"The Yellow Wallpaper"

"The Yellow Wallpaper"

Introduction

"The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in January, 1892. It is a 6000 words essay. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an American writer. The essay was published in The New England Magazine. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is considered an important work of the early feminist literature of United States of America. The essay essentially illustrates the attitudes of the nineteenth century that they hold towards the mental and physical health of women. The following pages will provide an evaluation of "The Yellow Wallpaper". They will provide a literary analysis of the essay by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Quotes of people regarding the essay will also be included in the following pages.

Discussion

Literary Analysis

In "The Yellow Wallpaper", Charlotte Perkins Gilman has used statements about individuality and feminism. Gilman takes readers through the terrors that one woman faces. The terrors of the woman are related to her neurosis. The entire mental state of the woman is characterized by the encounters she has with the yellow colored wallpaper she has in her room. Most of the essay is centered on the eerie descriptions of the yellow colored wall paper and the inescapable interactions that the woman has with it. However, it is to be kept in mind that although the entire story revolves around the neurosis of a woman and her obsession, the objective of the essay is entirely a different one. There are many critics of the essay who say that this essay can drive someone crazy just by reading it. Gilman has tried to evoke and put forth the message of individual and feminine expressions. She has managed to record all of her messages using the theme of the wall paper.

Right from the beginning of the story, it is evident that the women allow her to be considered inferior to what men are. She unusually feels inferior to John, her husband. John is a physician who has special instructions for her. He wants to her to discontinue her writing, suppress her imaginations and stay in bed. Discontinuing her writing is the hardest thing for her because she feels solace when she writes. She felt better when she wrote, but she could not manage to say a word to her husband. She wrote, "Personally I disagree with their ideas," she further writes."Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what ...