Yellow Wallpaper

A detailed Summary of Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper presents the tragic story of a woman's descent into madness and depression as a result of being oppressed by her husband.

In the story, the narrator and her husband rent a colonial mansion for the summer to provide a place where she can recover from severe postpartum depression. The narrator's declining mental health is in part reflected by the oppression of her husband, as well as by the characteristics of the house in which she is trapped.

The dominance of her husband, and her reaction to it, is reflected throughout the story. The narrator continues to submissively bow to her husband's wishes, even though she is unhappy and depressed. Her husband has adopted the idea that she must have complete rest if she is to recover. "So I...am absolutely forbidden to 'work' until I am well again" (Gilman, 247). Her husband does not even want her to write. "There comes John, and I must put this away - he hates to have me write a word" (Gilman, 248).

The room her husband chooses for them to stay in is the nursery, which the narrator hates. The narrator describes the nursery as atrocious and having barred windows. The narrator's response to her husband's choice is a further e

As the narrator looks out the window, she can see the beautiful garden. Just as the room is used as a metaphor for her mental illness, the garden is used as a metaphor for the mental health she craves. The more time she spends in the room, the more obsessed with the wallpaper she becomes. To her, the wallpaper begins to take on human characteristics. "There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down"(Gilman, 250).

Though the narrator feels that writing and socializing would help her recover more quickly, she still allows the male figures in her life to dictate her treatment. "I sometimes fancy that in my condition, if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus - but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad" (Gilman, 247).

Although she is virtually a prisoner in her room, she attempts to justify John's treatment of her. "He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction. I have a schedule...I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more" (Gilman, 248.)

John's reference to his wife's mental illness as a "temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency" (Gilman, 247) further demonstrates his dominance over his wife. He do

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Approximate Word count = 907
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Yellow Wallpaper

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