What Does The Yellow Wallpaper Symbolize

Significance of Symbolism in the Yellow Wallpaper
Throughout the story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman explores the idea of a woman struggling to discover freedom and strength to express herself while being isolated and restricted by an overruling power. The gothic tail was first published in 1892, during an era when women were oppressed and seen as inferior to men. During this time, women lacked the opportunity to have roles greater than mothers and homemakers, resulting in many hardships. The narrator receives a prescribed cure of ‘home rest’ to overcome her sickness by a high standing doctor, her husband. John Bak, who studies literature, states in his article that “John prescribed what many nineteenth-century physicians
During this time in society, women had very fixed domestic roles that were overseen by powerful men such as taking care of the children, cooking, and cleaning. John, her husband, has complete control over her life, and never takes her thoughts or beliefs serious: “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage” (Gilman 32). Gilman aimed to provide her readers with a critique on the conventional roles of women, and their constant desire to conquer them. Gilman focused on bringing awareness to her readers about the dangers and consequences that can arise in a society with specific gender roles that strictly controlled women. Gilman’s voice in the feminist movement also influenced her to write Women and Economics, which introduces a strong argument for women's economic
Many women who lacked freedom and rights often found something to exercise their mind in the house such as knitting, sewing, or crafting. But since this narrator was very much restricted and prohibited from everything, her only option was becoming determined to find a conclusion on how the pattern is organized among the wallpaper, so all of her time consisted of tracing the pattern. The longer she examines and studies this paper, she notices a woman constantly watching her within the pattern. “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out” (Gilman 34-35): this represents a sense of imprisonment both of them are undergoing. She came to a conclusion that the only way to free herself from this imprisonment was to strip the wallpaper down to bits, convincing herself she has obtained freedom. John comes into the room to unexpectedly find shreds of the wallpaper, causing him to faint. Her solitary confinement, the inability to communicate with others, and having no other source of creativity, eventually drives her to the brink of madness. This point of madness can exemplify the struggle women faced constantly, just to be recognized and considered in