Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper - 2376 Words

CHARLOTEE PERKINS GILLMAN THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (1892) The cult of true womanhood defined women as â€Å"ladies†(pure, diligent). When we talk about American woman, we have to specify their religion, sexual orientation, race, social class (it is therefore essentialist to talk about â€Å"women† in general. Depending on the group which they are in, certain coordinates are applicable. The Yellow Wallpaper is about a white, protestant, heterosexual woman at the end of the 19th century in the higher middle class. Gilman wanted to obtain more freedom and in order to do so, she had to rebel against the most important institution oppressing her: MARRIAGE. (1) Nowadays, the typical happy family is outdated and doesn’t exist. Gilman lived at a time†¦show more content†¦If we believe that all women are feminist, this is an example of ESSENTIALISM. Not all women are the same: gender is a cultural construct and women are indoctrinated into behaving in a certain way. The author fights against MARRIAGE. She is a pre-feminist (feminism of difference). For a long time, the story has been considered as autobiographical (= confessional mode), as these sold books. In Protestant society, public confession was and is extremely popular. Confessional literature has always been sold well in the US and this is the reason that Perkins wrote† Why I wrote The Yellow Wallpaper†. Originally, the world â€Å"wallpaper† was hyphenated†wall† covered by â€Å"paper† (important connotations): 1st footnote. In short stories, everything is relevant. At the time of writing, women were considered as side of â€Å"hysteria†: that the womb was irritated/inflamed. People believed that when women behaved in a way that they weren’t expected to, they were sick (hysteria). Women were expected to fulfil some roles. This â€Å"irritation or the womb† made people believe that a woman ´s reproductive system was at threat and might stop working. Because of this, reading was â€Å"dangerous† for women because it excited the mind and therefore the womb. At the time of writing, there was a physician who said that high-class women should have a REST CURE to relax. He forbade any kind of intellectual work(reading and writing), to goShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis1164 Words   |  5 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis As I started reading this short story, it clearly introduced who the characters are and where it took place. The narrator is a woman; she has no name, remains anonymous throughout the story. She lives with her husband John in a house. This house is isolated from society, since the short story indicates that it is far from village, roads or any means of communication. It also contains locks and gates throughout. The woman is ill and this illness has placed her inRead MoreAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1727 Words   |  7 Pages Analysis of the Short Story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Originally published in January 1892 issue of New England Magazine. Charlotte Perkins Gilman s short story The Yellow Wallpaper was personal to her own struggles with anxiety and depression after the birth of her daughter with her first husband and S. Weir Mitchell s resting cure treatment she received. The Yellow Wallpaper describes, from the patients point of view, the fall into madness of a woman who is creativelyRead MoreThe Yellow-Wallpaper Analysis1393 Words   |  6 PagesThe Yellow Wall-Paper Literary Analysis Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† to show how women undergo oppression by gender roles. Gilman does so by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman’s changes in mental state. The narrator in this story becomes so oppressed by her husband that she actually goes insane. The act of oppression is very obvious within the story â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† and shows how it changes one’s life forever. TheRead MoreFeminist Analysis of Yellow Wallpaper1326 Words   |  6 PagesA Woman Trapped: A Feminist Analysis of the Yellow Wallpaper The short story, the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be analyzed in depth by both the psycho-analytic theory and the feminist theory. On one hand the reader witnesses the mind of a woman who travels the road from sanity to insanity to suicide â€Å"caused† by the wallpaper she grows to despise in her bedroom. On the other hand, the reader gets a vivid picture of a woman’s place in 1911 and how she was treated when dealingRead MoreLiterary Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper992 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper In the story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman she writes of a woman severely oppressed in her marriage. The women in the story is an open mind individual. John; her husband is a psychologist and thinks that his wife has a mental disorder because of all the free thinking and puts her through the rest cure. Through analysis of the story, we can see that this story displays a creepy tone in order to depict a serious matter at a time when women’sRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Paper1245 Words   |  5 Pagesupholding women’s rights, such as viewing a woman as a respectable, free-willed human being, are the essential truths established in Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† Through the development of the narrator Gilman uses symbolism and imagery to awaken the reader to the reality of what a woman’s life was like in the 1800’s. Analysis of the symbolism throughout the story reveals that the author was no t only testifying to the social status of the women in society but specifically giving insightRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1496 Words   |  6 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gillam uses her short story, The Yellow Wallpaper as a weapon to help break down the walls surrounding women, society has put up. This story depicts the life of a young woman struggling with postpartum depression, whose serious illness is overlooked, by her physician husband, because of her gender. Gillman s writing expresses the feelings of isolation, disregarded, and unworthiness the main character Jane feels regularly. This analysis will dive into the daily struggles women faceRead MoreFeminist Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper 2184 Words   |  9 PagesJoe Purcaro English 155 Literary Analysis 04/17/2016 Feminism in the Yellow Wallpaper Everyone experiences life, whether it be happy times, bad times; it’s one big circle every human being goes through. In the story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper, which is a feminist story that portrays the terror of the rest cure which is a period spent in inactivity or leisure with the intention of improving one s physical or mental health. Women especially, as it opposes manyRead MoreCritical Analysis : The Yellow Wallpaper993 Words   |  4 PagesCritical Analysis: â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† â€Å"Not many women got to live out the daydream of women—to have a room, even a section of a room, that only gets messed up when she messes it up herself.† –Maxine Hong Kingston: The Woman Warrior During the late 19th century women, as history demonstrates, were to remain confined to their societal expectations and roles. Women were thought of as the weaker sex, emotional, and fully dependent on their male counterparts, child-like. She was to be a piousRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1915 Words   |  8 PagesWhen â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is viewed within the scopes of New Historical, Feminist, Psychoanalytical, Ethical and Reader response criticisms, the reader should first be imparted with the understanding of who Charlotte Perkins Gilman was, what she stood for, the time period in which the story was written, and how aspects of her cultural and historical background related to it. Second, how the circumstances imposed upon women’s freedom of thought. Third, the reader shall ascertain how Freud’s Psychoanalytical