Charlotte's husband John was a stereotypical man for this era. He believed that women were to be wives and mothers and nothing more. John diagnosed Charlotte with a "temporary nervous depression" and felt it would be in her best interest to take her to the country and isolate her from the excitement and change of her everyday life. The country mansion symbolized to Charlotte that it was not her own and it would never provide the security she craved and needed. In fact when Charlotte first saw the house she claimed "I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it." To Charlotte's mind, the country mansion could never become

The turning point for Charlotte was when her husband left for a business trip and she was again left alone. She saw this as her opportunity to transform her life by embracing her illness and taking charge to overcome her depression. Charlotte began to tear down the wallpaper as a symbol of her freeing herself of restrictions. Once the wallpaper was completely off the walls, she felt a new sense of accomplishment. She found her inner strength. She believed that John would be very proud of her. She "wanted to astonish him" with the fact that the wallpaper was not gone and she was beginning her recovery. John's reaction was with great surprise and he fainted at the sight of his wife creeping around the un-wallpapered room. Charlotte explained "I've got out at last" (p718), and she crawled over John's body as a symbol that he would never stand in her way again of a healthy life. She says "In spite of you...I've pulled off most of the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Perkins Gilman, , country mansion, yellow wallpaper,
Approximate Word count = 633
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)