. Online critics claim the story is filled with themes of "male domination, females' sense of powerlessness due to this dominance, and the ambiguous results of women's struggle against males in the Victorian era," ("The Damning Effects of a Patriarchal Society in "The Old Nurse's Story" and "The Yellow allpaper"). Indeed, these three core elements are absolutely evident in this haunting tale about rediscovering personal identity via encounters with the past. The motif of haunting allows the past to return to the present in eerie ways. Relying on ghosts allows the author to present the suggestion that the past haunts the lives of all individuals, and that women have trouble extricating themselves from negative situations because of the constraints of dead social institutions and norms. However, Hughes and…
"The Damning Effects of a Patriarchal Society in "The Old Nurse's Story" and "The Yellow Wallpaper." Retrieved online: http://www.unc.edu/~hernande/comparecontrast.htm
Gaskell, Elizabeth. "The Old Nurse's Story." Retrieved online: http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/EG-Nurse.html
"Victorian Fin de Siecle." Retrieved online: http://www.unc.edu/~slivey/gothic/
Teenagers and Conflict a Review
Teenagers in Conflict ith Their Environment At the time of the stories Teenagers are often in conflict with their environment. hat some call the "rebellious" years are at times just periods in a person's life where he or she may feel confused, lost, and alone. Three stories by Oates, Boyle, and Gilman highlight the lives of teenagers and their conflicts within their worlds. Each character will show how teenagers may act; the paths they choose along with the reasons. HERE ARE YOU GOING, HERE HAVE YOU BEEN by Joyce Carol Oates is a novel that describes the life of a teenage girl named Connie. Connie is one of the main characters and the protagonist of the story. Oates paints her as a beautiful and self-absorbed 15-year-old who argues with her mom. Although her mother was once beautiful like Connie, she has aged. Her sister, older and more homely, provides a…
Boyle, T. Coraghessan. Greasy Lake & Other Stories. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Viking, 1985. Print.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, and Peter Leigh. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1999. Print.
Hilliard, Marisa E. et al. 'Disentangling The Roles Of Parental Monitoring And Family Conflict In Adolescents' Management Of Type 1 Diabetes.'. Health Psychology 32.4 (2013): 388-396. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Marwick, Alice E., and Danah Boyd. 'The Drama! Teen Conflict, Gossip, And Bullying In Networked Publics'. Papers.ssrn.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
The Controlled Woman Comparing Female Freedom and Male Domination in Two Short Stories
Female Freedom in the 19th Century: Two Short Stories The short story entitled the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman both approach the subject of female sanity and wellness from different angles. Both stories suggest that society and those closest to the woman have really no idea about the inner life of the female, nor what is best for her mental health and overall well being. The incorrect assumptions of those around them are precisely what contribute to the ultimate tragedies and unraveling of mental states present within each story. Chopin’s famous “Story of an Hour” demonstrates the ill-conceived presumption that so many of the era project on to the heart and mind of a woman. We are told of Mrs. Mallard’s fragility in the opening of the story. As a result of this fragility, “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a…
Biologist He Was Born a Normal Healthy
Biologist He was born a normal, healthy boy and he grew as little boys do, with G.I. Joe dolls and plastic guns. He seemed so normal through and through. When he chose books over monkey bars they thought him a little bit queer. He didn't pay sports like the others; instead he read all of Shakespeare. Then they told him men did not write poems, but they loved working with numbers. So he buried his inclinations and struggled with physics blunders. The boy became a biologist, successful and smart they all thought. But in his heart he hated his life and the terrible lies he bought. Jennie's Side of The Yellow Wallpaper I feel so sorry for John's wife. Sometimes I just do not know what to think of their situation. On one hand, I understand that she is suffering from something dreadful and John is only trying to help…
Paul's Case Flowers and Dress
Thus, the fact that illa Cather employs flowers in her story does not necessarily suggest that Paul is different, and for symbolic value to emphasize the contrast between difference and similarity in the story. Paul's desire for flowers certainly emphasize his difference as he wears them when it seems less than appropriate, and their presence as a symbol is emphasized by the fact hat they accompany his major steps in the story (going to the suspension hearing, his meetings with Charley, his trip to New York, and his death), as well as the way they are used to contrast similarity or "everyday things" (Cather 19). In addition to flowers, Paul's interest in dress and his dress itself can easily be seen as a sign of his homosexuality. Like the flowers, however, it can also quite easily be explained as a characteristic and symbol of his difference. In contrast to the…
Cather, Willa. "Paul's Case." Sam Houston State University. 1906. English Department.
16 March 2009. http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/authors/Cather/Pauls-Case.htm
Thacker, Robert. "Willa Cather." The Willa Cather Foundation. n.d. 16 March 2009. http://www.willacather.org/about-willa-cather/willa-cather
Gender in Poetry Literature Lesson Duration
Gende in Poety / Liteatue Lesson Lesson Duation mins Rational: This is an intoduction to the gende issues which wee so pevalent in the Victoian ea, and a backdop to show why they still exist today and the ham they can inflict. Syllabus Outcome: This pat of the lesson helps meet outcome 1, o the ability to intepet meanings and themes within texts. By using abstact thinking pocesses, the students will make connections between the texts pesented and show how they ae, o ae not elated. Accoding to the eseach, "A student esponds to and composes inceasingly sophisticated and sustained texts fo undestanding, intepetation, citical analysis and pleasue" (Boad of Studies fo NSW 2003 p 32). Syllabus Content: This will help meet outcome 4, whee "a student selects and uses languages foms and featues, and stuctues of texts accoding to diffeent puposes, audiences and contexts, and descibes and explains thei…
references to at least two of the texts read
Less than three sentences per response and mentioning one or none of the texts read so far
Strong use of creativity. The poem or short story breaks three or more of the gender stereotypes learned
Simply rewriting a previously published story or poem. Only two or less gender stereotypes were broken by the female character
Sports - Women
Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman first published in 1892. The story touches upon themes of patriarchy, misogyny, identity, disenfranchisement, and mental illness. Told from…
Yellow allpaper Breaking Free: The Ironic Liberation of "Yellow allpaper" Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" is a quintessential feminist story, even though it can be interpreted on many…
Yellow Wallpaper portrays that the protagonist in the story, Jane is mentally disturbed. Due to various factors and social pressures, Jane is affected with a mental condition that causes…
As the narrator is denied access to the world and the normal expression of her individuality, so she becomes a true prisoner of the room with the yellow wallpaper.…
I fancy it is the pattern that keeps her so still... It keep me quiet by the hour" (Hunt, 179). ith this, it is clear that Gilman sees herself…
As the text by Davison (2004) contributes, "given that the narrator in Gilman's tale is a femme couverte who has no legal power over her own person -- like…
Yet, in this case, the freedom that the author is talking about is not necessarily the liberation of women from the oppressive male society, but the freedom of each…
Research Proposal
Black Studies - Philosophy
What I have told you are just my feelings and opinion, John. Though I am do not know exactly what is ailing your wife, I do know -- as…
Her account of his complete discounting of her expressed needs, (which he dismisses without a second thought), as well as her description of his attitude toward her engaging in…
Literary Analysis
English Literature: Literary AnalysesTitle of the story: The Yellow WallpaperAuthor: Charlotte Perkins StetsonThesis of the StoryThe story The Yellow Wallpaper, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, is about mental illness,…
The constant suppression of her husband to let her roam around the house, and his insistence to rest and sleep all day, became the catalyst for her to have…
Yellow allpaper" and Mental Illness in omen Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" is an important short story that delves into the issue of mental illness. It illustrates how…
Similarities in Theme in the Two Stories Prisoners: Both of these stories place the characters in a kind of prison. On the first page of Yellow allpaper the narrator…
Yellow allpaper How the antagonist in "The Yellow allpaper" by Charlotte Perkins contributes to the story's overall meaning. The physician's wife is the main character and has just given…
Yellow Wallpaper" a feminist text. What work women American culture turn century? How wife defeat patriarchal culture represented attitude husband? Consider "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a feminist text. What…
The society of the time didn't support women's intellectual activities and hence doctors denied their mentally ill patients the right to enjoy something other than domestic chores. This only…
Yellow Wallpaper," American culture at the turn of the century, Consider "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a feminist text. What does the work say about women and American culture at…
Research Paper
Yellow allpaper The year is 1888, the place is America, the scenes include a country home in rural Massachusetts (where the woman of the house is Dorothy Pilman), a…
Infantilizing and Dehumanizing omen in the Victorian Era In 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman published "The Yellow allpaper," a tragic short story told from the first person point-of-view tracing a…
Alienation of omen in "The Yellow allpaper" and "A Doll's House" Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow allpaper" and Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House" share similar themes…
Literature - American
Yellow Wallpaper": Sources of Narrator's Insanity The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story about the sad descent into insanity of a woman that was first…
The Yellow allpaper and the Problem of the Unhelpful ManCharlotte Perkins Gilman was born in 1860 and descended from a proud line of rhetoricians (Silcox). Having a way with…
Long before the term postpartum depression became part of the vernacular, Charlotte Perkins Gilman deftly and sensitively describes the complex condition in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The…
Gender / Sexuality
Medical Misunderstandings and Gender: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a brief psychological study of a woman slowly going mad…
Q. Visit the three databases listed as great places for background information. Give two interesting pieces of information for themes about the stories you are comparing (so a total…
Depression or Oppression: The Yellow Wallpaper \\"The Yellow Wallpaper\\" is an amazing piece about Charlotte’s descent into mental impairment. Presented in diary form, the text recounts the experiences of…
All of this shows how society looked at women at the time. They were "fragile" and emotionally irrational. They had no power or choice in a relationship, and they…
He is older, because he aches and can still feel the rung of the ladder in his foot, and the author gets all this across with the voice of…
Yellow Wallpaper The author of this report has been asked to review and write a reaction to the short story that has come to be known as The Yellow…
Family and Marriage
Yellow allpaper and Paul's Case: Emancipation of Mental Captivity The two texts, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow allpaper and illa Cather's Paul's Case, portray the main characters with hysteria.…
John is completely blind to his wife's needs. In fact, he is being completely selfish in this situation because he is placing himself over his wife's needs. This fact,…
"e're leaving,' he hissed. "I'm taking you straight to the hospital." hen Susan rose shakily to her feet, uncontrollable diarrhea had stained her dress and dripped from the chair.…
Finding no recourse or way to express her true feelings and thoughts, the Narrator began reflecting on her oppression through the yellow wallpaper patterns on the walls of her…
Yellow Wallpaper,' the nameless narrator is compelled by those that surround her to spend time in a colonial mansion in order to rest and get well. The opposite happens;…
omen and Gender Studies Of all the technologies and cultural phenomena human beings have created, language, and particularly writing, is arguably the most powerful, because it is the means…
You see he does not believe I am sick!" (Gilman). In fact, there is a question as to whether the narrator drags her husband along with her in her…
Charlotte Perkins Gilman entitled "The Yellow Wallpaper." The best way to evaluate this essay is by identifying the various thematic elements prevalent in it. These include the waning sanity…
Her physician husband, John, and those like him do "not believe" that she is "sick" or even, in her view, capable of understanding her sickness, so "what," she asks,…
Literature Review
Discrimination and Madness: Examining Motifs in the Short Stories of Faulkner and Gillman "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and "A ose for Emily," by William Faulkner, though…
"I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time… I lie here on this great immovable bed -- it is nailed down, I believe -- and follow that…
Gilman was a social activist and herself experienced mental illness. These elements infuse her story "The Yellow Wallpaper" with greater meaning and urgency for Feminism and for plight of…
Can't say I disagree with him -- so I guess this yellow wallpaper crazy lady didn't have it so good, for all her money. Sure, that lady went crazy,…
monologue in Gilman's "The Yellow allpaper" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Both Charlotte Perkins Filman's "The Yellow allpaper" and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontilado" involve…
As a housewife confined mostly at home, the woman yearned to develop herself, to function as an able individual not just in her home but in her society as…
Then after Homer disappeared, she gave china painting lessons until a new generation lost interest, and then "The front door closed...remained closed for good" (Faulkner pp). Emily's depression caused…
Madness in Women In most of the novels and the works in consideration we see the struggle for expression and the quest to overcome masculine oppression (on the part…
Perkins gives us the reason one must never go back: sanity. These characters have issues in their lives but they certainly cannot sit still and wait for things to…
Setting of Two Turn of the Century Feminist Tales The use of irony in both tales Women today Women's Role in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "A Story of an…
Domestic Prison Gender oles and Marriage The Domestic Prison: James Thurber's "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" James Thurber's "The Secret Life…
Urban Studies
Rose for Emily," which was authored by William Faulkner in 1930 and "The Yellow Wallpaper," that was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892, both are intimate stories about…
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane details the life and experiences of Henry Fleming, who encounters great conflict between overcoming his fear of war and death and becoming…
This is why wars are fought with bloodletting, why torture takes place, and why neither violence nor war is limited to the physical carnage of the battlefield. Nordstrom 59)…
Meanwhile, Melmotte introduces Marie into the matrimonial arena at an extravagant ball for which, in hope of favors that will come, he gains the patronage of several duchesses and…
Old Nurse's Story Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Old Nurse's Story" uses gothic imagery and Victorian themes to elucidate the role and status of women. Online critics claim the story is…
Teenagers in Conflict ith Their Environment At the time of the stories Teenagers are often in conflict with their environment. hat some call the "rebellious" years are at times…
Female Freedom in the 19th Century: Two Short Stories The short story entitled the “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman both approach…
Biologist He was born a normal, healthy boy and he grew as little boys do, with G.I. Joe dolls and plastic guns. He seemed so normal through and through.…
Women's Issues - Sexuality
Thus, the fact that illa Cather employs flowers in her story does not necessarily suggest that Paul is different, and for symbolic value to emphasize the contrast between difference…
Gende in Poety / Liteatue Lesson Lesson Duation mins Rational: This is an intoduction to the gende issues which wee so pevalent in the Victoian ea, and a backdop…
118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics
🏆 best essay topics on the yellow wallpaper, 🎓 most interesting the yellow wallpaper research titles, 💡 simple the yellow wallpaper essay ideas, 📌 easy the yellow wallpaper essay topics, ❓ the yellow wallpaper essay questions.
- Literature Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use The issue of loneliness and the slow descent into madness discussed in the two famous novels, The Yellow Wallpaper and Everyday Use. These two novels share a number of common and different elements.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Analysis and Reflection “The Yellow Wallpaper” is partially autobiographical. The novel, as if criticizes the medical approaches to curing women of the depressive disorder by the so-called “rest cure.”
- The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour Comparison The analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour can be complicated. ? But we’ve got you! ♥ Check our comparative essay of the short stories.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” a Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator suffers from PPD after delivering a child. Her husband takes her to an old mansion in summer.
- American Women in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte P. Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper novel describes the plight of discriminated women during the 19th-century American period.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” The Yellow Wallpaper is a tragic story of women of the 19th century. The portrayal of the societal norms and values is clearly hyperbolized in The Yellow Wallpaper.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Laugh of the Medusa” In light of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the paper explores various key points displayed in the fiction in the light of Hélène Cixousa’s “The Laugh of the Medusa.”
- Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper” The paper illustrates the changes in contemporary American society by analyzing Horatio Alger’s “Ragged Dick” and Charlotte Gilman’s “Yellow Wallpaper”.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman At the very beginning of the story the author presents the main idea of the discussion, the author points at the problem which is the result of men’s domination in the family.
- Spiraling into Insanity: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Perkins Being a perfect example of a gothic novel, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins sets its readers on a journey through the dark realms of human nature.
- Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” It is possible to compare literary elements in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” when determining similarities and differences in these works.
- Female World in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” In her famous short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman explored the challenges women of the nineteenth century had to face.
- Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” vs. Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” Comparison The two stories that will be analyzed are “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper”: A Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a first person narrative with a woman describing her mental health problems and the development of her disease.
- Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” From a Feminist Perspective The Yellow Wallpaper is a literary piece written from a feminist perspective. In the Yellow Wallpaper men are perceived to be domineering and the primary bread winner in the family.
- Strong Woman in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” portrays the values and social traditions of Victorian women, their problems, and their social position in society.
- Uncovering the Wallpaper in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” In Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, readers can immediately realize the shifts of emotions felt by the woman who is narrating the story.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte P. Gilman Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” depicts the inner struggle of a woman unbalanced by post-partum depression, a problem for which even today’s doctors have no treatment.
- Gender in The Great Gatsby & The Yellow Wallpaper The complexities of men and women in the texts were examined and evaluated on the basis of sexuality and relationship and the inferences would be supported by the text itself.
- Allegory and Symbolism in “The Chrysanthemums” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” The story is based upon the life events and psychological issues the author herself faced. She is forced to abide by what her husband feels is best.
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StudyCorgi. (2022, September 7). 118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics. Retrieved from https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/
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"118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 7 Sept. 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.
1. StudyCorgi . "118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." September 7, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.
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StudyCorgi . "118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." September 7, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.
StudyCorgi . 2022. "118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics." September 7, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/the-yellow-wallpaper-essay-topics/.
StudyCorgi . (2022) '118 The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Topics'. 7 September.
The Yellow Wallpaper Essay
Introduction.
The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that explains the sad story of a woman suffering from acute postpartum depression. Written during the dying years of the 19th century, The Yellow Wallpaper is characteristic of the mental and emotional treatment that women were subjected to during this period. Indeed, Gilman uses this short story as her “reaction” to this sort of treatment.
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Given the weight that Gilman gives The Yellow Wallpaper and considering her own life, one would conclude that she was indeed using the story as a reference to her life. Through reading the story, one can see a clear desire for the women in this period to entangle themselves from domination. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, there is a clear theme of domination of women, and society seems to be unanimous in support of it.
The Yellow Wallpaper: Short Story Analysis
From the surface, the story seems to be addressing the narrator’s sickness, but a more in-depth analysis reveals that it is indeed talking about the condition of the womenfolk in general. The society seems to have assigned roles for women, which they are supposed to adhere to.
In the story, John symbolically represents the male folk while the narrator represents the women. Throughout the story, the narrator, together with the rest of the women trapped in the wallpaper, is desperately trying to break loose from the function that the society has assigned for them.
Although these women are trying as hard as they can, their courage always seems to fail them, especially at night when their husbands and the rest of the family are at home. However, their courage finally gives way, and this is why John, who represents men, faints upon realizing that his wife has finally broken free from his control.
Although this observation is debatable, there is clear evidence from the story to prove this point. Right from the start, there seem to be specific duties that wives and mothers have to fulfill. These duties seem to have been so oppressive that women tend to get depressed after giving birth to their first child. This depression leads them to take the rest cure during which time they are supposed to do nothing but to eat and remain in seclusion.
The rest is so extreme such that one is even forbidden from writing anything since this would be tantamount to overworking their brains, something that would hinder their recovery. This is despite the fact that the narrator knows that “congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.” (Gilman)
The oppression of women seems to have been so great that John and the narrator’s brother, both physicians, believe that the narrator is not sick despite her thinking otherwise. This happens despite the fact that they both love the narrator dearly.
What is surprising is that despite this form of medication, the narrator does not seem to get any better. She wishes that she could get well faster just to escape this form of the regimen. It is obvious that the narrator views the treatment as an unnecessary interruption in her life that should not have occurred in the first place.
Despite this, she is aware of the repercussions that could possibly follow her refusal to adhere to the terms of the medication. Instead of looking into the reasons why her recovery is slow, John believes that her wife is to blame something that seems to scare the narrator a great deal.
This is seen when she says, “If I don’t pick up faster, he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.” (Gilman) Although we are not told what kind of a place Weir Mitchell was, there is no doubt that it was a place that instilled fear on the narrator, and this makes us wonder what kind of a husband would want to take his wife in such a place. In fact, Gilman seems to have put this statement for effect just to show us the extreme end that these men were willing to go to keep their women under control.
Although the couple rents a colonial mansion for the wife to recuperate, it is ironic how she is not allowed any say in the matter. Throughout the story, John seems to know what is best for his wife, and he does not accept her output in the matter. The husband does not even allow her to choose her bedroom from the many rooms. Instead, he forces her to occupy the room with the ugly wallpaper.
The narrator wants to do so many things but as it was characteristic in that period, the marriage institution that she is committed to compromises her freedom and happiness. In addition to the bedroom containing the ugly wallpaper, the room has no windows, and even the bed is bolted to prevent her from moving it to any other position. This is a clear sign of control and domination by the husband.
By analyzing the lives of the women behind the wallpaper, it is obvious that they are trying to look for their freedom. On her part, the narrator is looking for freedom from her husband and the rest cure that she has been subjected to. Throughout the story, the narrator tries hard to free women from the gender bias that had seeped in society. However, this is not easy because, just like the wallpaper, these societal changes had become “ridged and yellow with age.” (Gilman)
Despite John’s domination, the narrator slowly begins to take control of her life. Although she had loathed the yellow wallpaper at first, she begins gaining some mental strength just by watching it. As her mind begins to churn, she forces herself to think, and this is something that her husband does not like. Deep down her heart, she knows that her husband does not necessarily know everything, but she does not say anything for fear of reprisals. Although John has told her not to bother herself with anything, she begins analyzing the wallpaper, and that is when she notices the figure of women trying to free themselves.
For once, the narrator feels that she knows something that her husband or any other person, for that matter, does not have an idea about. This is presented when she says, “there are things in that paper that nobody knows but me.” For once, the narrator is elated since she feels that she possesses first-hand knowledge that is not yet evident to her husband.
For once in her life, she seems to have concluded that she has a functional mind that is entirely hers and one that she can use as she wills. Even to John, his wife is like a mystery that he is unable to solve. That is why he keeps her locked in the bedroom just to keep her under control. However, what he fails to realize is that by doing so, he is actually helping her to solve her own mystery.
As the story nears climax, John seems bewildered, and he even seems to be noticing a change of attitude on the narrator. In fact, he commends her for putting an effort to get better, but she knows that she is getting well for other reasons. Although he does not admit it, John has realized that the wallpaper is a representation of his wife, and that is why he reprimands her wherever he catches her staring at it. Just with a day to go before they leave the house, the narrator masters her courage and tears down the wallpaper.
The narrator’s feelings of freedom come to peak when she manages to pull down the yellow wallpaper from the walls where it had hanged. To accomplish this, she uses much will power and patience, but she finally manages to get the work done. She is convinced that John would reprimand her for tearing down the wallpaper, but for once, she is not bothered. To her, taking control of anything even if it is the “odious wallpaper” is better than just sitting and doing nothing.
Indeed, tearing down the wallpaper seems only to be the first step toward her freedom. To her, she seems to have concluded that her life was in her own hands and not on Johns or any other male for that matter. Within a short time, she seems to have developed mentally as a woman. The narrator’s final victory comes when John arrives home and realizes what she has done.
To begin with, he is shocked when he realizes that she has locked the door, something that she had never done before. However, the climax arrives when he enters the room and realizes that she has torn down the wallpaper. There is no doubt in John’s mind that his wife has finally developed mentally and regained the freedom that he had for so long denied her. In fact, the shock is so much for John such that he faints.
The proof that the narrator has gained mental control comes shortly after when she says that “now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall so that I had to creep over him every time.” (Gilman) At this point, she is not perturbed by what he thinks, and his fainting does not even surprise her. To her, tearing the wallpaper out of the walls is a sign of showing that she is willing to take matters into her own hands, and this is what scares the husband and makes him faint.
The Yellow Wallpaper is a clear representation of life in the 19thcentury. During this period, women seem to have been under male domination, and society seems to have accepted this fact. Throughout the story, the narrator seems to be fighting to get a voice of her own.
However, her husband decides that he knows what is best for her, and he does not even give her the freedom to choose what she wants. Instead, he embarks on making all the decisions for her even on matters that directly affect her well-being. At the end of the story, the narrator regains control of her life, and this scares her husband to a point where he even faints.
Works Cited
Gilman Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper, 1899. Web. < http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/home >
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IvyPanda. (2022, August 6). The Yellow Wallpaper. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper/
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IvyPanda . (2022) 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. 6 August.
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45 Brightest The Yellow Wallpaper Topics
When it is a literary analysis essay, students often appeal to one of the most famous works of American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a short story that depicts the problem of women in the US in the 19th century. Students who want to find one of the best topics to write about ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ can get inspiration from the 45 ideas presented in the next listing.
Symbols and metaphors in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ essay topics
- What is the yellow wallpaper’s meaning in the eponymous short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman?
- What is the main symbol of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?
- How does the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ demonstrate the protagonist’s mental health development from sane to insane from her seeing the yellow wallpaper?
- Explain the metaphor that the author uses: “And those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere. There is one place where two breaths didn’t match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other. I never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before.” What do you think the author means in this description?
- Why does the protagonist in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ pay so much attention to the pattern? Is it really different as she sees, or is it repeatable?
- How does the Gothic setting of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ indicate the protagonist’s doomed fate?
- What role does Jane play in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’? Why does she have a name and the protagonist doesn’t?
- What does the yellow color mean in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’? Analyze the symbolism of the yellow wallpaper and the main character’s isolation.
Topics for ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ about the narrator’s voice
- Did the woman from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ become insane because of loneliness and see her life in yellow wallpaper patterns as a result?
- How does the protagonist of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ change throughout the story?
- Why does the narrator in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ say concerning her writing that “the effort is getting to be greater than the relief”? What does she mean? Why doesn’t writing help her?
- What is the narrator’s problem in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’? Why have others diagnosed her own evaluation of her situation in a broader contextual sense by considering how societal expectations or cultural conventions contribute to her mental and physical state?
- Is the narrator also a character in the story? Which perspective is the narrator?
- What tone or attitude does the narrator have toward the characters or the story’s subject? What purpose does the manner serve?
- What values and ideas did the narrator express in the story?
- Does the narrator show any bias or sympathy to one or more characters? How are these feelings changed during the story?
Feminism topics in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’
- Liberation of women in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- Comparison between ‘A Rose for Emily’ and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- Did the woman from the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ have a mental illness, or was it implanted by her husband?
- How does the story of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ show male control over women in society?
- Why does the author’s husband John have such strong control over her?
- What does the pattern of paper mean to the protagonist of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?
- The feminist interpretation of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a story of women’s liberation in the 19th century. Which literary devices did the author use to address the problem of women in society?
- Why is the main character of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ trying to escape her husband? What does it have to do with gender or power?
- Why does the woman from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ not have a name? What did the author mean by it?
- The oppression of women in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- Do Gilman and Chopin have the same views on marriage and the role of a woman from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and ‘The Story of an Hour’?
- Compare both ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and ‘Sweat’ by Zora Neale Hurston, where the women protagonists are consigned to subordinate positions in society and are put upon by their significant others, John and Sykes.
- Why does conflict within the story from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ illustrate larger social and cultural conflicts such as women’s humiliation?
Analysis essay topics on ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’
- Define a universal truth in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- What is the central theme in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’? How does the author’s voice represent it?
- Analyze John’s character from ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’ Can you define him as a villain or hero?
- How do settings play a role as a self-contained participant of the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?
- Could the author, on whose behalf the story was told, be considered insane?
- How do George Bernard Shaw in ‘Pygmalion’ and Charlotte Perkins Gilman in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ show people are suffering to achieve freedom and public recognition?
- Provide a literary analysis on the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ as if John told the story.
- Analyze the semantic and narrative structure of the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- Describe the literary context that plays on stereotypes people had about women like the protagonist of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’
- How do you think Mrs. Mallard in Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour,’ Daisy in Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby,’ and Alice Waythorn in Wharton’s ‘The Other Two’ would respond to the narrator in Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?
- Historical criticism on ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and ‘The Story of an Hour.’
- What is the central conflict in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’? Is it a struggle within a person, between people, or between a person and culture or environment? What minor conflicts occur?
- How did the author describe the characters, settings, or events? How do metaphor, simile, and personification, for instance, establish tone or cause to understand things in a way that literal descriptions would not?
- Track how the story’s physical settings, the particular place, and the time of day impact the narrator’s mood and establish atmosphere.
- Can modern readers easily relate to the characters from ‘The Story of an Hour’ and understand their conflicts, or do they require background or historical explanations?
Help with ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ topics
If you want to avoid being penalized for weak content, choose one of these topics EssayShark essay service presents to you. Meanwhile, it is hard to meet all requirements teachers give to students, and writing comes not only with complex ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ paper topics. At our service, reliable writers will help you create a well-developed interpretation of the short story ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and other literary compositions!
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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Yellow Wallpaper — Analysis Of Feminism In ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Analysis of Feminism in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Subject: Literature
- Category: Books
- Essay Topic: Book Review , Literature Review , The Yellow Wallpaper
- Words: 1320
- Published: 18 March 2021
- Downloads: 44
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Overall, the essay is informative and conveys a clear message. However, it lacks citation of evidence. The evidence provided needs to be cited with the author’s last name and page number. Additionally, there are also some grammar and mechanics issues in the paper. The essay would also benefit from section ... headings. Show more
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The Yellow Wallpaper Setting Essay
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“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a feminist short story by Charlotte Perkins- Gilman. The meaning of the story is beyond belief as it see the sights into the basic issues of a woman’s place in society, and women’s rights in the 19th century. Charlotte Perkins-Gilman’s theme behind the short story was an awareness approach and a feminist approach. The main character in the story struggles against the masculine ways of thinking and society norms or standards. She also struggles with mental depression which at the time no one thought too much about. The story tells of the close mindedness of how mental illness and depression was treated and dealt with by medical doctors and society. It tells of a woman who is the central character and speaker, who is going through what seems like a mental breakdown.
Perkins-Gilman’s central character struggles against depression and male governance, which was common in the 19th century. The central character is being imprisoned by John. She is locked away from the outside world because he believes this form of therapy will make her well. He is unaware that isolating her from the things she loves, and social contact is making her depression get worse.
The central character becomes more and more obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in the room where she spends majority of her time. ‘It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard-of contradictions.’ (Perkins). At this moment the speaker begins to take notice to the yellow wallpaper. Focusing on the yellow wallpaper is perhaps a sort of distraction from her mental depression.
The speaker writes her emotions and feelings on paper, which she feels, must be kept a secret from John and anyone else. Restricted to this room day after day, the central character begins to study the wallpaper more. She then generates an image of a woman behind the yellow wallpaper in the room. The woman seems to be a captive behind the wallpaper, as she cannot escape.
At night she and John sleeps in the room and she remains confined to the room throughout the day. There is no mention of her ever leaving the room. To keep herself distracted she searches for fine details in the yellow wallpaper. She is captivated with this illusion of the woman being held captive behind the wallpaper. As more days go by she becomes obsessed with this illusion.
She continues to watch this woman behind the yellow wallpaper day in and day out. ‘Through watching so much at night, when it changes so, I have finally found out. The front pattern does move-and no wonder! The woman behind it shakes it! Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over.’ (Perkins). She has lost her sense of reality. Perhaps she feels as though what she is imaging is better than her own reality. In her mind the woman is moving around trying to escape, something that she is unable to do. As the story ends the speaker found courage to help the woman get free from the wallpaper.
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The Yellow Wallpaper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Discuss the meaning of the title in "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Cite this page as follows:.
"Discuss the meaning of the title in "The Yellow Wallpaper."" eNotes Editorial , 3 Feb. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-yellow-wallpaper-story-know-yellow-wallpaper-241655. Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.
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I had to modify the original question, but think I was able to preserve its original intent. The focus of the yellow wallpaper in the story has several specific purposes. I think that the most pressing of them is that the woman's construction of what is happening in the yellow wallpaper as she studies it from her bed of confinement is the only freedom she is allowed. She is not allowed to maintain a journal, leave the bedroom, express what she is feeling, or do anything of the sort. In the end, all she can do is study the wallpaper. Through this analysis, she projects her own condition of being trapped and subjugated on the designs in the wallpaper. The importance is to reflect the theme of the role of women and social forms of subjugation that is a part of the experience of being a woman in society. In showing how the narrator is able to construct and transfer her own reality upon that of the wallpaper, it brings to light that women's voices will have to be heard. On some level, either society will create forums where this voice can be expressed properly and with a sense of productivity and construction or it will be expressed in a destructive manner. The story seems to be suggesting that society must make the choice as to how to approach the experience of women in the modern setting.
Educator since 2010
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I believe the main reason the story "The Yellow Walllpaper" is called " The Yellow Wallpaper " is because the story describes a woman suffering from post-partum depression and having a serious breakdown, and she is mostly confined in a room where the wallpaper is a hideous yellow pattern. The woman begins to see the paper as a prison with a woman hidden in the pattern trying to get out. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman , describes the color of the paper in great detail, even including that the color comes off onto the narrators clothes when she brushes too close to it. Since the wallpaper is so significant it seems like a separate character, it is understandable that Gilman would point that out in the story's title.
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Latest answer posted April 24, 2020 at 8:58:58 PM
In "The Yellow Wallpaper," why are they living in this colonial mansion? What is its history? Does the narrator feel comfortable in the house?
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Where does it show that the narrator is an unreliable narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
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What is the irony in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?
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The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay
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Symbolism in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a Representation of the Oppression of Women
1. introduction.
The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze those symbolisms prominent in “The Yellow Wallpaper” which represent the struggles of the oppression of females in the 19th century. “The Yellow Wallpaper” manages to represent the patriarchal society, specifically that of the 19th century in America, and is thus often read as feminist literature.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) is about a woman, the unnamed narrator of this short story, who gets diagnosed with a “temporary nervous depression” (648) by her husband John, who is a physician. Even though he does not truly believe her to be sick, he decides to move to a “colonial mansion” (647) for the summer in hopes to cure said depression with a lot of rest and little distraction from the outside. Even though the narrator is not supposed to write, as this would, according to John, only worsen her state of mind, she does so anyway, keeping a diary without her husband’s knowledge. In this she describes her stay at the house and how she is treated; mostly about how her husband treats her. She also describes her dislike for the room she is staying in and especially her distaste for the yellow wallpaper, which becomes the most prominent symbol throughout the entire short story.
2. Symbolism as the Representation of Female Oppression
2.1. the house.
This short story is packed with symbolism, one of the first encounters being the house the narrator and her husband stay in. It is described as a “colonial mansion, a hereditary estate” (647) and represents the patriarchal society in which they live; the society that restricts the narrator and women in general. She finds something to be eerie about the house and even calls it “haunted” (647) but her husband brushes it off, laughing about it and simply blaming her feelings on a “draught” (748).
The room she stays in represents this even further. The narrator thinks it used to be a nursery due to the window that had been “barred for little children” (648). This and the “nailed down” (650) bed produce the uncomfortable feeling of a prison which is underlined by the fact that the narrator doesn’t get to leave the room very often as she is supposed to rest as much as possible in order to get over her depression. The room’s wallpaper immediately catches the narrator’s attention; however, it is not in a good way. She announces to have never seen a “worse paper in [her] life” (648) and describes it with negative words calling the color ‘repelland, almost revolting” (649).
At first, it seems to be bearable to live in but the longer the narrator stays in the room or the house, the more she wants to leave, and the more it seems to be “haunted” (647). What only seemed to be her imagination at first turns out to be true due to her growing paranoia and the woman spooking behind the wallpaper. Similarly, the narrator has always lived in a society that oppresses women, blatantly accepting the norms. However, throughout her life she has grown to be more and more uncomfortable with this and the gender norms, wanting to break out of it. According to Barbara A. Suess the room the narrator is placed in and the wallpaper in it have eventually influenced the narrator’s mind, adding to her loss of sanity and paranoia. (92).
The narrator’s husband, John, perfectly represents the patriarchal society of the 19th century. According to Karen Ford, this is also portrayed by the fact that John first gets introduced as a physician and then-husband, first relating him to patriarchy and then to his wife (310). The narrator is clearly subordinate to John, as she does what he says without much of a debate. John controls almost all of her actions and her every day by scheduling “each hour in the day” (Gilman, 648). Even though the narrator is not happy about it, feeling “ungrateful not to value it more” (648), she obeys her husband’s orders. The only thing she really does that goes against what John and everyone else tells her is that she continues to write in secret. She otherwise accepts what John tells her. She takes medication, “phosphates or phosphites – whichever it is” (648), even though she doesn’t believe it to help her and she gives up on trying to stay in a different room or at least have the wallpaper changed as John calls them “fancies” (649) which she shall not give in to. She only silently curses out her husband in the diary he keeps, disagreeing with him and arguing against what he says. The repression by her husband goes as far as giving her the illusion of a conspiracy planned by John and his sister (Carol Margaret Davison 60).
2.3 The Wallpaper
The most prominent and probably most important symbol in the short story is that of the yellow wallpaper. At first, the wallpaper is nothing but “horrid paper” (649) that the narrator wishes to dispose of. However, her husband refuses this and urges her not to give in to her “fancies” (649) as it will only start with the paper and then go on to her wanting to change every little detail of the room. However, the more time she spends in the room, the more she starts to analyze the yellow wallpaper. The narrator eventually describes it to have two patterns; a “front design” and a “kind of sub-pattern” (650). The front design consists of different lines pointing in various directions, while the sub-pattern shows a woman “stooping down and creeping about” (652). According to Pula A. Treichler and nineteenth-century readers, the yellow wallpaper represents several things:
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The yellow wallpaper represents (1) the narrator’s own mind, (2) the narrator’s unconscious, and (3) the ‘pattern’ of social and economic dependence which reduces women to domestic slavery. The woman in the wallpaper represents (1) the narrator herself, gone mad, (2) the narrator’s unconscious, and (3) all women. (64)
Representing all of this, it is clear that the wallpaper itself plays an important role and needs to be further analyzed. In the design of the front of the wallpaper, the different lines, represent bars that trap the woman in the sub-pattern behind them. This turns the wallpaper into a symbol of surveillance seeing as it represents a prison under constant observation of the husband John. (Ghandeharion and Mazari 116). The further the short story progresses, the more the woman tries to break out by “shak[ing] the pattern” (Gilman 652). This action symbolizes the narrator’s own mind trying to escape any sort of entrapment according to Azra Ghandeharion and Milad Mazari while furthermore representing all women of that time (124). The narrator, despite her original hatred for the wallpaper, becomes, in her own mind, a part of the wallpaper; she becomes the woman behind the wallpaper (Suess 14). Facing the end of the story, and the end of the stay in the mansion, the narrator begins to pry off the wallpaper in an attempt to free the woman trapped behind it; succeeding to rid the wall of most of the horrible paper. Once her husband gets to her and sees what she has done she claims ‘I’ve got out at last’ said I, ‘in spite of you and Jane? And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!’” (Gilman 656). In response to this, her husband faints, amplifying the narrator’s final escape from her husband’s rule over her and her role in society. Treichler however indicates, that the narrator might not be free at last, as she is still locked up in a room and mentally ill. Her escape from the wallpaper only demonstrates the possibility of a change in the oppression of women (Treichler 74)
As we do not know who Jane is, looking into this matter is very interesting. It could simply be a sort of typo, Gilman having written Jane instead of Jennie, who takes care of the house. However, another approach is to see Jane as the narrator, which Suess takes, referring to the narrator as Jane in her paper. However, Suess claims Jane to be an anonymous figure without any background or connections (86). Both approaches are plausible but mean two different things. If Jane is meant to be Jennie, then she would be another outside obstacle trying to oppress the narrator. Even though Jennie is a woman since she is obeying what is asked by the narrator’s husband, it ultimately shows how a patriarchal society works. However, if you interpret Jane to be in fact the narrator, the meaning of the sentence, “in spite of you and Jane” (Gilman 656), changes drastically. Jane now represents the narrator’s own mind, which means that freeing herself from the wallpaper is her overcoming her own mindset. She overcomes the idea that you need to accept the norms in society and the superiority of her husband, or any man in fact, over her.
2.4 Important Note
Important to note is the fact that whilst society strategically oppresses women, they seem to have simply accepted that to be the norm. This is not only shown through the narrator, who, even though she doesn’t agree with what her husband says, listens to him without much of a refusal but also through her sister-in-law who seems to be not much more than a housewife, which is what was expected in the patriarchal society back then (Ghandeharion and Mazari 121). The narrator repeatedly shows her disapproval of John’s decisions when he is not around but does not dare to speak up against him personally. She stays obedient as expected and doesn’t make a big fuss out of anything, until the very end of the course. She makes it very clear that her husband holds the last word and that whatever he deems to be correct will be accepted, even if it displeases her. This even goes as far as her following John’s orders as a physician which are supposed to cure her depression, even though she believes John to be the reason for her not becoming any better (Gilman 647). She also believes that John doesn’t know how much she truly suffers. However, instead of telling him so and maybe trying to get more or better help from him she simply complains about it in her diary but not to John himself.
Since the short story is told by a first-person narrator we do not know what her sister-in-law truly thinks; however, she seems to be happy in her role as the housekeeper and has no trouble following the orders of her brother John by keeping the narrator from writing as that is believed to worsen her condition. According to the narrator, she is
3. Conclusion
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is filled with symbolism representing the female oppression in the 19th century which is the reason it is often read as a feminist work. The most important symbols are the narrator’s husband, John, the house they stay in, and the yellow wallpaper in the former nursery.
The house represents the patriarchal society, first seeming to be pleasant to live in but with an eerie background which the narrator, representing females, wants to escape from. John is the epitome of a man in the 19th century. He holds all decision power over his wife, treating her as subordinate to him. Lastly, the wallpaper in the room and the room itself represent a prison trapping a prisoner so the society trapping and oppressing women. It is the strongest symbol representing more than just the oppression of women, but also their possible overcoming of said oppression and even the mind of the narrator.
Works Cited
- Davison, Carol Margaret. “Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Women’s Studies, vol. 33, no. 1, Jan. 2004, pp. 47–75.
- Ford, Karen. “‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Women’s Discourse.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, vol. 4, no. 2, 1985, pp. 309–314.
- Ghandeharion, Azra, and Milad Mazari. “Women Entrapment and Flight in Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, no. 29, Nov. 2016, pp. 113–129.
- Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The New England Magazine, vol. 11, No. 5, (January 1892), pp. 647-657.
- Suess, Barbara A. “The Writing’s on the Wall: Symbolic Orders in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, Jan. 2003, pp. 79–97.
- Treichler, Paula A. (1984): “Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, 3(1/2): 61-77.
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Today, women are and will continue to be rising up the ranks in culture. Unfortunately, this was not the case for women of the 1800s as seen in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s shorty story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper”. The story is narrated by, as well as told about an upper-class, a married woman who has been diagnosed by her husband John, a physician, with nervous depression following the birth of their son. Throughout the story, the narrator is seen as a refined,...
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Author of The Female Malady, Elaine Showalter, suggests that ‘women have been labelled mad because mental illness has been defined and codified by male psychiatrists’. Depictions of female ‘hysteria’ in texts such as Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper have notoriously been interpreted as the embodiment of deviance within a patriarchal hierarchy. Whilst The Yellow Wallpaper is recognised as a gothic horror and ‘The Bell Jar’ is classified as a Roman à clef, there...
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” a short story written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was intended to bring attention to the women facing the oppressive nature of gender roles. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s project, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is to make readers aware that women suffer post-pregnancy given that the author herself suffered nervous disorders post her own pregnancy. Gilman had a successful life and much of her works were meant to implement on women’s unequal status of marriage and financial...
The mental breakdown and insanity of women in both “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath are portrayed in numerous different ways. The Yellow Wallpaper introduces the reader of a nameless woman’s progressive mental breakdown from postpartum depression after giving birth and this provides the reader an opening into the perception and treatment of mental illness in the late 19th century. The novel is set in a Gothic horror-style story and follows the...
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Essays on The Yellow Wallpaper
Table of Contents
About the yellow wallpaper book.
The Yellow Wallpaper is considered a major work of American feminist literature. It is a classic and the most popular short story written by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman and published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. The short story depicts the attitudes and conducts about women’s mental and physical health in the 19th Century.
In the book, the writer challenges and questions the role of women, especially regarding their mental health and self-identity crisis and their right to autonomy or self-sufficiency. The book also raises some core questions and concerns about a woman’s role, particularly in marriage. It laid down the basis for first-wave feminism. Back then, women were not allowed to exercise their right to vote.
The story consists of different journal entries narrated in the first person by a woman who, with her husband, moved to an old mansion for the summers, and her physician husband suggested she move into an upstairs nursery. The husband restricts her from doing any work and writing and encourages her to eat, get some air, and recover from a temporary nervous disorder, marginalizing her freedom.
Book Summary:
The yellow wallpaper is a short story highlighting women’s mental health issues and facts that make them worse with time. The story begins with a woman having health issues who rented a summer house with her family. While staying there, she becomes obsessed with her room’s yellow wallpaper, which causes her descent into psychosis from her depression.
At the start, the narrator tells her reader about her move to a rented summer estate, where she with her husband and her newborn shifted to overcome her nervous depression. Her husband, John, who is a doctor and treating her, recommends she move to the upper story or upstairs nursery to have a large room with a lot of air.
The woman opposes going to the upper story and insists on staying downstairs, which he refuses. The narrator is inclined to write, and she loves writing, but her doctor husband also restricts her from writing and suggests complete bed rest.
Despite the woman’s will to write and stay downstairs, her husband shifted her to the upper story in a large room with ugly yellow wallpaper. After hosting the Fourth of July, the narrator expresses that her feeling has become worse, and she develops an affiliation with yellow paper, which drives her insane; she sleeps at night and spends all day staring at it. After a few weeks, she starts believing that there is another woman trapped inside the yellow wallpaper that wants freedom and wants to come out.
The woman locked herself in the room while her husband was out for work and started removing the wallpaper, and when her husband returned, he went upstairs and broke the door and found that the narrator was crawling on the floor. The narrator claims that the woman trapped inside the wallpaper has finally existed. As a reaction, John faints, which surprises her because he’s the one who restricts her from doing any activity that she likes and wants to pursue. Various essays on the yellow wallpaper highlight society’s core yet neglected issue: freedom of choice.
The Yellow Wallpaper Characters:
Following are the main characters of the short story. You can extract the yellow wallpaper essay topics from one character’s roles and consequences.
The narrator: The narrator is a young woman who recently married and gave birth to a child. She is a natural storyteller and highly imaginative. Her husband, her doctor, also thinks she has a slight emotional tendency. The story is told as extracts from a personal diary where the narrator shares her thoughts and her growing obsession with wallpaper.
John: John is her husband and her doctor. John is professionally sound, extremely practical, and prefers facts than using the imagination as her wife develops during her treatment. But John misunderstood the fact about certain negative effects that his treatment brings to her.
Jennie: Jennie is the narrator’s sister and her housekeeper, too; her presence and day-to-day household tasks intensify the narrator’s guilt for not performing anything productive. Jennie sometimes feels that the narrator is more disturbed than she lets on.
The Yellow Wallpaper Quotes:
A few famous quotes can be included in the yellow wallpaper essay thesis. The quotes are by the narrator herself.
⮚ “But I MUST say what I feel and think somehow — it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief.”
⮚ “It does not do to trust people too much.”
⮚ “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.”
⮚ “I never saw a worse paper in my life. One of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin.”
⮚ “It is the strangest yellow that wallpapers! It makes me think of all the yellow things I saw – not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.”
⮚ “I always lock the door when I creep by daylight.”
Essay Structure of the Yellow Paper:
It is very important to get an idea about the book’s characters, structure, and storyline before you start writing an essay. Because this way, you can get a clear picture of every character.
It helps in drafting a well-structured and balanced essay. Below are guidelines that help you create an effective piece of essay on the yellow wallpaper.
Introduction:
The introduction is always the first interacting point and impression your writing has on your readers or audience. If it is well written, composed, and properly thought out, you successfully grab your readers’ attention and engage them. The yellow wallpaper essay introduction has the following points in it:
- It would be best to start your introduction with a phrase or quote from the book; it must be relevant and not diverted. A good introductory phrase is very impactful and helps develop the audience’s interest.
- Once you gain the reader’s attention, try to explain the book and your topic, keep it brief and concise tell the readers by using quotes or explanations from the book itself.
- Last but not least, the Thesis Statement ends your introduction. In the thesis statement, you will state your point of view or key points that you will explain later in the essay.
The body of your essay contains all the explanations and researched facts. You can explore the yellow wallpaper essay examples if you need more clarification on the topic. The body contains all the facts, properly researched explanation, and references from the novel; use all the relevant information, and avoid making any context remarks and explanations. Keep the body structure and transitioning between different paragraphs smooth and connected.
Conclusion:
The conclusion contains your findings and final verdict about the topic mentioned in your thesis statement. The better way to start a conclusion is by quoting your thesis statement and then writing your findings. Write extracts of your finding, making them compelling and factfull, leaving space for your audience to interact and comment and give their suggestions.
Tips to Consider while writing an essay about the yellow wallpaper:
Writing any literal essay requires a clear understanding of the topic, especially when writing about books. It becomes more crucial to include all the detail while maintaining the essay structure and including relevant information. Here are some tips that help write a good essay.
Read the Book Thoroughly:
The first and far most thing to do when writing an essay on a certain book you must need to read the book thoroughly. Once you read it, you will clearly understand all the happenings and the book’s main theme. It also helps refer to the minute details and include them in your essay. It keeps you focused and relevant to the topic.
Find a Compelling Topic:
Everyone has their thought process and way to look at things from their lens. Therefore, there is no specific condition to stick to specific names; the following tips will help you name a good topic for your essay.
- Just pen down your whole essay and finish it. Once you finish it, you will have a clear picture of your essay’s Do’s and Don’ts; it is easier for you to craft a relevant name for your essay that goes with its overall theme.
- The thesis statement contains the main point or theme upon which your whole essay explanation stands; therefore, you can extract a good topic from your essay thesis statement.
- It doesn’t matter whether your title is short or long; if it s do justice to your essay, you can go with it.
Create the Outline:
Before you start writing and proceed with it further, create an outline for your essay. The outline contains all the relevant information and points you need to include in your essay. It helps you create an effective piece of writing that is concise, to the point, and contains all the facts and relevant information necessary for your essay.
It saves time, provides you with a clear focus line, and helps avoid any irrelevant information. If you want to write the yellow wallpaper essay , you should do some brainstorming, research, ink it immediately, and then rearrange it on paper.
Write the Thesis Statement:
The thesis statement for the yellow wallpaper may vary from person to person as per their perspective and way of perceiving things. It’s fine but keeps the thesis statement relevant and refrains from using out-of-context information. The yellow wallpaper thesis statement can be “the relation between creativity, madness, understanding, and freedom to do according to own will.”
Include a Lesson or Moral:
The yellow paper is regarded as the first expression to highlight feminism and its need to understand by society. In the first part, the narrator writes about her moving to a summer house to cure her mental issues after having a newborn, as suggested by her husband, her doctor.
The narrator insists on making her own choices regarding the selection of rooms or writing her diary. Her husband instructs her to refrain from doing any of these and suggests her complete bed rest, but the narrator feels it is completely against her will and worsens her mental health.
She develops affiliations with the yellow wallpaper on the wall of her room. She feels that there is also another woman just like her trapped inside the yellow wallpaper and wants to come out and get rid of it.
The narrator locked herself up in the room, tore down the yellow paper from the wall, and believed the woman living inside the wallpaper existed. That fact faints the husband, as when he broke the door of her room, he saw her crawling on the floor, and she worsens her mental condition.
Certain limitations and restrictions end a person’s freedom and self-identity, limiting the chances of growth and badly affecting mental health. Moves against free will and one’s freedom of choice decrease the productivity of any individual.
Conclusion: Proofread your Work:
Make proofreading an essential part of your writing process; it points out any mistakes and errors in your essay and helps in rectifying them. Also, check the smooth transitioning and connection between different paragraphs of your essay.
The conclusion of the Yellow wallpaper can be written as follows; the yellow wallpaper laid down the foundation of early feminism inclusions in the literal work. It shows how mental health problems can destroy a person’s individuality, freedom, decision-making, and productivity, especially if the victim is a woman. It affects her and her family.
What Is The Theme Of The Yellow Wallpaper?
The main theme of the yellow wallpaper is gender roles, their importance in general, in their description, and in reality. It also identifies the need for self-expression and highlights the effects of the oppressive nature of gender roles.
Who Is Jane In The Yellow Wallpaper?
Jane is most likely the narrator’s name, who narrates and tells the whole story as it happened. The narrator claims that she is now free from her marriage, society, and anything that represses her mind.
What Is The Point Of View In The Yellow Wallpaper?
The point of view in the yellow wallpaper is a first-person narrator, where the narrator gives insight details about the conscious and thought process of a woman dealing with depression and the things that make it worse.
Who Is The Main Character In The Yellow Wallpaper?
The narrator herself is the main character, describing and giving insight into a woman’s condition and feelings, things that make her depression worse.
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The Yellow Wallpaper Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical analysis.
Activity theory, as interpreted by Ph.D. candidates, Wardle and Kain, is a process that attempts to see all aspects of activity such as social interactions and use of writing and language to achieve goals. This theory is award winning. Activity theory states that for a system to be effective, the rules, community, subject, division of labor, and motives must be reasonable. These components are shown through the chosen tool of communication most often. When one area of the system is corrupted, the tool will no longer function correctly in order to communicate or achieve its goals. Rhetorical analysis is also important for a determining if a tool is well functioning. This method helps to establish credibility, methods, and effectiveness of a
Universal Truth In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
Gilman utilizes tone to illustrate the universal truth of gender being in hand with class status, effectively. In the literary work,the narrator’s tone shifts from hopeless in the beginning, to determine in the end. The narrator is certain she is really sick, and not just nervously depressed as diagnosed by her husband, but she is confined by her role as a wife and woman, and cannot convince her relatives and friends that something is actually wrong with her. In the story the narrator says, “”If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the
In the essay, Mark Twain is saying that humans are the lowest of animals. Instead of evolving from lower species, human have descended from higher ones. “In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl (if any) I caused seven young calves to be turned into the anaconda’s cage. The grateful reptile immediately crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the calves, and no disposition to harm them… The fact stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn’t….” (Twain 2). This is one example Twain uses to explain to the reader one of the reasons why he believes man is the lowest of animals. This example tells
Allusion In The Yellow Wallpaper
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story that was written in first person during 1892. This story depicts society’s attitude towards women with a mental illness at that time. Ultimately, the story shows how women were treated in the 19th century. “And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder— I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!” (231). Shortly after the narrator who remains unnamed and her husband John rented an old mansion, the narrator encountered a state of delusion in the wallpaper that surrounded her. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator develops a peculiar relationship with the wallpaper; the author’s use of allusion, symbolism, and personification identifies the existence of the woman’s illness.
Analysis Of Heroine In The Yellow Wallpaper
The author of the Yellow Wallpaper is Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860—1935), an outstanding American feminist, writer, novelist and so on. During her life, Gilman has written so many poetry and short stories. She is a utopian feminist and is honored as a role model for future generations of females due to her odd concepts and lifestyle. The Yellow Wallpaper is not the first or the longest work of her, but it is a best-seller of all her works. In this short story, Gilman devotes the work to the role of females. The book is also known as semi-autobiography of Charlotte. The story is about a woman who suffered from mental illness after giving birth to her little daughter. She knows that she is ill, as well her husband and her brother. To cure her, her husband let her stay in a room with nothing to do, just rest. Especially, for the sake of her health, she cannot read or write, which is the favorite thing of her, even she thinks that reading and writing is helpful to her health, but her husband forbids it. The yellow wallpaper of this room so attracted her that she becomes insane at last. In this book, Gilman mostly illustrate how the woman’s lack of freedom both in their mental and emotional in the patriarchal society. The husband in the book is a doctor, but he cannot treat his wife, even make her insane by his fault rest cure treatment. As for the heroine, the wife in the book, maybe become insane is also a
The Blind Side Rhetorical Analysis
“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life.” A friend of Leigh Anne’s exclaimed. Leigh Anne grinned and said, “No, he’s changing mine.” This exchange of words comes from the film trailer of an award-winning film, The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, released on November 20th, 2009. This film puts emphasis on a homeless, black teen, Michael Oher, who has had no stability or support in his life thus far. It is not until the Tuohy family adopts Michael, that he begins to realize what he is capable of as both a student and football player. There are various techniques used for capturing the attention of an audience as they are viewing a film or film trailer for the first time, and rhetorical appeals happens to be one of them. The appeals
The Yellow Wallpaper Rhetorical Analysis Essay
In this passage, Charlotte Perkins Gilman highlights the theme that women must use their intellect or go mad through the use of literary qualities and writing styles. Gilman also uses the use of capital letters to portray the decline in the narrators’ sanity. This shows the decline in the sanity of a person because the words in all-caps is shown as abrupt, loud remarks. Gilman uses this method multiple times in her short story and this method was used twice in this passage. When the narrator wrote, “LOOKING AT THE PAPER!”, the major decline in her mental health was shown. Before this remark, the narrator only would put one to two words maximum in all capital letters. This remark has the total of four words which if a big jump from one
Descent Into Madness In Charlotte Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Gilman’s short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, (1899) is a text that describes how suppression of women and their confinement in domestic sphere leads to descend into insanity for escape. The story is written as diary entries of the protagonist, who is living with her husband in an old mansion for the summer.
Literary Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is suffering from postpartum depression. The narrator 's husband John, who also happens to be her physician, prescribes the rest cure to help lift his wife of her depressive state and ultimately heal her depression. However, the rest cure does not allow the narrator to experience any mental stimulation. Therefore, to manage her boredom the narrator begins obsessing over the pattern of the yellow wallpaper. After analyzing the pattern for awhile, the narrator witnesses a woman trapped behind bars. Eventually, we realize that the woman in the wallpaper is the narrator. Throughout the story, the narrator 's mental state continues to deteriorate. Being both the narrator 's husband and physician, John assumes that he knows what’s best for his wife. However, in this essay, I will argue that Gilman portrays John as an antagonist or “villain” in her story because, through his actions, he is the main reason for his wife 's descent into insanity which proves that he didn’t know what was best for his wife after all. Therefore, John represents the bars of the wallpaper which confines the woman and doesn 't allow her to be free.
Imprisonment In The Yellow Wallpaper
The protagonist of The Yellow Wallpaper anthropomorphizes the floral elements of the yellow wallpaper, wherein wallpaper is typically a feminine floral decoration on wall interiors. These elements signify the scrutiny Victorian society makes of lives of its womenfolk, particularly of women who are creative and insubordinate to their spouses. The protagonist is one such woman; her writing denounces her imaginative character and the surreptitious persistence of her writing denounces her matrimonial and feminine disobedience which were considered radical in her contemporary society. Gilman expresses the suppression felt by women from societal scrutiny to be one of “strangling”, through the narrator, who in one instance describes the wallpaper pattern like so: “it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads… the pattern strangles them off and turns them upside down, and makes their eyes white!” Her anthropomorphizing of the pattern of the wallpaper adopts a grimmer facet when she writes that “when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide.” It is also significant to note that the narrator describes the pattern as suicidal because it again emphasizes the narrator’s desperate, almost suicidal, need to flee the imprisonment of the nursery and from the oppressive, male-dominant society that the room and its wallpaper represent. Asides of the pattern, there are many probable connotations of the yellow colour of the wallpaper, for instance with jaundiced illness, and also the rigid oppression of masculine sun. While sickness can be associated with the colour yellow, its more established motif would seem be the conflict between the masculine sun and the feminine moon. In Gilman’s story, sunlight is linked with John’s
The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis
Nevertheless she shows us also a way to surmount this oppression. In this facet the narrator speaks about two professional men, her husband and her brother, describing them as high standing doctors; in opposition to this man prototype, she speaks about two women without profession except of housewives or housekeeper. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” we see the role of women limited by a patriarchal society that does not allow them to advance or progress. This is seen in the following excerpts, when the narrator describes her sister-in-law, “She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession.” (Gilman 217). The narrator stresses the difference in position between men and women within a patriarchal society, when she expresses her opinion in contrast to her husband’s about her illness. She highlights the fact that even though if her husband was wrong, due that he is in a superior position, she cannot do anything. However, the narrator finds two ways out of this oppression; by writing secretly from her husband, the oppressive figure, and her sister-in-law, who represents the traditional role of women of the time; and through reading the wallpaper of her room. In this manner, the narrator manages to express herself freely and overcome this oppression, escaping reality through her imagination and finding a space in which neither man nor society can limit her. Gilman shows us a
Themes In The Yellow Wallpaper
Throughout short fiction, Charlotte Gilman is most famously noted for her ability to create strong gothic themes in her writing. This is especially true in her 1890s story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Overall, an important theme in Charlotte Gilman short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is that when combined, isolation and oppression often lead to negative consequences such as insanity and mental instability. Gilman achieves this through her thorough use of symbolism and settings that helps to highlight and establish the overall theme.
In Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual Machines, one of his main arguments is that one day, in the near future, artificial intelligence will exceed the intelligence of humans. He predicts this largely on the idea of the intelligence of evolution. It took evolution millions of years to make the human being that we are today and it only took humans a few thousand years to create technology. Since you are considered smarted if you are able to do something faster, humans are smarter then our creator, evolution. Kurzweil predicts the same thing to happen with technology becoming smarter then its creator which would be us. He develops his argument through the use of pathos and karios.
The Call Of The Wild Rhetorical Analysis
Summary: In the first couple of paragraphs, Kingston is told by her mother the story of her aunt who killed herself and child in the family well. Her mother continues to tell her about how when her aunt was pregnant and it came to having the child the villagers came to attack them, wearing white. They threw rocks and eggs at the house before raided it with the blood of the animals they had murdered before. Her mother said that they stayed there waiting for them to leave as the aunt gave birth in the pigsty. Kingston’s mother warns her never to tell her father that she knows, this was a warning to her not to follow in her footsteps.
The Yellow Wallpaper Gender Inequality Analysis
In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman captures the lives of women in a society based on societal expectations during the late nineteenth century. She focuses on the issue of gender inequality where women were often discriminated against and expected to fulfill the role of a perfect wife and mother. The narrator is based on on Gilman’s personal experience of suffering from her treatment for postpartum depression due to the social restrictions on women which represents a reflection on women's social status in society. The narrator, who remains anonymous, is depicted as a depressed and isolated prisoner who is oppressed under her husband’s control and struggles to break free. Gilman presents the toxic effect of gender inequality particularly through the relationship between a husband and wife.
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Related topics.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- The Yellow Wallpaper
- Silas Weir Mitchell
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"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman and "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell have plots of very different naturesin one, a mentally disturbed woman is taken to a reclusive house to recuperate while in the other, a woman is accused of killing her... A Jury of Her Peers The Yellow Wallpaper Topics:
We will write a custom essay specifically for you for only $11.00 $9.35/page Learn More In your essay on The Yellow Wallpaper, you might want to make a character or theme analysis. The key themes of the story are freedom of expression, gender roles and feminism, and mental illness.
The Yellow Wallpaper is a story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman at the end of the 19th century. It is considered to be one of the strongest and prominent feminist pieces of literature. These facts might be your first clue for choosing The Yellow Wallpaper essay topic. Try to look at this issue from your perspective.
Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman first published in 1892. The story touches upon themes of patriarchy, misogyny, identity, disenfranchisement, and mental illness. Told from the perspective of a first-person narrator, the reader gets a glimpse into the effect of patriarchy on individual women and on women collectively.
Simple The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Ideas We'll deliver a custom paper tailored to your requirements. Cut 15% off your first order Use discount Postpartum Depression and "The Yellow Wallpaper" "The Yellow Wallpaper": Autobiography or Fiction Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and an Infantile Narrator
The Yellow Wallpaper is a clear representation of life in the 19thcentury. During this period, women seem to have been under male domination, and society seems to have accepted this fact. Throughout the story, the narrator seems to be fighting to get a voice of her own.
'The Yellow Wallpaper' is a story of women's liberation in the 19th century. Which literary devices did the author use to address the problem of women in society? Why is the main character of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' trying to escape her husband? What does it have to do with gender or power?
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a feminist short story by Charlotte Perkins- Gilman. The meaning of the story is beyond belief as it see the sights into the basic issues of a woman's place in society, and women's rights in the 19th century. Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's theme behind the short story was an awareness approach and a feminist approach.
The Effects of Postpartum Depression in the Poem The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young woman who was taken by her husband to a new home because he had diagnosed her with being just a tad hysterical. Gilman wrote this poem shortly after a ...
The short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman, concentrates on the narrator's deep depression and her struggle to get better. The narrator spends her summer vacation confined in a nursery on the top floor of a mansion. This is in an attempt to cure her illness by her husband John, who is a doctor.
Cite this page as follows: "The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (essay date 1913)" Short Story Criticism Ed. Janet Witalec Project Editor. Vol.
Equally, the symbolism of the yellow wallpaper delivers a comparable report of the mental standing in which the narrator found herself. The most mentioned and described symbolism is the actual wallpaper. Johnson positions, the protagonist initially views the wallpaper as hideous and unappealing.
Charlotte Perkin Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1892 after Gilman suffered from "a severe and continuous nervous breakdown tending to melancholia" (Gilman, "Why I wrote") and was placed under the care of Silas Weir Mitchell. Mitchell's cure for women with Gilman's affliction were told to "live as domestic ...
Read Summary. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a feminist short story by Charlotte Perkins- Gilman. The meaning of the story is beyond belief as it see the sights into the basic issues of a woman's place in society, and women's rights in the 19th century. Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's theme behind the short story was an awareness approach and a ...
I believe the main reason the story "The Yellow Walllpaper" is called "The Yellow Wallpaper" is because the story describes a woman suffering from post-partum depression and having a serious...
Place Order. The yellow wallpaper represents (1) the narrator's own mind, (2) the narrator's unconscious, and (3) the 'pattern' of social and economic dependence which reduces women to domestic slavery. The woman in the wallpaper represents (1) the narrator herself, gone mad, (2) the narrator's unconscious, and (3) all women.
The Yellow Wallpaper Quotes: A few famous quotes can be included in the yellow wallpaper essay thesis. The quotes are by the narrator herself. ⮚ "But I MUST say what I feel and think somehow — it is such a relief! But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief.". ⮚ "It does not do to trust people too much.".
The Yellow Wallpaper is a feminist short story by Charlotte Perkins- Gilman. The significance of the story is astounding as it explores into the basic issues of a woman's place in society, public perception of mental illness, and feminism in the 19th century.
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The Yellow Wallpaper Rhetorical Analysis. 480 Words2 Pages. In the short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is a woman who is crippled by a mysterious mental illness that is taking a toll on her health. The protagonist is someone who very much loves to write and she is someone who writes mostly about her ...