The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is psychologically fascinating, disturbing, and pitiful. It is written in the form of journal entries by a woman whose name is never revealed, and who, despite the fact that she is undergoing treatment for her "nervous condition" (24), seems to only sink deeper into insanity, which is symbolically portrayed in the wallpaper of her so-called room. But does the wallpaper reflect her insanity, or does it reflect an insanity born of oppression and lack of understanding?

The writer herself demonstrates, through her writing, an unstable mind in her seemingly radical mood-swings. She goes from not liking the wallpaper, to becoming strangely attached to it, to despising it, to infatuation with it. She talks of wanting to get out of the house, only to explain a page or so later that she simply can't stand to think of leaving before she figures out the lanes on the wallpaper. However, all things aside, she simply seems lonely and bored, though certainly on an extreme level. She is not allowed interaction with others, nor is she even allowed to write to the point where we really can't blame her for losing it! Finally, there is an oppressed and inferior way in the way she talks. This is evident from the beginning, when she states, "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that" (5). Although his cure for her condition is a constant weight on her chest, she is completely dependent on him, and so it is this dependence on him, which she regrets not being more thankful for, that drives to the point of insanity.

It is this oppression and sense of being trapped that is demonstrated through the wallpaper. As she describes the design on the paper, her language becomes startlingly violent: ". . . 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" (33), "There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down" (64). This violent language demonstrates the narrator's trapped status more than any other detail in the short story--even the symbol of the woman behind the wallpaper, which ultimately represents her. It shows us that she feels to oppressed inside herself that the only way out is a violent way, as she finally succumbs to in the end. This chaotic wallpaper design acts as a backdrop to the obvious clues as to the woman's situation in the journal entries. For example, as she talks of the contradictions within the wallpaper, she is reiterating the contradictions, mentioned above, taking place in her mind that are carried out through her emotional journal entries; so that, the wallpaper does not simply represent insanity, but the path to that insanity, and the elements that play significant roles on that path.

Word Count: 486