“The yellow wallpaper” is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story describes the life of the Narrator, who is prescribed bed rest by her husband john who is a doctor. The couple resides at a house they have rented for the summer. This short story has invoked a lot of discussion and debate in the literary world, one of which is rather or not the Narrator is victorious at the end of the story. I am inclined to say no, that she is not victorious at the end of the story. There are some that will argue that the narrator frees herself by the end of the story; but in my opinion by the end of the story she is completely insane, there is no telling what is going to happen to her when her husband finally awakes and find her walking
…show more content…
I am under the impression that when her husband wakes up he will lock the narrator in some type of insane asylum. Earlier in the story he says that if she doesn’t get better he will send her a way” John says if I don 't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.”(Gilman 427). So I can only infer that after the whole walking in circles ordeal, the narrator will definitely be locked away for at least some amount of time. I have visited relatives in a modern mental health facility and it is not a very fun place to be to say the very least; so I can only imagine that an early 20th century facility would be an awful place I don’t think much help would be offered there. That being said even if the place was like heaven on earth; the whole premise of her victory at the end of the story is based around her attainment of freedom, which she will not have a lot of in a mental health facility. That is another big reason that I consider the ending of the story to be a …show more content…
In my opinion she does not achieve freedom through insanity, and is a victim of her husband and society as a whole. There is just no way that a healthy young woman going from depressed to utterly insane is a victory, especially since the entire story only takes course over a single summer. That is a very rapid progression of a mental illness. Regardless of the narrator’s perceived loss or victory at the end, this short story is a fantastic example of just how far women’s rights have come in this country. From being essentially unheard second class citizens, to potentially being the next president of the United States, it is astounding just how much progress has been actually made. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and other feminist writers truly have helped to blaze the path to equality for women, all the while writing amazing pieces of literature that can be interpreted for decades to
I am under the impression that when her husband wakes up he will lock the narrator in some type of insane asylum. Earlier in the story he says that if she doesn’t get better he will send her a way” John says if I don 't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall.”(Gilman 427). So I can only infer that after the whole walking in circles ordeal, the narrator will definitely be locked away for at least some amount of time. I have visited relatives in a modern mental health facility and it is not a very fun place to be to say the very least; so I can only imagine that an early 20th century facility would be an awful place I don’t think much help would be offered there. That being said even if the place was like heaven on earth; the whole premise of her victory at the end of the story is based around her attainment of freedom, which she will not have a lot of in a mental health facility. That is another big reason that I consider the ending of the story to be a …show more content…
In my opinion she does not achieve freedom through insanity, and is a victim of her husband and society as a whole. There is just no way that a healthy young woman going from depressed to utterly insane is a victory, especially since the entire story only takes course over a single summer. That is a very rapid progression of a mental illness. Regardless of the narrator’s perceived loss or victory at the end, this short story is a fantastic example of just how far women’s rights have come in this country. From being essentially unheard second class citizens, to potentially being the next president of the United States, it is astounding just how much progress has been actually made. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and other feminist writers truly have helped to blaze the path to equality for women, all the while writing amazing pieces of literature that can be interpreted for decades to