Gilman's short story is a warning to her readers about the consequences of fixed gender roles assigned by male-dominated societies:
the man's role being that of the husband and rational thinker
, and the woman's role being that of the dutiful wife who does not question her husband's authority.
What is the narrator's relationship to gender roles in The Yellow Wallpaper?
In “ The Yellow Wallpaper”, we can ultimately see the separation of gender roles within the two characters. John in the story is
the upper class male
, upholding a high standing occupation as a physician, while his wife does not even receive a name, assumed the narrator of the text.
How did The Yellow Wallpaper affect women's rights?
The wallpaper design serves as
symbolic imagery of the imprisonment of women
, much as the narrator is a prisoner in her own home. By adhering to the patriarchal expectations regarding a woman's behavior, women are prevented from any type of growth, specifically personal and artistic.
What does The Yellow Wallpaper teach us?
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is an illustration of the
way a mind that is already plagued with anxiety can deteriorate and begin to prey on itself when it is forced into inactivity and kept from healthy work
.
What does the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper represent?
The woman behind the wallpaper represents
the narrator herself
, which is why she comes to identify with the woman. Over the course of the story, the narrator gradually sees this woman in more detail because as she descends further into madness, she also becomes more and more aware of her oppression.
Why does John faint at the end of The Yellow Wallpaper?
The reason for John to faint at the end of the story is
his shock provoked by the wife's mental state
. He prescribes the “rest therapy” to eliminate any distressing events that could worsen his wife's depression.
What is the significance of the ending of The Yellow Wallpaper?
At the end of the story, as
her husband lies on the floor unconscious, she crawls over him
, symbolically rising over him. This is interpreted as a victory over her husband at the expense of her sanity.
What is the irony in The Yellow Wallpaper?
Dramatic irony
is used extensively in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” For example, when the narrator first describes the bedroom John has chosen for them, she attributes the room's bizarre features—the “rings and things” in the walls, the nailed-down furniture, the bars on the windows, and the torn wallpaper—to the fact that …
Why does John treat the narrator like a child in The Yellow Wallpaper?
He treats her more like a child.
He suppresses her writing
, one of the ways she expresses herself. In this case, he literally silences her voice, saying she should not work and not even think about her condition.
What mental illness does the woman in The Yellow Wallpaper have?
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a woman suffering from
postpartum depression
is prescribed a “rest cure”. She is forced to stay in a room with yellow wallpaper which She says is “committing every artistic sin” (Gilman 419).
What is the main theme of The Yellow Wallpaper?
Self-Expression, Miscommunication, and Misunderstanding
Alongside questions of gender and mental illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is the simple story of
a woman who is unable fully to express herself, or to find someone who will listen
.
Why is the narrator obsessed with The Yellow Wallpaper?
Why is the narrator obsessed with the yellow wallpaper? The narrator appears to be connecting her writing with the wallpaper and becoming obsessed with the wallpaper
because the only thing she has control over seems to be her writing on paper and her ideas/obsession
with the wallpaper.
What is the symbolic meaning of The Yellow Wallpaper?
Clearly, the wallpaper represents
the structure of family, medicine, and tradition in which the narrator finds herself trapped
. Wallpaper is domestic and humble, and Gilman skillfully uses this nightmarish, hideous paper as a symbol of the domestic life that traps so many women.
What does the moonlight symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” moonlight represents
a time for the feminine
. During the day, the narrator writes that the woman trapped in the wallpaper is motionless and immobile. As moonlight strikes the wall, however, the woman begins to move or, perhaps more accurately, to creep.
What does the baby symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The baby in “The Yellow Wallpaper” symbolizes
what society expected of women in the late 19th-century, to be women and mothers
.
Who is Jane at the end of The Yellow Wallpaper?
It is more likely, however, that “Jane” is the name of
the unnamed narrator
, who has been a stranger to herself and her jailers. Now she is horribly “free” of the constraints of her marriage, her society, and her own efforts to repress her mind.
