The narrator’s insanity is caused by her husband, the treatment prescribed for her, and her obsession with the yellow wallpaper. One cause of the narrator’s insanity is the relationship between her and her husband. The narrator’s relationship with her husband is one of a father to daughter relationship. The narrator state, “John laughed at me but of course, one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 746). She is forced to live as a young child would live.
He also puts her under the intense scrutiny. While under this confinement, she begins to go mad. She believes the wallpaper is monitoring her, and she eventually sees herself as a prisoner inside it. Her fear towards her oppressive husband is clearly demonstrated when she says, “There comes John, and I must put this away- he hates to have me write a word” (Gillman
She reflects her feelings of imprisonment by her husband, onto how she interprets the wallpaper. While she continues to find meaning in it, she becomes more and more insane. Eventually, Jane starts to feel as if the wallpaper is watching her. While she starts to decode it, she discovers a woman trapped in the bars of the pattern. The woman stuck in the wallpaper does circles and is sometimes able to crawl out through the window.
One major theme, however, that was repeated over and over again in The Yellow Wallpaper, along with the absurd “rest cure,” was the inferiority the female sex had back in older times. This short illustrates this lack of respect for females in multiple ways. First off, the narrator’s name was never clearly stated to the reader while the husband’s name was repeated over and over again to be John in the story. She is nearly anonymous; her identity is John's wife. When I was reading the story, at first, I did not think anything of it but the more I read, the more it illustrated that the
As a result of her husbands control, the woman develops and obsessive attachment to the wallpaper which masks the walls of her bedroom. Gilman composed the short story to make determined statements about feminism and individuality to oppose the male authority that ruled over her during her lifetime. Gilman does this by describing the narrators decent into madness, which is caused by many factors, all being linked to her husband. It’s immediately apparent in “The Yellow Wallpaper” that the woman allows herself to be inferior to men, in particular her husband, John. This ultimately leaves the reader with many questions about 19th century male-female relationships and perhaps insanity.
What was an eight year old supposed to do, I’d rather play with my Bratz dolls than clean my bedroom. That’s when it hit me: I needed to change. Its hard to believe that was only eight years ago. Being neat and organized has changed my life in many ways. Having my mom see my bedroom a complete mess made me feel terrible about myself.
Quote | Response | Peer Response | “Goodwives,” said a hard-featured dame of fifty, “I’ll tell ye a piece of my mind. It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church-members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips?” | This quote is showing that during puritan times it was very much frowned upon to have a child with someone whom was not your husband. This quote also shows that Hester is very much revered and hated. This may foreshadow the hatred the town will have against her.
“The women in Tennyson’s poems are presented as victims of a male world” How far do you agree? Make reference to at least two poems that you have studied. In both Mariana and Locksley Hall are presented as victims. Tennyson presents Marina as a woman who is mentally unstable due to being isolated from the rest of the world. Whereas in Locksley Hall Amy is presented as a woman who is being constantly controlled by men at first her father and then her husband who she doesn’t love.
“A streak that runs round the room…as if it had been rubbed over and over.”(p.11). The mark is most likely from herself getting on her knees, and crawling around the room, and this might also be why she thinks she has the smell of the wallpaper in her hair. Close to the end of the story she is obsessed by the wallpaper,”…I have seen her! … it is the same woman, I know for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.”(p.12) The fact that
A reader might analyze this action to be symbolic of this character trying to regain any sanity she had left. John returned home and broke the bedroom door down. When John entered the room, he discovered the disheveled room and spotted his wife crawling on the floor. She looked him in his eyes and said, “I’ve got out at last…you can’t put me back”. John fainted.