Yellow Wallpaper Essay, Research Paper

Descent Into Madness

The Yellow Wallpaper presents the tragic story of a woman s descent into madness and depression as a result of being oppressed by her husband.

In the story, the narrator and her husband rent a colonial mansion for the summer to provide a place where she can recover from severe postpartum depression. The narrator s declining mental health is in part reflected by the oppression of her husband, as well as by the characteristics of the house in which she is trapped.

The dominance of her husband, and her reaction to it, is reflected throughout the story. The narrator continues to submissively bow to her husband s wishes, even though she is unhappy and depressed. Her husband has adopted the idea that she must have complete rest if she is to recover. “So I am absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again” (Gilman, 247). Her husband does not even want her to write. “There comes John, and I must put this away – he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman, 248).

The room her husband chooses for them to stay in is the nursery, which the narrator hates. The narrator describes the nursery as atrocious and having barred windows. The narrator s response to her husband s choice is a further example of her submissive behavior. “I do not like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened into the piazza and had roses all over the window and such pretty old-fashioned chintz hangings! But John would not hear of it” (Gilman, 248).

Although she is virtually a prisoner in her room, she attempts to justify John s treatment of her. “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. I have a schedule I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more” (Gilman, 248.)

Though the narrator feels that writing and socializing would help her recover more quickly, she still allows the male figures in her life to dictate her treatment. “I sometimes fancy that in my condition, if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus – but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad” (Gilman, 247).

John s reference to his wife s mental illness as a “temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman, 247) further demonstrates his dominance over his wife. He does not want anyone knowing the extent of his wife s mental illness. “He says that no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me (Gilman, 252).

The symbolism used by the author in this story is somewhat unconventional. A house typically symbolizes security. Here, the opposite is true. The narrator feels trapped by the walls of the house, just as she is trapped by her mental illness. The windows of her room, which would usually symbolize a sense of freedom, are barred and holding her captive.

It is painfully obvious that she feels trapped and unable to express her fears to her husband. “You see he does not believe I am sick. And what can one do? If a physician of high standing and one s own husband assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency – what is one to do” (Gilman, 247). Her husband is not the only male figure who dominates her. Her brother, also a doctor, “Says the same thing” (Gilman, 247).

The heroine, unable to openly express her feelings to anyone, begins to see herself through the paper covering the walls of her room. She imagines a woman trapped behind the wallpaper, just as she is trapped inside. The wallpaper, and the barrier it poses to the woman behind it, mirror the narrator s own thoughts about being confined in a room with barred windows.

As the narrator looks out the window, she can see the beautiful garden. Just as the room is used as a metaphor for her mental illness, the garden is used as a metaphor for the mental health she craves. The more time she spends in the room, the more obsessed with the wallpaper she becomes. To her, the wallpaper begins to take on human characteristics. “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down”(Gilman, 250).

Though the narrator is still feeling the effects of imprisonment by her husband, she begins to realize the meaning of the wallpaper, and her life begins to change. The room, and particularly the wallpaper she hates so much, become the center of her would her voice. She realizes that she is the woman behind the wallpaper, and is finally able to break free. I ve got out at last, in spite of you ! And I ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can t put me back (Gilman, 258).