In Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” the unnamed main character narrates a story of her mental breakdown. The narrator is a dynamic character because her mental state declines as the story progresses. Her mental breakdown is caused by her being limited to a room and forbidden to express her thoughts through her writing; as well as, her husband and physician, John, who has good intentions, but forbids her to do any work, makes all the decisions for her, and refuses to take her seriously. Throughout the story the narrator has to be secretive when she writes; she is not allowed to do anything to stimulate her mind. She says “I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about
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She starts by personifying the wallpaper, saying, “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down” (67). The human features she gives the wall paper are disturbing and she becomes infatuated with the images as she wonders what else is behind the wallpaper. As her mental state declines she begins to hallucinate, stating, “And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern” (70). She relates to the woman behind the wallpaper because she too is trapped. The narrator is not able to speak of her resentment towards or claustrophobia and her desperation is discovered behind the wallpaper’s pattern. The narrator’s state of mind worsens when she starts to become paranoid of her husband and of Jennie, who watches the baby. She says, “The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look” (72). She doesn’t believe that John actually loves her she assumes that he is only pretending to love her in an effort to control her. Towards the end of the story she starts to identify more to the woman behind the wallpaper and begins creep around, “I always lock the door when I creep by daylight” (75). The narrator is aware she is creeping and thinks it is normal, but locks the door so that John does not catch her. It is clear that her mental state is
She starts by personifying the wallpaper, saying, “There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down” (67). The human features she gives the wall paper are disturbing and she becomes infatuated with the images as she wonders what else is behind the wallpaper. As her mental state declines she begins to hallucinate, stating, “And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern” (70). She relates to the woman behind the wallpaper because she too is trapped. The narrator is not able to speak of her resentment towards or claustrophobia and her desperation is discovered behind the wallpaper’s pattern. The narrator’s state of mind worsens when she starts to become paranoid of her husband and of Jennie, who watches the baby. She says, “The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look” (72). She doesn’t believe that John actually loves her she assumes that he is only pretending to love her in an effort to control her. Towards the end of the story she starts to identify more to the woman behind the wallpaper and begins creep around, “I always lock the door when I creep by daylight” (75). The narrator is aware she is creeping and thinks it is normal, but locks the door so that John does not catch her. It is clear that her mental state is