The Yellow Wallpaper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s gothic tale of “The Yellow Wallpaper” took nearly a century to finally find an understanding audience. Initially, readers at the time were struck by its grisly tale of a story; however it was not until years later that the story was recognized for its thematic societal undertones hinted with feminist connotations underneath its façade. Written in first person, the reader gets to witness first-hand through the eyes of the narrator in her path to insanity, rather than from a described third person perspective retelling her actions. And so, the reader gets to see her experience her struggles, hardships, and daily encounters first-hand throughout her stay at a vacation house (which was used a place of treatment and rest)
Gilman does so in order to mock the standards of society through representation of a woman and her physician husband. By having the narrator unnamed, Gilman uses her to speak for women who were mentally unstable, such as herself, and to represent the subordinate status and confinement of women in the nineteenth century as seen when the narrator states that “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious” (546). Here, John is free to roam and go out while the narrator must stay confined to the house, illustrating her restricted freedom. Also, John’s behavior towards his wife is that of an adult to a child, calling her as his “little girl” (550). This behavior is also showcased when the narrator tried to “talk with John about [her] case” hoping to convince him that his treatment isn’t working and that she “wished he would take [her] away [from the house]” (550). In response, John does not take her seriously, overriding her judgment and refuses to take her input into consideration, replying to her: “…you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know” (550). John’s ignorance, manner, and dismissal of his wife’s opinions stem from society’s depiction of misogynist views and follows patriarchal ways. The narrator’s self-suppression continues
In the words of Jeannette King and Pam Morris, “[the narrator] constantly retreats to within the prescribed limits, countering any assertion of her own viewpoint with ‘But John says….” (King and Morris 27). Now that John takes on an influence in his wife’s own mind, she cannot truly fully think for herself. With a deteriorating mind that is lacking much innovation and complex thinking, the narrator starts to intensely dwell and become fascinated with the yellow wallpaper in her