Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper," isn't a story which would "make others miserable." Rather, it's an inspiring story for young women to break free from the patriarchal shackles which confine them. This story's underlying feminist themes prove to be quite fascinating, and thus this story deserves to be published in the Atlantic Monthly for the masses to enjoy(Welter 373-377). Woman writes this story after being diagnosed with hysteria after giving birth to her baby in the early 1900's. Her husband moves them to a colonial mansion where she can recover. The woman becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper and she begins to act deranged.

The woman's husband thinks it is best for her to stay in the room that was formerly used as a nursery. It has yellow wallpaper which the narrator thinks is horrid. She describes it as, "The colour is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight." (Mitchell 141). She becomes fascinated with the paper and its pattern.

One of the most intriguing themes presented in Charlotte Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" proves to be the underlying feminist tones which dominate the story, as seen through the nursery itself. The story is an exemplification of a young woman's life and her struggle to escape the fascist dominance of a patriarchal society, a theme which can intriguingly be seen as correlating with Gilman's own life. From the opening of the story, Jane is oppressed by her tyrannical husband, John, who confines her to an old, empty nursery.

The windows of the nursery are barred, making it not only a childhood retreat but also a prison. While John confines Jane to her bed, the bed is nailed to the floor, further confining Jane in a static position. The nursery additionally has important significance, for the author is stating the Jane is being treated like a little child, even when she has a child of her own. Furthermore, the nursery is described in several contrasting sequential statements, such as, "The most beautiful place!...I don't like our room a bit." (Lipman-Blumen 136) This contradiction of sensory detail is an intriguing literary device used by Gilman in order to express the overturning roles of women.

Women were previously thought to be merely beautiful and obedient. However, Gilman exemplifies that as attain more freedom and the "wallpaper is being torn down," women are beginning to contradict their prior social roles. Thus, ...