In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman, the protagonist, Jane, suffers from postpartum depression. In a poor effort to improve her mental health, her physician husband, John, takes the liberty of prescribing a “rest cure.” They travel to a rural estate where Jane must remain in one room, with no stimulating activity, all day. She begins to fixate on the yellow wallpaper of the room, staring at it for hours on end, finding shapes and figures on the stationary paper. Her obsession with the wallpaper continues to develop and eventually triggers her descent into psychosis. Gilman utilizes connotative description, figurative language, and the symbol of a yellow wallpaper to comment on women’s oppression in patriarchal society through the protagonist’s struggle with mental health.
Gilman vividly describes the yellow wallpaper, the object of Jane’s obsession, to reveal her declining mental state. She uses words such as “hideous,” “infuriating,” and “torturing” with strong, negative connotations to depict Jane’s hatred of the wallpaper (Gilman 8). This striking language reflects Jane’s feelings toward her emotional circumstances. Jane is not understood by even her own husband and is unable to freely comment on her mental health. She is dismissed when she expresses her illness, as was typical during the time this story was written, and has no authority in this very personal matter. Her frustration towards her situation manifests itself in her view of her surroundings, specifically the yellow wallpaper that constantly surrounds her. Gilman also uses figurative language, namely metaphors and similes, to assist her readers’ visualization of the wallpaper. Jane describes the wallpaper as “a florid arabesque, reminding one of a fungus” (Gilman 9). These metaphors further develop Jane’s feelings of loathing towards the wallpaper. The word “fungus” tends to have negative connotations attached to it, especially in a home or place of living where they are seen as unwanted, and portrays the wallpaper as something alive and growing. Negative adjectives allow Gilman to paint a clear visualization of the wallpaper through Jane’s perception. This foreshadows how Jane begins to see a woman inside the wallpaper, struggling to escape. The cumulative effect of connotative descriptions, imagery, and figurative language provides insight into Jane’s mental state and characterizes her struggle.
The yellow wallpaper functions as a symbol of patriarchal society through which Gilman comments on the recurring theme of mental health. Gilman purposefully makes the wallpaper yellow because the color represents illness and decay. She uses syntax and figurative language to reveal the narrator’s feelings toward the wallpaper. Jane personifies the wallpaper as something threatening and aggressive, claiming that “it turns a back somersault […] slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you” (Gilman 9). This violent narration depicts Jane’s internal struggle. As she grapples with her declining mental state, Jane is consistently disregarded. She is repeatedly knocked down and trampled upon by the patriarchal standards through which society operates. Without acknowledgment of her emotions, Jane is ignored and driven to a point of no return. The repeated use of aggressive verbs, lengthy sentence structure, and extended personification assist Gilman in further involving the reader in Jane’s narrative.
Jane sees a woman trapped in the yellow wallpaper, representative of her own confinement in patriarchal society. Jane is not understood by those around her. Even her brother and husband do not seriously consider her mental condition, writing her illness off as temporary nervousness (Gilman 2). She is unable to express this emotion while stuck at the estate and soon begins to project onto her surroundings. Jane becomes increasingly intrigued by the yellow wallpaper, staring at it for hours on end. The wallpaper develops Jane’s feelings of entrapment, serving as a constant reminder of her house arrest disguised as treatment. She imagines a woman stuck behind the wallpaper, a woman who “is all the time trying to climb through” but unable to escape “the pattern [that] strangles” her (Gilman 11). This pattern represents the patriarchal society that Jane herself is unable to escape, powerless to express herself or feel truly seen.
John’s restriction of Jane’s freedom and self-expression leads to her obsession with the yellow wallpaper and contributes to her deteriorating mental state. John brings Jane to a rural estate and limits her activity in a flawed attempt to cure her postpartum depression. Though she initially tries to understand and justify his intent, Jane quickly begins to feel cornered. John and Jane occupy traditional gender roles and are engaged in a clearly established power dynamic. John is the dominating character in their relationship, and his opinion often takes precedence over Jane’s. Upon the time of this short story’s publication in the nineteenth century, it was widely accepted and normalized for a male figure to speak on behalf of women. This gendered tyranny permitted the suppression of women’s opinions and maltreatment of women, not only in society as a whole but also in regular daily occurrences. Gilman uses Jane’s circumstances to draw attention to this. Jane is invalidated and misrepresented through John’s verbalized thoughts, as he frequently assures her that her condition is improving, whether she feels that way or not (Gilman 8). John decides whether Jane is well or not and she lacks basic autonomy. In fact, he only tries to effectively help Jane when she is at her breaking point, mentally unstable and psychotic, only acknowledging her true state when it is too intense for him to ignore. John fails to truly listen to Jane long enough to prevent her situation from worsening, and she only gets his attention when she is past the point of no return. At the expense of Jane’s sanity, the woman in the yellow wallpaper finally breaks free.
Though “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written and set in the nineteenth century, it acknowledges issues such as mental illness and the oppression of women that are still prevalent today. Charlotte Gilman draws specific, descriptive comparisons to evoke emotion in her audience and detail the narrator’s struggle. The protagonist is driven from postpartum depression to psychosis due to society’s ignorance of her mental health. The motif of the yellow wallpaper serves as a reminder of the power of patriarchal society as it acts upon and limits women. Written as a critique, “The Yellow Wallpaper” reminds us of the harmful effects of such limitations through the complete destruction of Jane’s sanity. Gilman forces the reader to confront the effects of society’s oppressive gender dynamics that continue to affect women, as gender still holds a prominent role in society and people’s perceptions. This story should serve as a cautionary tale against looking down on women. It should remind us to be mindful of our actions and to acknowledge others’ struggles.
Works Cited
“By the Sea (9/10) Movie CLIP – I’m Barren (2015) HD.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 4 Nov. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkeXMSrRsYI.
“Hiro Hamada microbots presentation Big hero 6 1080p.” Youtube, uploaded by Flick Society, 28 Sep. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsVJuN75vzE.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Sakai, ENGL 105.054.FA22, posted by Paul Blom, 26 Jul. 2022. Originally published in The New England Magazine, 1892.
“Monster-in-Law (3/3) Movie CLIP – Slap Fight (2005) HD.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 30 May 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYFI1-FTw94.
Musictown. “Corporate 8 No Drums.” Musictown, Pixabay, 2022, https://pixabay.com/music/pulses-corporate-8-no-drums-95464/.
“The Yellow Wallpaper.” Youtube, uploaded by Joshua Cantrell, 10 Oct. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhcLaM-Ig84.
“Old (2021) – Climbing the Cliff Scene (5/10) | Movieclips.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 30 Nov. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEUGNy124FE.
“127 Hours (1/3) Movie CLIP – Trapped (2010) HD.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 8 Dec. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgFF-JBCHUg&t=57s.
“Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in Marriage Story | Netflix.” Youtube, uploaded by Netflix Film, 15 Jan. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDFdroN7d0w&t=110s.
“The Blob (1988) – Movie Theater Attack Scene (4/10) | Movieclips.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 26 Oct. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y43sCSuqHa0.
“The Breakfast Club Allison They Ignore Me Scene (1985) 1080p HD.” Youtube, uploaded by Shermer High School, 6 Jan. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw2wNTbZE7k.
“The Hunger Games (4/12) Movie CLIP – Shooting the Apple (2012) HD.” Youtube, uploaded by Movieclips, 5 Feb. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9VI6SExDms.
Featured Image Source
Google Images for free and fair reuse.