Literary Analysis Essay on "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Introduction

"The Yellow Paper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an informative short story that reflects on various aspects of the society including patriarchy, psychosis, male domination and a general constriction of the women freedom. The story has both aspects of psychology and feminism as evident through the life of its author who championed for women rights. The story has an undertone of rebellious womenfolk who need a break from a retrogressive society that limited their potential and undermined their fundamental need to explore new things. The piece provides a subtle look at the psychological struggles of the female as well as track their consciousness. Charlotte's "The Yellow Paper" focuses on diverse aspects of literature that can be analyzed through psychological, gender and historical criticism.

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Psychological analysis of literature is an approach that looks at texts as expressions of some deep-seated ambitions, unconscious desires, and anxiety. In essence, through the characters, the author of a literary piece brings forth his or her neuroses. Through the eyes of a character, the unconscious happenings of the human mind manifest. The centrality of psychoanalysis is to understand some of the unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, ambivalence as well as guilds inherent in reading. Nonetheless, it is arguably the author's traumas, family life and other controversies that are always infused in a character so that the writer of a story talks about her emotions through the specific character.

"The Yellow Paper" epitomizes a psychological narrative that gives the story of a protagonist woman whose memory degenerates, but nobody seems to provide her the calm and appropriate attention required. The woman descends into psychosis, but the husband seems to be mundane to her requirements. Instead of offering her freedom to interact with the outside world and gain a reasonable amount of calm, he employs the old therapy called "rest cure" which only contribute to her further mental degeneration. The narrator increasingly becomes obsessed with the wallpaper in her room because her husband restricts her exposure to the outside world but maximizes her rest. Through the protagonist, it is evident that sometimes someone can be deluded as to be optimistic about things that eventually turn up to be adverse. The author demonstrates how the unconscious mind influences people to take various actions without necessarily thinking twice about them. In "The Yellow Paper" the unnamed woman develops a feeling that the house she is going to live in is a perfect one and quickly loves it but it later turns out to be a restricted place that disconnects her from the world. In fact, at the bringing, she refers to the house as a "The most beautiful place!" The deceptions of first impressions thus come out since the woman first embraced the house as a place that would offer a conducive environment for recovery from the difficult nervous condition. To further demonstrate the infectiveness of first impressions in making judgments, the author expresses that the house turns into a restriction that the husband uses to restrict her freedom so that her health improves. In fact, from the face value judgment, the woman believes that the house if only fit for the nobilities and she states that the place "...makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people" (105).

Though the woman is shown to have psychotic problems even from the start of the story, the author indicates that isolation and disconnection from the rest of the society have the potential to cause further deterioration of mental health. In fact, at some point, the woman even detests the loneliness she is subjected to resulting in her mental decline until she becomes mad. It is at this point that she begins to develop a changed perception of the house and is only left to "the yellow wallpaper to look at what she considers "repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight" (106). The callousness of John, the protagonist's husband in which she sees her mental situation as a weakness aggravates her illness. Therefore, the author shows the need for strong social support and family support among psychotic patients. Without such critical help, the problems aggravate and may result in severe conditions including madness.

In addition to the psychological analysis, gender criticism is another critical approach to understanding "the Yellow Wallpaper." Feminist gender criticism confronts some of the anti-female assertions by questioning their motives and effects. Gilman in her "The Yellow Wallpaper" not only juxtaposes discrimination of women but also combats such attitudes. The author challenges how right it is for the protagonist's husband to be so mundane in responding to her psychological challenge by just offering her rest and isolation in the bedroom. The author inadvertently paints the image of a strong man against a feeble and helpless woman. While Gilman reflects on some of the social forces that have undermined female progress, she confronts their unreasonableness in such a way that casts aspersions on the society as far as achieving gender equality is concerned.

Gilman demonstrates how gender is socially constructed in such a way that it disfavors particular sex and subjects them to unnecessary limitations. The film embodies a Victorian culture in which women were merely perceived as homemakers and reproduction (Lanser 419). Even as the story begins, the author clearly shows that the destitute woman who is the chief protagonist is inferior to her husband. No wonder when she becomes mentally ill, the husband, who is a representation of male patriarchy tells her to stop writing. According to him, the literacy of a woman is not worthwhile but somewhat unnecessary. Nonetheless, the woman conceives writing as a way of dispensing her feelings and emotions about the various issues she experiences. In the book, the woman shows the then woman frustrations to break away from the repression of men to do what she thinks pleases her. In the book, the protagonist says "I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do? " (160). In "The Yellow Paper", the author shows that being a woman implies being an object of all objectification, despite the fact that the women in the film has unique abilities she feels objectified, a fact which not only leads her to further emotional disintegration but also casts aspersions on the idiocy of a society that suppresses its own (Gilbert, and Susan 1630). In the story, the sad protagonist shows how being a woman may be burdensome and attracts unmerited suffering. She says "...I am already something other; in that, I feel myself becoming an object for the gaze of others. (Gilman 215). In essence, being a woman is shown as enduring an imminent struggle to maintain self-identify amidst pressing societal expectations that tend to contradict personal desires.

By posing the question, "But what is one to do? 160), the protagonist woman gives the reader an impression of the womenfolk's resignation to their predicaments. The women could not dare to defy the limitations imposed on them by society for fear of reprimand, ridicule or exclusion (Lanser 418). The women dissatisfaction is further shown when the protagonist feels low after bearing a child instead of being elated by the fact that she has finally attained motherhood. She has to depend on the people around her and the husband to define what was good for her. For instance, she feels that her confinement does not make her happy but then cannot challenge the wishes of her husband. In some instances, the woman even faults herself for clamoring for what her natural mind tells her to do. She better blames herself than accuse the husband of subjecting her to disguised normality. This acceptance of male domination is well shown when the woman says "I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already" (162). The room which the woman has nothing exciting and completely locks her from developing the real sense of self. When the woman gets interested in the wallpaper, it quickly turns into a real psychosis where her thoughts are made to reflect the state of mind. The book, therefore, shows how women are held in low esteem that they never have any sense of identity but rely on what the society thinks of them.

Historical Criticism is another literary analysis approach that is based on the understanding that various texts are framed on specific historical contexts in which they embody various cultures, traditions, values, and beliefs of that time (Law 45). Therefore, in making historical criticism, one appreciates the social, cultural and intellectual basis of a literary work. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a narrative that was written in the 19th century at a time when postpartum depression was unknown, and women reserved no rights at all. This is the context in which Gilman writers her story "The Yellow Wallpaper." At this time, rest therapy was widely accepted as a treatment for women who suffered from depression.

Similarly, the text is an embodiment of a Victorian society where men extended patriarchy and domination over women. "The Yellow Wallpaper" recaptures the status of women in the past when they had no rights (Pedriana 1719). The story reflects on a time when women did not have any control over their destinies whatsoever and were forced by society to subject themselves fully to the control of the men. "The Yellow Wallpaper" recasts on an era in which men did not perceive women as their complement but rather a possession which they would use to satisfy their needs such as getting children.

When John belittles his wife's (the protagonist) desire to read as a way of letting out her feelings, he is framed as an embodiment of a period in history when the literacy of women was not considered important. The society has embraced a misinformed view that a woman would eventually get married to a literate man who then takes care of all the family needs. When the author traces the reeling emotions of the protagonist, she, in essence, mirrors the depression, solitude, and hysteria that women had to contend with in a society that was hell-bent on suppressing their abilities. It shows how women had to sacrifice their desires, energy, and ambitions to meet the limited status that the then society had prescribed for them. The story is a reflection of the typical Victorian women who were deprived of the ability to control themselves (Wolter 199). The ripping of the paper in "The Yellow Paper" symbolically shows how the then women had to destroy their conceptions of themselves to take up a survival role through a constructed new self.

In its entirety, the reading reflects on the 1950s and 1960s America where women did not have to make any achievements of their own but rather gain wealth, home and happiness just through marriage (Pedriana 1718). The story is narrated from a woman's point of view of the then society. Through the protagonist, the author portrays the retrogressive Victorian society that that neglected the women. For instance, treatment of a woman's psychological sickness as well as allowing to express their psyche was fundamentally limited. The narrative aptly mirrors the 19th century when women were perceived as being psychologically frail. Their intellectual aspirations were neglected, mocked and smothered. Nonetheless, the author shows how the women at the time succumbed to the ignobility of male domination and suppression of women. For instance, the protagonist states "John laughs at me, b...