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 is the main idea of the story The Yellow Wallpaper?
The primary theme of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is that
women who are suffering from post-partum depression, or any kind of depression, should be respected and allowed to make decisions regarding their own lifestyle and health
.
What does yellow symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The wallpaper symbolizes the mental block mean attempted to place on women during the 1800s. The color yellow is often associated with
sickness or weakness
, and the narrator's mysterious illness is an example of the male oppression on the narrator. … It symbolizes women being out of the public eye in the time period.
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 dominant theme of The Yellow Wallpaper?
The main themes in “The Yellow Wallpaper” are the
oppressive nature of gender roles, appearance versus reality, and the need for self-expression
.
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 …
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.
What does the ending of the story suggest about the woman behind the wallpaper?
The ending of “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that the woman behind
the wallpaper is a manifestation of the protagonist's imagination and that the protagonist herself is the woman who has been trapped
.
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.
Does The Yellow Wallpaper have a happy ending?
The ending of “
The Yellow Wallpaper” doesn't have a happy ending
because the author never mentions if the narrator gets her sanity back eventually and she also doesn't mention other important details that would show that she gets liberated.
What is the conflict of The Yellow Wallpaper?
major conflictThe
struggle between the narrator and her husband, who is also her doctor, over the nature and treatment of her illness
leads to a conflict within the narrator's mind between her growing understanding of her own powerlessness and her desire to repress this awareness.
What words are repeated in The Yellow Wallpaper?
The repetition of the phrase “
What is one to do?
” helps characterize the narrator as confused, helpless, and even oppressed by her husband. By continuously repeating this phrase, the narrator establishes herself as weak and unable to stand up to her husband's seemingly unfair and negligent treatment.
What does the woman represent in The Yellow Wallpaper?
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.
What happened at the end of The Yellow Wallpaper?
At the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator breaks with reality,
realizing that she is the trapped woman she believes she has seen in the wallpaper in her room
. When her husband enters the room, he is so shocked by the transformation in her appearance that he faints.
What does the husband represent in The Yellow Wallpaper?
John Is a Doctor
The narrator's careful not to contradict John openly. Her husband ”is
a physician of high standing
,” as is her brother. The narrator knows that the friends and family her husband and brother speak to will listen to them, not her, because they're both men and respected doctors.
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.
