The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman (Essay Sample)

Student name
Instructor’s name
Subject
Date
The yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman – A literal analysis
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a 6,000 short story by Charlotte Gilman. The story focuses on gender equality and provided the foundation for feminist writings years later after its publication. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a reflection of a young woman’s diary content. Its main focus is on the position of women in the society and the stifling nature of gender inequality. Gilman takes writing to a new level with "The Yellow Wallpaper" due to the literary techniques that he employs. Throughout the story, the narrator focuses on a yellow wallpaper that serves as a landmark in the story and plays a fundamental role in helping Gilman create the setting of the story and properly focus the content. The narrator suffers a great deal especially from a mental point of view and her husband plays a fundamental role towards her torment due to his unsupportive personality. Gilman employs the use of symbolism and the realism convention, which contribute significantly towards ensuring that the message of the story is delivered and its purpose achieved. The narrator’s point of view and awareness of the subject matter also contributes immensely towards establishing objectivity and trust from the audience.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" employs the use of symbolism quite effectively. Gilman’s main objective is to highlight the state of gender equality in the society during the period which the story was written. In order to do so, she uses symbolism in order to ensure that the content of the story can be applied to a wide array of contexts. The first symbol that is evident in the story is the Wallpaper’s pattern. The woman in the wallpaper is not free, she is trapped. Gilman aims to highlight the cage that women find themselves in due to gender inequality. Women are unable to free themselves and hold the same position as men in the social order. This is one of the major themes of the story and the use of symbolism effectively articulates it. Another symbol that the author employs is the moonlight. The moonlight is used to reflect that position of women during different times of the day. According to Gilman, when the moonlight shines on the wallpaper, the woman is able to move a little, unlike during the day (Thrailkill 529). This image represents the way she acts during the day and at night. During the day, she is forced to suppress her personality since her husband is watching. However, at night she opens up and takes the initiative to carry out activities that she could not under her husband’s watch. This underscores the fact that Gilman feels women are enslaved due to their gender and the way the society perceives. The use of symbolism plays a fundamental role in ensuring that Gilman is able to deliver one of the major themes of the story. By using symbolism, she is able to outline the plight of women in different contexts, both in the society in general and at their own homed, as a family people (Treichler 71).
Another element that contributes significantly towards the success of the story is the application of the realism convention. Despite being a fictional piece, Gilman materially relies on the existing circumstances in the society to create a setting for her story and the story contents too. The realism convention takes the role of literature to a new degree. It enables authors to typify the state of affairs in the audience’s social, political and economic surrounding. As a result, the people who the story targets are able to sufficiently identify with the story. Therefore, by putting into effect this convention, Gilman is able to get in touch with the audience in a way that she otherwise could not. It also helps the author articulate her authority as it positions her as an individual who profoundly understands the subject and what she is touching on since she is a member of the society that she is reporting on and she is well aware of its dynamics (Treichler 70). The realism convention is evident throughout "The Yellow Wallpaper." Social institutions such as family and the relationship between men and women are all drawn from the society. For instance, the concept of gender inequality was quite prevalent within the period which the story is written. The audience is able to learn and associate with the story as it touches on issues that they experience on a daily basis. This plays a key role in ensuring that the main theme of the story is delivered and that the audience find the piece of writing useful. "The Yellow Wallpaper" attains the fete above by being able to vividly map the society without bias. It reflects on the plight of women in a society that does not fancy gender equality. This materially contributes towards the success of the story.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is narrated by a young women who has just been married. She is a mother and belongs to the upper-middle class. The narrator exemplifies high end imagination and storytelling skills. The story that she tells is from her diary. Where she records her encounters as her connection with the yellow wallpaper increases as time passes. Looking at the subject matter of the story, it is safe to say that the narrator is knowledgeable and knows a great deal about her own position and that of other women in the society. This enhances the point of view in the story. The narrator is not directly involved in the events, but he is affected by the reality of the elements that Gilman tries to put across. For instance, the narrator takes time to step away from the story and touch on her own encounters and life as a woman. A profound analysis of her sentiments reveal that, like most women, she suffers a great deal due to gender inequality. By highlighting her own encounters, the narrator effectively establishes that, apart from all the plights that she outlines in the story she has trouble when it comes to expression. She reflects that she never finds herself in a satisfactory position to effectively outline her own position. ...