During the late 1800s women and men were not equal, they lived in a society where women were defined as housewives and were expected to take care of their children and husbands for the rest of their lives. The issue connects with the experience of the narrator in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, written in 1892 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, focuses on. Gilman’s main reason for creating this story was to make individuals understand the roles in society during this period and to prevent people from being driven into insanity, such as the woman in the story did. The Yellow Wallpaper heavily focuses on a woman who is forced into societal roles and the powerful theory of femininity during the late 1800s. The narrator of the story is mentally destroyed by the rest cure her husband, John, has prescribed for her. She is forced into isolation in one room and feels imprisoned, as she is not allowed to have any contact with other individuals and her husband forbids her to even write in her journal; eventually leading the woman into madness. The story is told from the perspective of the narrator, but by doing this it makes it clearer to describe the emotions of postpartum depression and the reality of her experience. Gilman implements detailed dialogue, symbolism, infantilization, and gender roles to make the reader understand the struggles of women during the late 18th century.
Dialogue is one of the most important aspects throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, as it inspects the crucial elements that hide within it from the perspective of a woman. In the article, “Revealing Character through Dialogue” by author and professor at UC Davis, Jennifer Ellis explains, “All of these speaking tendencies combine to reveal character, such as whether the person is introverted or extroverted, forceful or timid, kind or unkind,, honest or dishonest and excitable or calm. It helps to reveal where they are from, and their past experiences” (13). During this period when this was written Gilman implements two different perspectives of views and personality of the character by choosing to use specific dialogue, she presents the first perspective being the traditionalist side, falling into the stereotypes where a woman should always be submissive toward all men. The idea is present in the line when the narrator states, “I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already!” (Gilman 11). It is comprehensible that the narrator believes her husband views her now as an annoyance because of her illness, along with the fact she is now unable to fulfill her duties as a woman and wife. She continues to express her opinions on how much she dislikes the wallpaper inside the room, yet her husband refuses to allow her to change it. The narrator then believes she is at fault for these actions even though her husband is the one who forces her to stay inside the room that drives her crazy as she is ill, yet the situation can easily be resolved as the narrator could simply change the wallpaper or move locations in the house, but her husband has total control over her and does not respect her emotions. The other womanly perspective is the solution to the compliant ways a woman is expected to be. The narrator then reveals, “I’ve got out at last,’ said I, ‘despite you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back” (Gilman 55). As the story concludes this dialogue is meant to express the freedom a woman was able to obtain during this time when she gained the confidence to break free from her issues. She is free from the trapped emotions she once felt toward her family and this demonstrates the narrator becoming her person. She can now be interpreted as a courageous woman who Gilman wanted to become a heroic figure by expressing the pain that once lingered with her is no longer. However, not only is dialogue the only component to get a better understanding of Gilman’s purpose, but symbolism is equally important when analyzing the story itself.
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The next element of the short story is the crucial symbolism that Gilman uses to explain the obsession the narrator has with the wallpaper. In the journal article, “The Term and Concept of Symbolism in Literary History”, written by American-Czech literary critic Rene Wellek states, “Symbolism in the sense of a use of symbols in literature is omnipresent in the literature of many styles, periods, and civilization. Symbols are all-pervasive in medieval literature and even the classics of realism” (250). Gilman’s story is considered to be realistic because the story she wrote is connected to realistic aspects of life. Throughout the story there is a visible piece of symbolism readers get from The Yellow Wallpaper the narrator is constantly speaking about. The narrator then goes on to say, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out” (Gilman 29). The wallpaper itself represents the emotions of entrapment the narrator seems to feel. She is constantly asking for the wallpaper to be removed, yet despises how her husband intentionally ignores her emotions and well-being. By this happening, it causes her to feel as if she is imprisoned in the room she hates so much. Gilman represents the narrator's resentful emotions by using this powerful line as she expresses how the narrator begins to feel toward the wallpaper, her husband's decisions for her, and the now isolated life she is forced to live. As the story continues, Gilman presents the reader with a line that states, “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be” (Gilman 34). The symbolism Gilman projects is the obsession the narrator has with the wallpaper and how it is only growing stronger. The bars she witnesses are trapping her and she has become the woman she is seeing in the wallpaper itself. Gilman's implementation of this idea expresses how the woman had no control over what goes on in her life. When she talks about the woman, the narrator is indirectly talking about herself and her emotions about the situation she is trapped in. Another pivotal element that makes The Yellow Wallpaper so powerful is the effect of infantilization.
Infantilization is a significant piece in the story which greatly affects the overall thought of it. In the journal, “Language as a Social Reality”, by author at the University of Northern Iowa, Chelsae R. Huot explains language is not only a way of communicating but is also used to define the status of women. Huot reveals, “It is an incredible phenomenon by which our society systemically equates femininity with things like vulnerability, submission, uncertainty, and childhood”(17). The narrator’s husband, John, clearly does not truly understand the seriousness of her illness, nor does he take into consideration her feelings. As a doctor, her husband encourages her to take a rest cure, meaning she would be isolated in her room as a solution to help her get well. She cannot do what she enjoys the most, which is write. She gets to the point where she must write without her husband finding out. It can be acknowledged John treats her as if she is a child when he calls his wife names such as “blessed little goose” and even calls her a “little girl”. He acts as if he is her parent with the names he calls her and the way he treats his wife, he seems to have total control over her life and takes away the things she loves. John manipulates the narrator into thinking he truly cares by treating her this way and as if he is just looking out for her well-being. She believes this is true as she writes, 'He is very careful and loving,' in her journal (Gilman 6). The idea of infantilization continues so far until the narrator is then strangely crawling on the floor toward the wallpaper itself as an infant would. The mind of the narrator is confused as she is a woman with an adult mind, while also being a woman with the mental state of a child that her husband has engraved in her. Similarly, another element that impacts Gilman’s point besides infantilization, is societal gender roles.
Gender roles are yet another strong element that plays a major role in the story during this period. In the journal, “Changing Ideals of Womanhood During the Nineteenth-Century Woman Movement”, written by professor Susan M. Cruea at Bowling Green State University, explains during the late 1800s, “A ‘True Woman’ was designated as the symbolic keeper of morality and decency within the home, being regarded as innately superior to men when it came to virtue” (189). During this era, women had no power over anything throughout their lives. They were forced to be obedient toward their husbands. The idea of societal gender roles connects strongly with the life of the narrator and the lifestyle she is forced to adapt to. As the narrator is being driven into insanity due to her illness and is seen “creeping”, indicates that even after the woman may be freed from her husband and home life, she may not be free from society. A woman who wanted to be free such as the narrator cannot do so, because society would not have accepted the idea of an independent woman with her thoughts and opinions. In the narrator's situation, there is no escaping from her harsh reality. The narrator's sister-in-law, Jennie, can also be defined as a woman who falls into these gender roles and does not have a mind of her own. Jennie often takes over the role also as an imprisoned housewife, in which she takes care of the narrator’s baby as their nanny and does not express her opinions on anything. John represents the male gender roles in their society during the late 1800s, he is shown as the leader of his family. He is protective in this male-dominated society, as he is considered to be the only rational thinker. John never attempts to truly understand what his wife is going through, he just views her as emotional and does not take her mental health seriously. Any thoughts his wife may have, he disregards and does not allow her to openly think and believes he is never wrong as a man. If John wasn’t so arrogant toward his wife and chose to understand her emotions more, she would not have been driven into insanity.
All of the elements Gilman presents such as dialogue, indirect symbolism, infantilization, and gender roles of the late 1800s, help the audience comprehend the perspective of what a woman of this time went through. The Yellow Wallpaper can be interpreted as a story where a mentally ill woman loses her mind due to her situation, however, it represents all women from that period and makes readers more open-minded to all the struggles and imprisonment they had to live through with no say in anything throughout their lives. Women’s mental health had little to no importance during this era. The Yellow Wallpaper focuses on the idea that if mental health is not taken seriously, there will be a consequence. The human mind can only take so much before something awful occurs. The author uses this story to represent the reality of her own life, along with the struggles through her life that are expressed within her writing. Women’s sanity was very much tested to their breaking points with the way many people viewed and treated them. Gilman’s purpose was to get rid of these expectations of women and open the eyes of women that their lives are worth more than what society labels them. As she expresses this idea, Gilman herself followed her advice and freed herself from her husband to have women see that they can be independent, along with following their dreams and having a mind of their own. She wanted women to get out of dangerous situations in their lives before it was too late. No woman was too weak to defeat the societal roles of a male-dominated society. Gilman motivates women everywhere to focus on themselves and not feel alone, also she creates a piece of mind for them that they can amount to anything they want to do. Having inspiration could have been extremely comforting to these women experiencing this issue, and that is what Gilman successfully achieved.
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