Short Story Analysis

The short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is a perfect representation of the gender roles in early American history. Before women began to fight for their rights by starting movements and rallies, men were always the superior in a marriage. The unnamed narrator is married to a physician named John. The narrator is suffering from post partum depression after she just had a child. John suggests that he, his wife, and his sister-in-law stay at a summer home until his wife makes a complete recovery. As the story moves forward, the narrator begins to notice that her husband has taken advantage of the fact she is "ill." She is forbidden from seeing her new born baby and also from any mental stimulation, such as reading or writing. That fact that she is "forbidden" from doing anything goes to show that the narrator is taking orders from her husband. At one point of the novel John speaks to the narrator by stating, "What is it, little girl? Don't go walking about like that-you'll get cold" (The Yellow Wallpaper, 137). Although the narrator thinks John is talking to her in a sweet, loving matter, the reality of it is, is John is treating his wife like a child. The narrator is treated as an inferior to John. Women's role in society is the first aspect that appears in this novel. Although John and that narrator are married, the man still overrules the woman. By John not allowing his wife to even write down her thoughts in a journal, goes to show that he does not respect her opinion. By writing out what she believes she is sharing her take on life and what is happening around her. By John limiting her liberty to write about what is on her mind, he is ultimately forcing her to only think the way he thinks. The narrator reveals that, "...I am afraid, but I don't care-there is something strange about this house-I can feel it. I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was draught, and shut the window" (The Yellow Wallpaper, 130). This quote is demonstrating that when the narrator expresses her fears and concerns about the house he merely tells her to shut the window. Unsympathetically he ignores how she feels. Another aspect of the novel was the symbol of the wallpaper. The yellow wallpaper, being the title of the short story, was a symbol that was connected to the feminist views of Charlotte Perkin Gilman, the author. As the narrator laid in her bed with nothing to do, she noticed the ugly wallpaper that surrounded her. She began to become captivated by the hideousness and the patterns that began to form as she stared at the wall. She reveals the saw, "strange, provoking, formless sort of figure that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design" (The Yellow Wallpaper, 134). This description is explaining the way women were viewed during the nineteenth century. The wallpaper is described to be dull, useless, and irritating. The narrator begins to see a woman trapped behind the wallpaper. For the last days she is in that summer home, she is determined to rip all of the paper off so she can set that women "free." Another interpretation of this wallpaper is how the narrator feels about her own life. The more she sits and thinks about her husband and her life, the more she realizes that sense of inferiority she is experiencing. She wants to "set herself free" from the wall that is holding her back, which in this case would be her husband. Along with the yellow wallpaper, the windows in the room where the narrator stays are barred. These bars on the windows may represent the way women were viewed. They are trapped within themselves. Even if they want to escape the role they play in society, they ultimately have no choice. The discrimination against women is demonstrated in this short story. Men during this era felt as if they had total power over their partners. The reality is, at the beginning of the novel the narrator felt like her husband's power was his way of loving her. As time went by she realized that she was useless and viewed as weak. This is when she spent her time determined to rip the wallpaper off of the walls. This short story was a perfect example of how women misunderstood the way men treated them during this time period.