Essay Example on Insanity is an enigmatic disorder that puzzles even Doctors

Subcategory:

Category:

Words:

450

Pages:

2

Views:

207
The story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells how the narrator falls into the pits of insanity Initially when she enters her new home she dislikes it The narrator's husband John stifles her voice and opinions Having nowhere to divert her imagination she focuses on the house and sees things where there are none In The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman the house yellow wallpaper and woman in the wall respectively represent the narrator's emotional state a jail and a prisoner they show how the overbearing actions of John drive the narrator to insanity The story takes place in an isolated house away from others The house is three miles away from the road with hedges and walls and gates that lock lots of separate little houses Gilman 649 and barred windows The narrator's emotions and own feelings are also locked up and separated John does not allow her to believe what she wants his thoughts are her thoughts The house is also away from the road so it is away from the people the society She cannot have any contact with people unless John allows her to or unless they come to her house themselves Furthermore the windows are barred but not blocked out completely This means she can see everything but cannot go out and be a part of what she sees

The characteristics of the house show that the narrator is locked up physically as well as mentally The yellow wallpaper in the nursery represents the misogynistic gender roles displayed by John When the narrator tries to communicate to convey her feelings about the wallpaper he looks at her with such a stern reproachful look so that I narrator knew I could not say anymore Gilman 652 John thinks himself superior rather than equal The reproachful look demonstrates that he is disappointed in his wife because she should not have questioned him John expects her to be submissive and to let her life be managed by her husband Through the pattern in the wallpaper the narrator sees a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and upside down bulbous eyes that stare at you Gilman 649 The pattern represents the monotonous standard that is put on women They are expected to be meek and to listen to their husbands The broken neck and bulbous eyes belong to the women who are satisfied with their lives being outlined for them They are zombie like even lifeless due to the robotic patterns subjected to them They are simply lolling around with no clear purpose in life besides serving their husbands The women could have lived to their fullest potential had it not been for the standards Their eyes would be right side up and their lives would not be distorted The wallpaper depicts the gender roles exhibited by John The woman in the wallpaper shows that the narrator has to pay a price for breaking the standards The narrator liberates herself from the standards of women by the end of the story John faints at the sight of his wife creeping T



he narrator writes he was right across my path by the wall so that I had to creep over him every time Gilman 656 John fainting is a sign of feminine weakness By creeping over him the narrator steps over him This is a sign of dominance and a trait men are traditionally expected to have The reversal in roles shows that she is free at last However instead of fulfilling her dreams she spends her time creeping as she has to creep over John every time Ultimately the narrator has paid the price She thinks she is the woman in the wallpaper When she peels off the wallpaper that was trapping her she says I got out at last in spite of you and Jane And I've pulled off most of the paper so you can t put me back Gilman 656 Jane is the original narrator the one that complied to John s words and the one the readers have seen up until this point The narrator is now free from Jane meaning she has escaped the societal standard of women However the narrator tells John that he cannot put her back She literally believes she is the woman from the wallpaper This shows that the narrator is only free to a certain extent The narrator has lost a part of her identity in the process of trying to free herself While she freed herself from the standard of women it shoves her into insanity In the Yellow wallpaper the house yellow wallpaper and a woman in the wall respectively represent the narrator's emotional state a jail and a prisoner they show how the overbearing behavior of John drives the narrator to insanity The house shows that the narrator is locked up both physically and emotionally The wallpaper depicts how gender roles are monotonous and robotic The woman in the wallpaper reveals that the narrator loses her identity when she breaks the gender roles All in all John pushes the narrator into insanity


Write and Proofread Your Essay
With Noplag Writing Assistance App

Plagiarism Checker

Spell Checker

Virtual Writing Assistant

Grammar Checker

Citation Assistance

Smart Online Editor

Start Writing Now

Start Writing like a PRO

Start