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The Yellow Wallpaper

Matt and Alana

Plot
Beginning to obsess over the wallpaper
Noticing that the pattern doesnt fit with her principles of alteration, or repetition.

She feels as if the wallpaper has some kind of conclusion that directly links to her and she must find out what it is.
She complains that her husband, John, belittles her illness and her thoughts and concerns in general. She begins to talk about the creeping and the woman behind the wallpaper who creeps around.

Presentation of Gender
The defined roles of husband and wife is very clear in this passage. Johns authority over the narrator plays a key part in this passage as we see him controlling her diet, her activities, possible visitations from friends and family etc. Although there is a lack of understanding between the husband and wife, we see that there is still affection between them. John acts out of his interest and care for his darling wife. John, rather than helping her, continues to make the situation worse through his lack of understanding of his wife. The narrator seemed to have identified this and hopes to be better before she is sent away to someone who is just like John and my brother, only more so!

Themes
Subordination of women in marriage: The relationship between John and the narrator clearly implies subordination of women in marriage. As stated before, John controls the narrator s life and surroundings as she is put on this rest cure aimed to help her. The narrator accepts the inaccurate diagnosis and treatment as surely her physician husband of high standing knows best although she doubts his judgment at numerous cases. As society has already accepted the mans thoughts and decision to be superior, the narrator has no choice but to also accept this and and believe that all she has is a nervous depression.
The Evils of the Resting Cure: It is clear in this passage that the narrator s condition is worsening as she becomes increasingly emotional and thus unstable. The resting cure, the writing ban, the imprisonment and lack of company all contribute to her increased depression. As she is confined to her room and herself as the only company, she is once again forced to find distractions in the yellow wallpaper and thus begins to uncover the details of the pattern.

Imagery and Symbolism


This story is written as the narrator writing to herself. Gilman uses this technique to show the narrators descent into madness from both the inside and the outside. The Yellow Wallpaper is driven by the narrators sense that the wallpaper is a text she must interpret, that it symbolizes something that affects her directly. The wallpaper develops its symbolism throughout the story. At first it seems merely unpleasant: it is ripped, soiled, and an unclean yellow. At this point in the story, after staring at the paper for hours, she sees a ghostly sub-pattern behind the main pattern which eventually comes into focus as a desperate woman, constantly crawling and stooping, looking for an escape from behind the main pattern, which, to the narrator, resembles the bars of a cage. The bed is big, heavy, and chained down to the floor, this could be reflecting her entrapment in the house and that her husband is keeping her inside restricting her in what she can do in day-to-day life. The wallpaper may be a glossy texture which is why she sees a woman, she may see distorted reflections of herself within the wallpaper.

Thoughts and feelings of the character/narrator


We know now that the narrator feels resent against her husbands treatment and continues to feel unsettled even as she recovers physically. The story suggests the narrator is living in claustrophobic conditions that make her condition worse for example the bed is nailed down, underlining how trapped she is. Shes not allowed to do anything that might upset her in other words, that might give her release for her emotions: shes not allowed to write, shes not allowed to work, and shes not allowed to travel making her feel trapped. Despite her condition and watching the wallpaper making her feel tired she is still determined to find out what the conclusion may be, she continues to stare at the pattern discovering new subpatterns and eventually seeing the woman shows her determination and strong minded personality, which may be due to her mental condition.

Language and Technique


Erratic sentence and paragraph structures are used to express the thoughts and feelings of the narrator. It clearly represents the thinking process and the mentality of the narrator.
As it is similar to a journal, the passages are purely the thoughts and feelings of the narrator and this is shown in the emotive and expressive language used.

Eg- As the writer tries to deny her growing insight on the pattern, we see the self-doubt and debate she has within herself clearly as she goes from being proud of knowing the secret of the pattern to wishing John would take me away from here

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