Term Paper on "Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Masterpiece"

Term Paper 12 pages (3992 words) Sources: 8 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's masterpiece the Yellow Wallpaper is a semi-autobiographical work and it "... is based on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's own experiences with postpartum depression" (Lawall). The story, in terms of the way that it addresses the issue of gender roles, was radical and advanced for its time and the significance of the novella was not fully recognized when it was published in 1892. However, "Twentieth-century feminism rescued the novella from obscurity, and there have been a number of stage adaptations of it, dramatizing the complex struggle in one woman's mind." (Thompson)

In essence the work is essentiality a study of madness. The central theme that flows through this story is the development of a state of psychos and apparent insanity in the central character. However the full meaning of the novella lies in the reasons and the causes for this change and apparent deterioration in the character of the women as she develops towards a state of total psychosis. In a real sense this story is about individual growth and development that is denied and retarded due to certain social and psychological factors.

From a social and gender perspective there is little doubt that many commentators view the Yellow Wallpaper as an expression of gender oppression and the need for personal equality in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. Mental illness is interpreted in this story as the result of oppression and the denial of individual expression. The illness and the slide into apparent madness that the central character undergoes in this story is seen from one theoretical perspective as a form of resistance to conventional gender roles and male oppression in a patriarchal environment. There are many commentators who consider the decline into insanity in the Yellow Wallpaper not as a story of failure and subjugation but rather as a tale that symbolizes resistance.

There have been, however, other voices who speak of illness not as the result of oppression but as the resistance to it....Paula Treichler argues that the heroine's madness at the end of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the beginning of a language of resistance. These analysts see illness not as a fulfillment of sexist stereotypes but as a way to resist them.

Herndl 6)

In other words the "illness" that the central character of the story experiences is seen not as a sign as a sickness or weakness in the conventional sense but rather as a sign of a natural resistance to social as well as psychological oppression. This point-of-view therefore turns the conventional understanding of mental illness around and sees the "madness "of the woman in the room with the yellow wallpaper as a the symptom of the struggle for psychological freedom and independence. From this perspective the true madness therefore lies in the outer word and social norms that repress and deny women their human freedom of expression and identity. This paper will therefore argue, through an analysis of the story, that the psychological and sociological dimensions are closely linked and in fact complement one another in a comprehensive understanding of the central themes of the Yellow Wallpaper.

2. Summary and overview

In this story we encounter and explore, via the narrator, the inner thoughts and feelings of the main character. She is a woman who is apparently ill and is suffering, seemingly, from a form of postpartum depression. In the story her husband rents a large rambling country house and is insistent that she do absolutely nothing but rest to restore her physical and mental health. She is also not allowed to see her children. The crux of the underlying thematic trend lies in the fact that the women's husband does not take her depression seriously; he is also obviously not interested in investigating the complex causes of her state of mind. It is this disinterestedness and failure to perceive the women as an independent human being which is the reality that is active beneath the mask of compassion that the husband presents; and that provides a central thematic impetus to the story. While he treats her in an ostensibly kind way, there is a great degree of condescension in his treatment of his wife. He tends to treat and see her more as a child than a mature adult.

Her situation is further exacerbated and worsened by the fact that her children are kept from, further denying her any sense of individuality and purpose. She has no means to develop or express her sense of personal identity and individuality - except for her writing and imagination. Finally, she has no access to any other means than her fantasies and the forms and arabesques of the wallpaper. A central facet that becomes more evident as the story develops is that we begin to realize that the true madness and horror is that the women has been denied any sense of self or any inner core of identity.

Within this virtual prison the woman begins to see images and animations in the wallpaper of the room where she resides. The wallpaper therefore becomes the central metaphor that dominates the psychological as well as the social themes of the story. The wallpaper is also a metaphor for her entrapment and psychological imprisonment. This is a device which is also related to the slow deterioration of her sanity.

The images in the wallpaper significantly become transformed into images of trapped women. This is turn becomes a metaphor for the larger implied themes of the story; such as the subjugation and entrapment of women in a male dominated world. The main character moves gradually into a state of psychosis. Psychosis is often defined as a break or a dislocation of the individual from conventional social and psychological reality. She is fact becomes one of the trapped and "creeping" woman in the yellow wallpaper. Finally the woman loses her sense of reality completely in a climax which suggests a horror story.

3. Discussion

This story has many levels of possible interpretation. On one level it can be interpreted simply as a story that would be more appropriately classified within the horror genre. On a more complex level it is a telling commentary and critique of society from both a psychological as well as sociological perspective. In terms of the latter analysis it becomes obvious that the story combines both horror and social critique. In fact one could say that a sense of horror that the story projects is closely related to the criticism of society. In essence this story is about early Twentieth century gender mores and norms and the way that these prejudices perceptions and biases can create intense suffering.

One of the first aspects that becomes evident from a reading of the text is the way that the woman in treated by her husband. While appearing to act out of a sense of consideration for her health and state of mind, he in fact erodes and reduces her individuality and autonomy. He is shown to be a domineering, overpowering and pervasive influence in her life. In essence the husband is a representative of the world of male patriarchal domination. This can be seen by the emphasis on reason and logic at the expense of imagination and feeling that he shows. For example, this "typical" or rather stereotypical male trait is evidenced in what the narrator states about her husband's reaction to her depression, "He knows there is no REASON to suffer, and that satisfies him." (the Yellow Wallpaper) This implies that his reason overrides any consideration of her personal feelings and thoughts.

It is also significant that the Yellow Wallpaper is written in first-person narrative, and in the form of a journal. Despite this personalization the name of the woman is not given. She is nameless and this corresponds to her lack of identity and individuality.

A she neither mentions her own name nor records anyone calling her by name -- she seems not to experience herself as a subject but as a wife, her child's mother, a "sick" woman, or as "a woman" in the "hereditary estate" of all women, which, under patriarchy, makes women sick

Herndl 129).

In other words, this view of the story seems to suggest that the woman, within the perceptions of a male dominated society, is seen as someone who has no identity except that which is provided by that society.

It becomes apparent that the way that the husband treats the women is directed, albeit probably unconsciously, at breaking down her sense of self and reaches a stage when she is not even allowed to express her views in writing without his consent. Another issue that should be borne in mind in this analysis is that in the story it is also implied that the husband is to a great extent trapped by the gender and social norms prescribed by the society. This would suggest a broader interpretation of the text where both sexes are trapped and isolated from each other by… READ MORE

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