The Independence of Women, The Yellow Wallpaper

A detailed Summary of The Independence of Women, The Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper," written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story of a woman, her psychological difficulties, and her husband's so called therapeutic treatment of her ailments during the late 1800s. The story begins with a young woman and her husband traveling to the country for the summer to help heal the young woman's psychological condition. Upon reading thins intense description of an almost prison like prescription for overcoming "temporary nervous depression," the reader is permeated with the idea that men are the wardens in the lives of women. Gilman shows throughout the story just how easily and effectively the man seemingly wields his dominance to control his wife. Many symbols throughout the story portray the central theme of "The Yellow Wallpaper." The woman trapped inside the wallpaper, the yellow wallpaper, and the final passage of the story all serve as symbols to the central theme of male dominance and the societal oppression of women during this time period.

The narrator sets up the story to convey a certain opinion on the repercussions that a woman faces in the care of a man. The wife loves her husband, but she has an underlying feeling that maybe his prescription of

The narrator continues to pursue this obsessive project of freeing the woman from the wallpaper. The narrator wants the woman to be free of the paper. The woman in the paper represents the sanity of the narrator, while the paper symbolizes her oppression. The narrator wants to tear all the paper off and free the woman just as she wishes to break from her oppressed state and be set free. With less control from her husband, the narrator's "yellow wallpaper" will be torn off and she would be free. She would be stripped of both her oppression and sickness just as the woman in the wallpaper would be stripped of her limits. The wallpaper and the woman in the wallpaper symbolize the oppression of the woman and her desire for freedom.

total bed rest is not working for her. The story mentions that she has an older brother who is also a physician and concurs with her husband's theory, thus leaving her no choice but to subject herself to the torment of being alone in the room with the yellow wallpaper.

Lastly, the final passage of the story successfully manifests a display of power and the possible regain of self-governance for the young woman. The narrator stands up to her husband by locking him out of the room in which he has imprisoned her. For the first time in the story, the husband must listen to her entreaties to discover where the key is hidden

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Approximate Word count = 919
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English