An Analysis Of Literary Elements In The Yellow Wall Paper.
Introduction.
First published in 1982, The yellow wallpaper is an engaging narrative , written in first person in which the narrator suffers from some type of nervous disorder . Her husband who prefers to refer to her condition as a temporary nervous depression or a slight hysterical tendency recommends that the narrator seeks solitude so as to recuperate . The short story mimics the form of secret and private entries on journals by the author. The haunting short story chronicles that descent of the narrator and protagonist into maddened and paranormal activities. Some people however interpret it as her chronicles to freedom .The author effectively employs the use of literary
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The author shows how much the character needs freedom that the husband prevents her from getting it. This creates the complication and the plot of the story. She goes ahead to enhance it using strong characters and a vivid setting ( the house containing the yellow wall paper) which helps in maintaining the attention of the readers and also attracting more readers. In developing the plot, the author sends a significant amount of time on details and remains focused on it by ensuring that each entry in the journal made by the narrator has a meaning and adds to the overall progress of the story.
Conclusion.
Charlotte Perkis in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper makes use of different literary elements including characters, plot and themes to tell a tale of a woman that is not only suffering from a mental disorder but is trapped in her marriage to a doctor named John . The story written in the format of a journal and using the first person narrative addresses the themes of the oppression of women ,male dominance in patriarchal societies and freedom as the narrator liberates herself in the end. The three literary elements enhance the development of the story and maintain the attention of the
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can by read in many different ways. Some think of it as a tragic horror story while others may find it to be a tale of a woman trying to find her identity in a male-dominated society. The story is based on an episode in Gilman's life when she suffered from a nervous disease called melancholia. A male specialist advised her to "live a domestic a life as far as possible.. and never to touch a pen, brush or pencil..." (Gilman, 669). She lived by these guidelines for three months until she came close to suffering from a nervous breakdown. Gilman then decided to continue writing, despite the physicians advice, and overcame her illness.
In literature, women are often depicted as weak, compliant, and inferior to men. The nineteenth century was a time period where women were repressed and controlled by their husband and other male figures. Charlotte Gilman, wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper," showing her disagreement with the limitations that society placed on women during the nineteenth century. According to Edsitement, the story is based on an event in Gilman’s life. Gilman suffered from depression, and she went to see a physician name, Silas Weir Mitchell. He prescribed the rest cure, which then drove her into insanity. She then rebelled against his advice, and moved to California to continue writing. She then wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is inflated version of her
‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is centred in the writer’s narration, by setting the narrator to be not entirely reliable and an oppressed woman. The character are showed to be feeling trapped and unhappy with
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper” we are introduced to a woman who enjoys writing. Gilman does not give the reader the name of the women who narrates the story through her stream of consciousness. She shares that she has a nervous depression condition. John, the narrator’s husband feels it is “a slight hysterical tendency” (266). She has been treated for some nervous habits that she feels are legitimately causing harm to her way of life. However she feels her husband, a physician, and her doctor believe that she is embellishing her condition. The woman shares with the reader early in the story that she is defensive of how others around her perceive her emotional state. This causes a small abrasion of animosity that
In the “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, there are many of literary techniques that illustrates the theme to express the story. Irony, imagery and symbolism are some literary devices that is presented among the story. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story about a woman who has a mental illness but cannot heal due to her husband’s lack of acceptance and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The story appears to take place during a time where women were oppressed. Women were treated as if they were under one’s thumb in society during this period which is approximately the 19th century.
The yellow wallpaper is a symbol of oppression in a woman who felt her duties were limited as a wife and mother. The wallpaper shows a sign of female imprisonment. Since the wallpaper is always near her, the narrator begins to analyze the reasoning behind it. Over time, she begins to realize someone is behind the
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is about a creative woman whose talents are suppressed by her dominant husband. His efforts to oppress her in order to keep her within society's norms of what a wife is supposed to act like, only lead to her mental destruction. He is more concerned with societal norms than the mental health of his wife. In trying to become independent and overcome her own suppressed thoughts, and her husbands false diagnosis of her; she loses her sanity. One way the story illustrates his dominance is by the way he, a well-know and
The Yellow Wallpaper is a story which shows the anatomy of an oppressive marriage. Simply because the narrator does not cherish the joys of married life and motherhood, and therefore, is in
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1890 and eventually published in 1892 in the New England Magazine and in William Dean Howells' collection, Great Modern American Stories (Shumaker 94). The story was original not only because of its subject matter, but also because it is written in the form of a loosely connected journal. It follows the narrator's private thoughts which become increasingly more confusing. The structure consists of disjointed sentences as the narrator gradually descends more and more into her madness as her only escape from an oppressive husband and society.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" takes a close look at one woman's mental deterioration. The narrator is emotionally isolated from her husband. Due to the lack of interaction with other people the woman befriends the reader by secretively communicating her story in a diary format. Her attitude towards the wallpaper is openly hostile at the beginning, but ends with an intimate and liberating connection. During the gradual change in the relationship between the narrator and the wallpaper, the yellow paper becomes a mirror, reflecting the process the woman is going through in her room.
An enjoyable story has an appealing protagonist that a reader empathizes with, which entices the continuation of the narrative; it is difficult to stop reading when there is a connection with them. A conflict that is prevalent in society during the time frame of the writing is also fundamental. It is through conflict that the main character either grows or perishes; there would be no excitement nor development without a struggle. The narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is intriguing. The author draws the audience into her obsession, hoping that there is a turn of events, not wanting the individual to reach her own demise. Isolation and “rest” cause her personality to become more delusional as the tragedy progresses. The fascination begins with
The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” which is a story of a wife and husband who have moved out of their home to a huge estate in the countryside for which they can spend the summer. The husband made the decision to do so for the sake of his wife who suffers from depression and he believed it would benefit her greatly and maybe eventually relieve her from her depression. The story is written from the thoughts, perspective, and personal experiences of the wife and kept in a secret journal that she must hide from her husband. Throughout her journal she has one main thing that she constantly writes about and thinks about and that is the yellow wallpaper in her room. At first it is just a mystery and she just thinks that it is ugly and should
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” there are two different types of setting for the story. For example, outside of the house it is sunny, bright, and beautiful, but on the inside of the house, the feeling is creepy, dreary, and sad. In this story John has his wife in a room where she has to stay most of the day. She
The "Yellow Wall Paper "by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a chilling study and experiment of mental disorder in nineteenth century. This is a story of a miserable wife, a young woman in anguish, stress surrounding her in the walls of her bedroom and under the control of her husband doctor, who had given her the treatment of isolation and rest. This short story vividly reflects both a woman in torment and oppression as well as a woman struggling for self expression. The setting of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the driving force in the story because it is the main factor that caused the narrator to go insane.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" tells the story of a woman living in the nineteenth century who suffers from postpartum depression. The true meaning implicit in Charlotte's story goes beyond a simple psychological speculation. The story consists of a series of cleverly constructed short paragraphs, in which the author illustrates, through the unnamed protagonist's experiences, the possible outcome of women's acceptance of men's supposed intellectual superiority. The rigid social norms of the nineteenth century, characterized by oppression and discrimination against women, are supposedly among the causes of the protagonist's depression. However, it is her husband's tyrannical attitude what ultimately