The Yellow Wallpaper

Reading “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Gilman, was very much enjoyable for me yet tense and scary. I felt sorry for the woman who was suffering from her mental sickness, while at the same time getting annoyed that she could not look past the haunting yellow wallpaper. Gilman’s character directly relates to things she was struggling with at the time she was writing this short story. She obsesses over the patters, tears, and movements of the wallpaper. She analyzes it to the point where it drives her so crazy that she cannot sleep. I believe Gilman was writing about her personal life through symbolism within the wallpaper. “The woman in the wallpaper” was symbolic of herself. She was also trapped by her unhealthy relationship and felt confined by the walls of the house. She felt the urge to break free from the house and the woman in the wallpaper needed to break free from the wall. The bolts on the bed and the bars on the windows physically kept her from getting out but they represent her being bound to her husband who talks and treats her as if she is a child. The way he treats her represents how society views relationships. The man as the dominant and the woman becomes dehumanized each time he calls her “little girl.” When she is compared to a child, it is a parallel to her innocence. I find this ironic because she is far from innocent. She lies about getting better and eating her food and what all she did during the day.