Yellow Wallpaper Interpretation

The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, has many interesting but different interpretations. It had been interpreted as a Gothic horror tale, a semiautobiographical account of a mental break down, and as a symbolic presentation of the effects of social and economic oppression on women. There are many aspects of the story of why these three interpretations work. For example, the first reason why it can be a Gothic horror tale is how the narrator gradually becomes insane. At first she seems smart and analytical of her surroundings. After a while, she notices the wallpaper and how hideous it is. Then she starts seeing bulbous eyes and creeping women behind the wallpaper. As a result, the second reason it is interpreted as a Gothic horror …show more content…
At the end the narrator also talks of a rope she has acquired and how she cannot kick over the seat and therefore the reader must figure out if she has tried to kill her self and what has happened to her husband as he faints. However, one reason the story is interpreted as a semiautobiographical account of a mental break down is because the similar cure the author received. The main character in the story is prescribed to do nothing but rest to cure her nervous depression likewise as the author. The narrator does nothing but think of the hideous wallpaper in the room which she is not allowed to leave and this drives her insane. The reader can guess this has happened to the author as she suffered from postpartum depression and was on strict orders to do not do a thing for weeks. The story is also an interpretation of a symbolic presentation of the effects of social and economic oppression on women. This interpretation is my favorite because of all the symbols representing this oppression on women. For instance, in the story the house, which usually represents comfortableness and self expression, is described as “haunted” by the