Susan S. Lanser's The Yellow Wallpaper

“The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a short story that portrays a very common view of nineteenth century culture and medicine. The story, written in classical fiction form, has a plot, setting, a cast of characters, and a point of view from which the story is told. The way in which the story is told, and the unexpected conclusion, are two of the main reasons why “The Yellow Wallpaper” is such an important piece of nineteenth century fiction. There are few characters in the story; however, each one plays a crucial role in allowing the reader to come to a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the story by allowing the reader insight into the mind of the narrator.

“The worst prisons were not constructed of warped steel and stone. They were carved out of expectations and lies, judgement and corruption” (Kelseyleigh Reber). Reber may have felt this way, but she is not alone in this feeling. There are many authors that have this common theme in their stories. Charlotte Perkins demonstrates this in “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

Analyzing works of literature from different critical perspectives allow readers to retrain his or her mind to think critically. One 's ability to think critically while reading literary texts is pivotal, especially since literary criticism requires one 's mind to read a text through a specific literary lens. When one applies a particular literary theory to a text, he or she embarks on a unique journey; a voyage a that allows him or her to question both the text and its author—in order the text 's essential message. For instance, if a reader decides to view a literary text through a psychoanalytic lens, he or she is required to ideas of psychology and apply it to the text. How so?

The stigma of mental health and stability has been a rampant issue for decades, although one that is frequently overlooked. Studies have shown that historical events such as the Industrial Revolution that caused massive migrations and poor living conditions for the middle and lower classes wreaked psychological havoc for generations. Many of these psychological effects like lower standards of professional satisfaction, and "regional patterns of personality and well-being" (Jasper Hamill) are still prominent today. In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman explores the effects of mental health on women in the 1890s, and how the stigmas surrounding the topic of mental health lead to the oppression and unjust persecution

From Stylistics to Narratology A Critical Reading of Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Abstract This paper aims to analyze “The Yellow Wallpaper” a short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman employing a combination of two stylistics tools, namely transitivity and presupposition.

Passage Analysis #1 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman, in this particular passage of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” explores the theme of female oppression through imagery and symbolism of the wall-paper. These elements of literature make the wall-paper come to life for both the narrator and the audience. “The front pattern does move”(55) personifies the wall-paper to be so animate and physically restraining that the woman behind it must shake it to attempt to escape. The italicization of “does” serves to further affirm that the wallpaper exhibits restrictive human-like behaviors - particularly those of dominant men in society. The narrator states that there are “a great many woman behind”(55), extending the metaphor to all Victorian women in the United States and others around the world who are oppressed.

Temidayo Akinwande Christopher McBride 19th March, 2017 Sociological Approach in the critical analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Introduction By tradition, the men have held the positions of power in the society. On the other hand, women are treated as second-class citizens possessing no legal rights and not receiving the same respect as the males. All this is greatly attributed to culture, which in a way, dictates the gender responsibilities, training the women to understand their inferior position while encouraging the youthful men to learn how to be in control. Social analysis requires that fictions either agree to the society’s structural arrangement or enable social appreciation with the aim of changing this hierarchy.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was not just an author but a great feminist. Gillam inspired countless women to seek indecency with her work like "The Yellow Wallpaper. " The story is a fictionalized short story of a woman who is descending into madness while dealing with her mental illness and cannot heal due to her husband 's lack of belief. At the same time, the woman also known as the narrator feels imprisoned in her marriage. The story takes place during a time were women and had no independence and were not able to voice their own opinion.

Feminism was the talk of the 1890’s, that is why the fact that Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s feminist failure came as quite the surprise. Author of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman, wrote her story with the face value of why the “Get Rest Cure” is bad. However, if reading between the lines it is very clearly a feminist text. But while the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” tries to be a feminist through her own writing, dialogue with other characters, and actions, both the narrator and the peace are ultimately feminist failures.

Feminism’s continual push for equality for men and women has grown and has become more successful. Women have abandoned the traditional roles of submissive housewives that was prevalent in the early 20th century. Early representations of women in literature were often stereotypical and unjust, but the characterization of women in literature has changed now. However, in the early 1900s that type of writing was predominant, in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman, A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor and Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway were writers that disregarded feminist concerns in their stories and demonstrated how feministic views affected society as a whole.