The yellow wallpaper | Teen Ink

The yellow wallpaper

November 9, 2011
By gymfreak1693 SILVER, Oak Lawn, Illinois
gymfreak1693 SILVER, Oak Lawn, Illinois
7 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
never give up never back down


Strength is what a women needs to get through her entire life. There are so many males out there that control Females, but only for one reason. That reason is because they think they all women are weak. A misogynistic male is a guy that not thinks he has control, but knows he has control over all women and that is a perfect example. A lot of women in this world let the male do that. They let them make every decision but there are those stronger women that don’t take anything from anyone and fight back as hard as they can. That is what the yellow Wallpaper is about, women who fights back and finds her true self. Using Feminist criticism, the reader can analyze Charlotte Perkins-Gilman’s the yellow Wallpaper through two of the main characters (John, and Jane), and the setting.

John is a Character in this story that is the misogynistic male. He is also the husband of Jane in this story. What he does in this story is totally wrong; he is the one who controls her every move and won’t let her make any choices by herself. For example, “He doesn’t believe me that I am sick.” (Gilman, 1892) John doesn’t believe anything she says or thinks. He always thinks she is exaggerating. He makes it seem like she is constantly looking for attention all the time. John is that husband that wants to protect her but in that process over protects her. Another Example is, “He hardly lets me stir without special direction.” (Gilman, 1892)That quote right there is from Jane’s point of view. She is basically saying that he won’t let her do what she wants. It always has to be under his super vision.

Jane is the women in this story that gets control through every aspect but regains strength at the very end to fight for her and show she has more strength then he thinks. It isn’t that way at first but once she

finds it that is what pushes her through the whole story all the way until the end. For example, “Of course, I would not be so silly as to make him uncomfortable just for a whim.” (Gilman, 1892) John treats Jane horribly in this story, and that quote is coming from a typical female that is getting controlled. She knows she gets treated horrible but she doesn’t want him to feel any misery. She would do anything and everything just to please him because all she wants is for there to be peace. Another example is, “I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did?” (Gilman, 1892) This quote is when she gained all the strength back and she basically won. She finally escaped and feels so proud of herself that she did and wonders if all the other like her did that such thing. If all women escaped and got enough power to fight back and win.

It’s all about the one room in that entire house in the Yellow wallpaper; the wall paper in that room suffocates it all. That room in this story made the story, it put together all of the pieces from the beginning to the end. “The color is repellent, almost revolting, a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow turning sunlight.” (Gilman, 1892) The wallpaper is boring and plain and much hated by her. Another example, “The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out.” (Gilman, 1892) The whole room is covered in this lose pattern until she figures out the figure is her! She realizes that from the beginning and told her husband but he never believed her. As she realized it was her she saw she was trapped and new she had to make a change.

In conclusion, Jane is the design in that wallpaper all along. She was trapped behind those bars she saw in the wall. The bars symbolized John and the lady behind those bars symbolized Jane. Jane took

everything john through at her without talking back at all until she fought back in the end. Feminist Criticism is showed highly in this story by the setting, John, and Jane herself. Never be controlled by a male. Just because he may be stronger doesn’t mean he can control every aspect of your life.


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