The Yellow Wallpaper - Essay Example

 The Yellow Wallpaper In describing her purported recuperation from illness, the protagonist of “The Yellow Wallpaper” appears to be describing a slow descent into insanity instead. The obsession of the writer with the wallpaper is however an underlying symbol describing the feelings of being trapped within the unrelenting constraints of an ever monotonous domesticity. The beginning of the story itself contains subtle hints about the underlying resentment that the protagonist feels against her husband and the unquestioning obedience she is supposed to accord to him. “I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes….” She describes how much she hates the room she has been placed in and how she wants another one instead, “but John would not hear of it” and “so I take pains to control myself – before him at least and that makes me very tired.”(Gilman) The protagonist’s need to express herself is strong and there is a strong indication that her need to express herself is against the subtle pressure exerted by her husband – “I know John would think it absurd – But I MUST say what I feel and think in some way – it is such a relief!” The wallpaper begins to symbolize for her, the feeling of being trapped behind its ugly and grotesque patterns. She sees another woman and then several more women hiding behind the hideous pattern of the wall paper, which is strong and permeates everything around – its smell and its color smear everything. The fact that all the figures the protagonist sees hiding behind the wallpaper are all women further suggests that she is expressing her hatred for male hegemony and authority and views other women as being trapped in a similar manner. She becomes engaged in a quest to set those nebulous figures behind the wall paper free by tearing out the noxious paper. She wants to set herself and those women free. Towards the end of the story, when she ripped the wallpaper off, she tells her husband triumphantly, “I’ve got out at last….in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t pull me back!” Her husband then faints and as she crawls around the room, she creeps over him every time, symbolizing her victory over her husband and the male authority he represents. The protagonist in this story is expressing her rebellious inner mental state, because she is suffering from depression related to unrelenting domesticity. Gilman has expressed the trap this life represents by stating that “her thoughts, her acts, her whole life would be centered on husband and children. To do the work she needed to do, she must be free.” (Lane 85). The protagonist in “The Yellow wallpaper” also seeks to write and to express herself, however existing conditions of society do not allow her this luxury, since she is circumscribed into the role of devoted wife. She does not even have a say in the choice of room and is forced to remain in the room with the hideous wallpaper, although she prefers another room below. In explaining the events that transpire in the story therefore and the protagonist’s slow descent into insanity, the causal factor of the events is the existing norms of society that expect women to remain trapped in the confines of the homes and make it unacceptable for them to com-plain about it or seek a different set of circumstances. The protagonist’s choices are so severely restricted that she is not even adjudged to be the best judge of how she feels or to exercise her desire for creative activity of some kind. Her husband represents a supreme authoritarian force despite his apparent outer kindness, because not only is he male, but is also a doctor who purportedly knows best what is good for her and can make the choices for her, thereby trapping her into unquestioning, ceaseless obedience to male superiority and authority. The character of the husband as a doctor therefore reinforces the authoritarian role of the male in female life and the protagonist crawling over him in the end represents her ultimate victory over him. Through seeking escape into lunacy, she has finally been able to find the freedom that society denied her. The setting of the yellow wallpaper, which forms the crux of the events in the story is well chosen, because in finally ripping it off, the protagonist appears to be demonstrating her ripping away the invisible mental and emotional constraints and restrictions that are constantly placed upon her through being forced to subscribe to the role of passive domesticity that is expected of her. The fact that she feels that she is well and that activity would benefit her, but is forced to adopt a life of inactivity due to pressure from her husband is a factor she resists fiercely within her mind. This is why she seeks the solace of “dead paper” to express her views, because she knows that no one in the living world will make allowance for her freedom or respite from the role she must adhere to. This story is therefore a telling example of the extreme frustration and helplessness experienced by many women in the Victorian era, where their lives were so strictly circumscribed and dictated according to male norms. It is the story of one woman who was forced to seek escape from the mental and emotional agony of such a trapped life in the realms of insanity, because existing society did not allow her any other respite. References: * Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” [online] available at: http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Charlotte_Perkins_Gilman/The_Yellow_Wallpaper/The_Yellow_Wallpaper_p1.html * Lane, Ann J, 1990. “To Herland and Beyond: The life and work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” New York: Penguin Read More