2) Writing About The Yellow Wall-Paper: Please construct a typed literary analysis of The Yellow Wall-Paper. Here is the framework we discussed in class:
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story of a woman, Jane, and her husband, John, who rent a home out in the country after Jane begins to suffer from postpartum depression. In the story you see how Jane’s actions are controlled by her husband in an effort to ease her pain, and how that lack of control leads Jane to spiral out of control. The Yellow Wallpaper was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and was published in The New England Magazine in 1892. The main character, Jane, is brought to a country house by her husband, John, after she begins suffering from postpartum depression. John insists that Jane sleep in the third floor nursery full of light and terrible yellow wallpaper. Because Jane has nothing else to do, she spends all of her time searching the patterns in the wallpaper. In it she begins to see the pattern of a woman trapped behind bars. This pattern, however, changes with the light becoming more active deeper into the night. Jane longs to free the woman trapped behind the bars and on her last day she rips down the wallpaper freeing the woman trapped inside. There are several motifs in the story, the main one being the wallpaper. Jane is so enthralled with the wallpaper because she sees herself in it. Jane is the woman in the wall trapped both behind her depression and her husband’s control over her. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Jane had virtually no control over any of the choices made about her life. She was trapped in this room in this house because her husband deemed it necessary. She was not allowed to write anymore because her husband thought it was a hindrance on her well-being. She was told she had to spend the day resting and had to increase her appetite. She was told she could not have company because she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She was told she shouldn’t dare consider the idea of having a mental illness for the sake of her husband and child. Put simply, Jane had zero control over any aspect of her life. It wasn’t until she came to this house and discovered this wallpaper that she had even the tiniest bit of control over something that was solely her own. Jane became obsessed with this wallpaper because it allowed her to control what she saw. Jane herself writes that this wallpaper belongs to her, only she can know what is trapped inside and only she can be the one to tear it down. The complete and utter lack of control Jane had over her own life pushed her deeper into her obsession, causing even the wallpaper to have control over her. My entire life my sister has been my role model and essentially the most important person in my world. From the age of five I did everything she did in an effort to be just like her. As a child this was seen as adorable, a little sister following after her older sister mimicking everything she did. As I got older, however, the novelty wore off and the obsession to be like my sister became a burden. It did not help my cause that my sister has always been effortlessly amazing. She was intelligent and athletic and eloquent and well-mannered, the perfect child. It was easy to understand why I would want to model my life after hers. I read the same books, watched the same movies, listened to the same music, and even wore the same clothes. I did everything in my power to be a carbon copy of my sister. It was exhausting. It also never allowed me to make choices unique to my own life. If I ever encountered a situation that was new, my sister was the first person I asked for advice. I would allow her to make the decision for me because to me there was no one more qualified to control my life. To this day I still consult my sister before making any significant life choices. While I have become more willing to make my own choices, my sister will forever be the one that influences the decisions I make.
2 Comments
9/17/2017 06:15:19 pm
I enjoyed your blog and I completely agree with you.
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Sabatino
9/19/2017 06:14:46 am
Thank you for sharing this post.
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