Imagine having to stay in a room for a couple months. In addition to that, picture having little to none human contact. The room is locked from the outside and has barred windows. It is extremely bare, except for the bed. The only thing to keep you company is this horrid, yellow wallpaper. Hours feel like days and days feel like weeks, and the only thing there is that yellow wallpaper. You would go crazy! Well, this is what happened to the nameless narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper. The Yellow Wallpaper was written by Charlotte Gilman. The story illustrates the descent into madness many women faced during the 19th century. In The Yellow Wallpaper, author Charlotte Gilman used the yellow wallpaper to symbolize the inability to be expressive and creative, a sense of entrapment, and a distraction that becomes an infatuation.
The time period the story is taking place was during the late 19th century, or the late 1800s. Traditionally, at this time, women were solely in charge of household duties and the children. Similar to a person plastering wallpaper to a wall, her husband, along with society, forced his wife to be accustomed to what they thought was common. The wallpaper’s pattern represents the societal norms that are metaphorically restricting her movements.
Throughout the short story, the unnamed women was forbidden to delve in her …show more content…
Regularly, at night, the woman in the wallpaper tries to escape. “She just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard.” (Gilman). The “yellow woman” was trapped in the wallpaper with no means to escape. For example, the narrator wrote, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.” (Gilman). The narrator constantly visualized the “yellow woman” attempting to escape the wallpaper, similar to how she wanted to escape the room. The “yellow woman” represents the narrator. Both women are entrapped in a location they do not wish to
The time period the story is taking place was during the late 19th century, or the late 1800s. Traditionally, at this time, women were solely in charge of household duties and the children. Similar to a person plastering wallpaper to a wall, her husband, along with society, forced his wife to be accustomed to what they thought was common. The wallpaper’s pattern represents the societal norms that are metaphorically restricting her movements.
Throughout the short story, the unnamed women was forbidden to delve in her …show more content…
Regularly, at night, the woman in the wallpaper tries to escape. “She just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard.” (Gilman). The “yellow woman” was trapped in the wallpaper with no means to escape. For example, the narrator wrote, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.” (Gilman). The narrator constantly visualized the “yellow woman” attempting to escape the wallpaper, similar to how she wanted to escape the room. The “yellow woman” represents the narrator. Both women are entrapped in a location they do not wish to