Introduction
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a classic example of American literature that tells the story of a woman struggling with depression. This story is unique in its kind, as it is written in the first person, which allows the reader to feel the atmosphere of the main character’s state better and begin to empathize with her. However, the story is highly realistic in describing depression, as Gilman experienced it herself and based it on her feelings (Roethle 1). In this regard, the narrator’s immersion in madness can be traced more clearly and understandably, making it easier to understand the cause-and-effect relationships behind the change in her state. This work examines the central theme of utilizing a specific setting to portray imprisonment and total control, and how this impacts the main character’s mental state.
Narrative Techniques in the Short Story
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” all events occur in one location: the house rented by the main character’s husband, John. Thus, from this motif, one can trace the early stages of madness, as all actions will be concentrated in a limited space. Moreover, this house is isolated from society, which adds to it an atmosphere of solitude and despair that the main character experiences. The narrator describes this house as a “big, airy room” with “windows that look all ways” (Gilman 1).
This narrative device initially misleads the reader by deceiving their impressions of the house and destroying them by the end of the work. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the house begins to limit the main character more and more. The bedroom with yellow wallpaper becomes the main character’s permanent home, and she cannot escape from it. Thus, the entire setting described serves as a metaphor for the narrator’s mental state and a state of depression from which she cannot get out, just like the rooms with the yellow wallpaper.
The bright yellow wallpaper is an element that emphasizes the theme of imprisonment more and how it begins to affect the psychological state of the main character. She is a prisoner of her bedroom, which is kept by her husband, who is also her doctor. At the same time, he believes that the best cure for depression for her will be the release from any activity, both physical and mental.
Thus, the main character can do absolutely nothing in her room, which further emphasizes the room’s role as a prison cell (Özyon 117). In this regard, the main character begins to focus all her attention on the yellow wallpaper, which she dislikes. Over time, this increasingly affects her mental state, preventing her from thinking healthily and finding a way out of her depressive state.
The yellow wallpaper, which plays a central role in the development of the narrator’s madness, symbolizes the imprisonment in which she finds herself, and her helplessness emphasizes the hopelessness of the situation. Looking at the wallpaper for a long time, the main character describes it as “dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to irritate and provoke study constantly, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide” (Gilman 2). Thus, the narrative tells the reader about the inner state of the heroine through the setting of a room with yellow wallpaper.
She is confused because of her depression and cannot concentrate on any activity, as it is forbidden for her. Subsequently, such conclusions and constant contemplation of the wallpaper lead to suicidal thoughts, which can also be seen from the above quote. In addition, the narrator’s husband believes that she is a fragile woman who needs to be constantly protected, which is reflected in the setting of the yellow wallpaper through the graceful, thin lines that annoy the protagonist.
Much attention is paid to the relationship dynamics between the main character and her husband, John, in the story’s setting. He decides almost everything in their couple, including John’s choice of vacation spot, and he completely limits his wife’s activities. This is thus reflected in the power dynamics as the protagonist cannot do anything without her husband’s permission and is forced to be a permanent hostage in her yellow-walled room. The narrator’s conclusion is more realistic due to the detailed description of her position and the reasons why she cannot achieve the desired freedom of action. Her husband is a doctor, which formally gives him the right to treat his wife, but he does not take her problem seriously, which is why the main character is constantly getting worse, and the disease progresses.
Gilman uses the element of creating a suitable setting to put the protagonist in a restrictive framework that will make her mentally and physically suffer. This idea resonates with what is happening to her mental state, as in this context, she is also a prisoner of her thoughts and depression. Thus, by focusing the reader’s attention on the yellow wallpaper as a metaphor for the protagonist’s situation, the author explores the questions of how important it is to have free will and choice. Without these elements, a person cannot cope with a severe psychological problem, and this begins to result in problems of a deeper nature.
The yellow wallpaper symbolizes the main character’s life, which echoes her mental state. These two aspects continue to deteriorate throughout the story, bringing the setting into perfect balance with the progression of depression and the rejection experienced by the protagonist, as reflected in the yellow wallpaper.
Another narrative technique from the described setting is the appearance of a woman in the wallpaper, whom the main character begins to see. This is explained by her difficult psychological state and the fact that she is completely deprived of the opportunity to do anything. Thus, constant observation of the patterns on the wallpaper leads her to the fact that she has hallucinations. Both the woman in the wallpaper and the main character attempt to break free from their confinement, evoking a deep, personal connection in the narrator as a fellow prisoner (Manzoor et al. 1064). The idea of releasing the woman in the wallpaper gives the main character the idea of escaping herself, reflecting the yellow wallpaper’s setting, intersecting it with the whole house.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the author utilizes the setting in “The Yellow Wallpaper” to emphasize and draw attention to the unstable mental state of the main character. By placing her in a specific, rigid frame of a room with yellow wallpaper, Gilman correlates her environment with her psychic paradigm. Depression is, for the main character, the same captivity that she cannot get out of, as the summer house in which Jack keeps her. Thus, through the visions of a woman in the wallpaper of the room, the deterioration in the condition of the main character and its worsening over the course of the story is revealed.
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Virago Press, 1981.
Manzoor, M. Mohsin, et al. “The Yellow Wallpaper: A Psychoanalytical Parallelism Between Character And Author.” PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 19.1 (2022): 1059-1068. Web.
Özyon, A. “A journey of feminist rebellion through Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper and her novel Herland.” International Journal of Language Academy 8.5 (2020): 115-124. Web.
Roethle, Christopher. “A Healthy Play of Mind: Art and the Brain in Gilman’s” The Yellow Wallpaper”.” American Literary Realism 52.2 (2020): 147-166. Web.