Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Essay Sample)

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Literature Analysis of "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman who was an American social reform lecturer and has contributed immensely in literature, having published various novels, short stories and poetry. She was a real feminist and an activist for women rights.
‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ short story is a literature work that can be confusing at some juncture. The surface meaning of the story makes someone have a notion of a woman who loses her mind due to mind ailment, as the narrator puts it, "there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression”( Perkins 9), yet in all fact it’s around a lady who is experiencing postpartum depression. Despite the fact that the plot of this story is based around her sickness, there is another goal of the story, to convey a totally unrelated message. Gilman looks for rather suggest a message of an individual statement and effectively does so by recording the ailment progression, through the state of the wallpaper.
In the story, inequalities within marriage suppress Jane and add more authority to the male character. This has constrained her freedom and independence. It is evident that the lady agrees and permits herself to be inferior as compared to men. John, who is her spouse, is a physician, and he authorizes her not to do anything – just to rest. This plus Johns’ rules subject her to mind torture, boredom and loneliness. This makes her to start expressing her thoughts through writing a journal to relieve her mind. To make matter worse John also forbids even writing, and he uses soft words such as ‘little girl’ and ‘his comfort’ while referring to her. This makes Jane act as a child and hinder her to any aspect. She writes on the wallpaper, "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. However, what is one to do?”( Perkins 12-14). The statement demonstrates her low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence. She is exceptionally supporting that her considerations and opinions are not worth at any given moment. In the whole story, she laments severally of her belittled personality.
Nowadays many people find it difficult to express their feeling and opinions to the doctor. They fail to speak for themselves to the specialists. Although one comprehends what brings about a significant improvement to themselves, however they will frequently take after the doctors’ recommendation in view of his or her authority. She is determined to resume her health status; however she is always overlooked and shut down by her siblings, her personal insecurity and her spouse. The ‘rest treatment’ is meant to make her emotions calm but instead she starts to imagine impartial things, the wallpaper, to attempt and disregard her developing dissatisfaction.
The wallpaper description appears to be typical of the advancement of her disease through the paper, she sees herself. She depicts the wallpaper as "… 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 suicide-plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions (Perkins 33). This is a critical to the story because it does not only portrays her feelings and what her husband is making her go through. It alludes to her feeling of inferiority; it continues to depict that in the event that she continues following her partners’ crazy suggestions her destiny is bound to "commit suicide". He does not permit her to express herself the way...