Symbolism and Character analysis in The Yellow Wallpaper
Introduction
“The yellow wallpaper” is a short story by Charlotte Perkins, which involves a horror tale, written in the first-person point of view. The story is narrated by a mentally ill young woman who focuses on her feelings and thoughts. Conflict arises between the narrator and her husband, who is also her doctor over illness and aggravates a mental struggle. Over time, the narrator expresses dislikes of the yellow wallpaper and later identifies herself with the woman confined in it. At one point, the narrator goes insane, and due to this condition, her perception is different from that of other characters. As the story unfolds, many instances of symbolism appear in which the state of an object depicts something more to it. Symbolism in the story is portrayed around the narrator’s immediate environment; for instance, the woman’s room, the yellow wallpaper itself, the garden outside the house, and the sun and moon, all who have an attached deeper meaning. Besides, the main characters, with their unique attributes, have contributed to the whole tale, and they include the narrator, John, and his sister Jennie.
Symbolism
The narrator’s house
First, the narrator’s house is described as a colonial mansion, however, it is haunted, which symbolizes the tension and darkness encountered by the inhabitant. This darkness associated with the house implies how the narrator eventually subsides into insanity (Roethle 150). Additionally, the narrator’s description of how beautiful the mansion is and denotes how the society has molded people to appear perfect physically but troubled on personal existence. For instance, inside the narrator’s room is an old and heavy bed fixed to the ground in which this state of the couch represents her situation where she is stuck and cannot change anything on her own. However, the narrator notices that it is gnawed a little and blames the children for it, and at the end of the story, she tries to move it by pushing. Finally, she fails and blames the children who haunt the room, an activity which proves her powerlessness and inability to change her situation. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The yellow wallpaper
Secondly, the yellow wallpaper contains many details, which have a deeper meaning in them. The woman in the wallpaper symbolizes the narrator herself who is trapped, although she later attempts to gain back control of her life (Ford 311). Moreover, she sees women in the garden, which, according to her, means that they are subjected to the “rest cure” forms of oppression. Also, changes in the wallpaper patterns are described as “the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contractions,” CITE, which depicts how the female minds contradict their desires and what women want.
Further, the yellow color symbolizes fatigue or sickness in history, and on the wallpaper, it is a symbol of how the narrator is tired and helpless when she is always trying to follow the patterns. Besides, the yellow color denotes the long periods taken for something to be accomplished, and in this case, it is the narrator’s fight for her freedom, physically and mentally. Also, it represents the narrator’s mental state, which worsens with time, and it becomes a challenge to overcome. When the narrator tries to plead with her husband to remove it, which he refuses, implied that she is impotent and her concerns are discarded.
The garden outside the house
Additionally, when the narrator looks beyond the windows, she sees the garden with a mysterious deep-shaded arbor, the riotous old-fashioned flowers, and shaded lane that runs downwards from the garden, which is a reflection of the outside world. Symbolism is represented when the narrator describes the garden as mysterious, whereby she reflects her life and that of other women who could never understand the society at large (Schöpp-Schilling 285). Moreover, the shaded lane running along the garden becomes the narrator’s focus, as she views it as her redemption path into the world. Typically, lanes represent movement, and since the narrator cannot do so, she only fancies other people walking down the lane and evokes feelings of depression and helplessness. Therefore, the author uses this description of the lovely garden to mention how women in the society were restricted from outer society. Afterward, the narrator visualizes the woman in the wallpaper walking around the garden and on the lane, which only furthers her worries and helplessness to move out to the world.
The sun and the moon
Furthermore, the argument between the narrator and John is symbolized as the sun and the moon. In this situation, the sun represents John while the moon signifies the narrator; in that, the two cannot shine upon the earth at the same time. Also, the narrator fights for her situation only at night when she seems courageous, yet every time, John tells her to wait till morning to solve their conflicts (Brooks 18). Conversely, John prefers conventional ways of resolving disputes and is straightforward just as the sunlight shines bright.
Moreover, on the wallpaper parts, where sunlight shines on, the image is clear, whereas, in other places, a strange, provoking figure is formed to the sight of the narrator. Additionally, creeping during the night by the narrator denotes freedom from the socially accepted behaviors, where she feels free from the influence of the outside world and her husband who comes during the day, that is, societal influence.
Character Analysis
The narrator
On the other hand, the narrator, who is the main character, has evolved in her mental perspectives of the world and situation, as she seeks deliverance of her existence. She is a young, middle-class woman, who was recently married to John, and a prisoner in her own home, subjected to the rest cure in the house by her doctor, a condition that she despises and ends up becoming insane. Furthermore, her doctors believe that she is slightly hysterical in the way she gets obsessed with the wallpaper (Dosani 411). Throughout the story, the narrator portrays a feminist tone on what she writes in her diary, although she lacks an exact identity. Besides, the narrator is an omniscient character who knows everything and describes her feelings and observations through different roles that she assumes. In this case, she is a patient suffering from “temporary nervous depression” and believes in her diagnosis that leads to constant wrangles with her husband.
John
Moreover, John, the husband, and the physician to the narrator, is realistic and resolves to restrict his wife’s behavior as a treatment procedure. John is loving and caring for his wife, although he seems not to understand the adverse effects of the rest cure on his spouse. Besides, by trying to help his wife, John takes up his responsibility as a husband and looks forward to the full recovery of the wife, although eventually, it does not happen (Roethle 161). Also, John is quite authoritative and controlling over his wife, in which he disregards her opinions on the treatment plan. For example, he calls her “a blessed little goose” and constantly patronizes her then refuses to switch bedrooms with her to avoid interfering with her “fancies.” Further, John’s rationality as a physician depicts the notion about how inferior women are, in matters of science and medicine, where female scientists are always despised in the society as they are believed to be behind men in medical and research discoveries and practices. Also, John’s treatment procedure of restricting the wife’s mobility eventually worsens her mental condition due to his ignorance of her opinions and freedom of expression. In the end, John faints in shock after realizing the wife’s insane condition.
Jennie
Besides, Jennie, John’s sister, acts as the housekeeper for John’s family. Jennie performs household chores in the house, which makes the narrator degrade herself for not acting as a traditional wife to John. However, she regularly reminds the narrator of her incapability as a housewife due to her illness and self-pity (Roethle 158). In contrast, Jennie maintains a positive rapport with John and his wife, therefore, her harmonious character can be admired. Furthermore, she is content with her work in the house chores, although the narrator believes that she thought writing makes her condition worse. Later, Jennie complains that the wallpaper has tarnished the couple’s lives, which turned out to be true at the end. However, she may have noticed the narrator’s obsession with the wallpaper, who thought that Jennie also understood the predicament of the woman in it and informed John about it.
Conclusion
Symbolism in the story is widely portrayed from the conditions of the house and the garden outside, which all symbolize different things in the story. Also, signs of helplessness are the main predicament of the narrator, who attributes the wallpaper to her situation. Additionally, her mansion, full of darkness and tension, symbolizes her mental illness, which got worse at the end. On the other hand, characters who played a significant role in conveying the story’s dynamic situations and ideas include the narrator herself, John the physician, and Jennie.
Works cited
Brooks, Ashley N. “Nursery Versus Straightjacket: The Feminist Paradox of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Papers & Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Research 6.1 (2017): 18.
Dosani, Sabina. “The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: a gothic story of postnatal psychosis–psychiatry in literature.” The British Journal of Psychiatry, 213.1 (2018): 411- 411.
Ford, Karen. “‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ and Women’s Discourse.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, vol. 4, no. 2, 1985, pp. 309–314. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/463709. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Roethle, Christopher. “A Healthy Play of Mind: Art and the Brain in Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” American Literary Realism, vol. 52, no. 2, 2020, pp. 147–166. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerlitereal.52.2.0147. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Schöpp-Schilling, Beate. “‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: A Rediscovered ‘Realistic’ Story.” American Literary Realism, 1870-1910, vol. 8, no. 3, 1975, pp. 284–286. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27747979. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.