Some might agree that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is mainly about a woman in the late 1800’s slipping into insanity. Gilman short story demonstrated her characters mental illness in two different ways: (1) allowing her audience into the fear of the character’s psychosis (2) letting her audience experience the characters limitations and presenting the importance of the characters individualism.
Gilman allows her audience into the characters fears and mental illness. Most of the story is centered on the women’s obsession with the yellow wallpaper in her assigned room. The woman’s description of the wallpaper seem to show how she portraits herself and her illness.For Example she describes the wallpaper as being “…dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit-plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions. ”(Gilman) In this passage from the short story allows the reader to interpret what the author is trying to say. Some might agree that it even describes the beginning of the woman’s illness.
Describing that her illness has made her life as dull, has provoked study that her husband does not approve of, and soon enough she knows that she will reach her limit. This women is not insane because of the wallpaper. The woman already has a mental illness that makes her a nervous person to start with.So the statement from Thomas of “not only authentically delineates Morris’s Fashionable glided olive, monochromatic yellow and Khaki Craftsman designs, but also confronts wallpaper on other significant level (1)as potential mental health hazard for women and children in restricted environment’s” this statement is not entirely true to some people. A woman cannot become insane; when she is already. Another, well accomplished task of Gilman is when she expresses the importance of individualism.
Gilman establishes this by leaving hints in the body of her work. Such hints consist of “ If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing a matter with one but temporary nervous depression-slightly hysterical tendency-what is one to do? ” This quote illustrates the limitation in her daily life.No contact with family or friends. Even, the woman knows that she has no control over her husband or herself.
The audience can understand that this women writes with sarcasm and shows she expresses her true feelings only in her journal entries. For example, “So I take phosphates or phosphides- whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and an absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas. ”(Gilman)Another is “John says that the worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. ” These two quotes explain the woman’s true feelings that she must keep inside her.Knowing that if she disagrees with anything she will be offending her husband’s professional advice.
Back in the time period that this short story was written women were owned by the men and where to do as they were told without further discussion. Thomas second statement about inscribing gender in domestic spaces is not completely true. When one looks at the hints left by the Gilman in her short story is enough evidence to prove that her true message was to show the audience the importance to individualism. When a author writes a story its like a house with a million windows and each reader may look in through a different window. This will result in different interpretation of the story.Although, everyone is right someone will always have a stronger agreement and that person usually draws more people to their window.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” Thomas had a different and unique idea about the wallpaper. He argued that “…confronts wallpaper on other significant level (1)as potential mental health hazard for women and children in restricted environment’s,(2) inscribing gender in domestic spaces,(3) as evidence of the male take over and sequential androgynization of the decorative arts market, and aesthetic transformation that upset the female consumer’s marketplace and domestic empowerment. ”(Thomas) Although the house is full of many different windows looking in. Many others have looked through different ones.For example: others believe this short story was about Gilman demonstrated her characters mental illness in two different ways: (1) allowing her audience into the fear of the character’s psychosis (2) letting her audience experience the characters limitations and presenting the importance of the characters individualism. Cited Sources * Charters, Anne.
The Story and Its Writer Compact: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Compact. Boston: Bedford/st Martins, 2011. Print * Thomas, Heather Kirk. "'[A] Kind of Debased Romanesque with Delirium Tremens': Late-Victorian Wall Coverings and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper. '.
" The Mixed Legacy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Ed. Catherine J. Golden and Joanna Schneider Zangrando. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2000.
189-206. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed.
Janet Witalec. Vol. 62. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 7 May 2013
