StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Discuss a few instances of Symbolism in Gilman's Story - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Yellow Wallpaper Discuss a few instances of symbolism in Gilman's story. For instance, how might we interpret the wallpaper with a nonsensical pattern? ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ uses a lot of symbolism during the narrative to demonstrate how women were oppressed in Gilman’s time by the men in society…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.6% of users find it useful
Discuss a few instances of Symbolism in Gilmans Story
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Discuss a few instances of Symbolism in Gilman's Story"

Download file to see previous pages

The wallpaper in the room in which the narrator is staying is covered in yellow wallpaper, a color that she detests. This could symbolize that the author has a deep dislike for this ‘disease’ in the society of her era characterized by the oppression of the fairer sex by a patriarchal society. Her hatred for the wallpaper, its color and design is actually a hatred for how men in that era treated women because to the author, the yellow wallpaper with its “hideous color” and “torturing pattern” symbolizes exactly that.

The windows in her room are another symbol, symbolizing opportunity and that the narrator keeps sitting in her room and looking through them symbolizes a desire to make use of that opportunity and acquire much wanted freedom from the current oppression they face, freedom for women to be recognized as equals to their male counterparts. Another instance is of the woman stuck inside the wallpaper that the author sees creeping around, this woman is actually a representation of the author/narrator herself.

It shows us how the author perceives herself and her current role in life. She feels trapped much like the woman inside the wallpaper and she feels that she has to ‘creep’ around like the woman in the wallpaper because she wants her actions to go unnoticed by her husband. Another instance of symbolism in this story is when she talks about the pattern of the yellow wallpaper which initially doesn’t make any sense to her. The author says “I never saw a worse paper in my life,” (Gilman, Charlotte) which means that she dislikes the structure of dominance and restriction that the men had created over women in that era by refusing them status equal to that of men and by treating them like silly “little girls”.

The pattern of the yellow wallpaper signifies the complex structures in her life that have bound her in her current subordinate role. The pattern sometimes feels like bars to her and she feels like she’s stuck behind them and trying to escape. There is also the issue of how her husband and brother treat the issue of her illness. They regard it as if it were but a silly whim and ignore any input from the author/narrator herself. This symbolizes how in the 1800s men thought that women were inferior to them and thus so were their opinions.

The women were thus largely ignored and their thoughts and views given no real notice or importance. The author believes that some mentally stimulating activity would actually help her come out of her depression, but her husband and brother give her opinion no real thought and on the contrary forced her to undergo the ‘rest cure’ whereby she was to be confined to one room and allowed no activity that would mentally stimulate her. This in itself is another symbolism, where the author shows us through the dynamics of her relationship with her husband and his attitude towards her illness an opinions how he (he here stands for all the men in that era) has ‘confined’ her according to his will and it doesn’t really matter whether she concurs to his ways or not.

What she thinks is of no consequence because she, as a female is inferior to her husband and thus her husband “must know better”. Not allowing her any activity also symbolizes that the men restricted women’

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Discuss a few instances of Symbolism in Gilman's Story Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1454539-see-prompts
(Discuss a Few Instances of Symbolism in Gilman'S Story Essay)
https://studentshare.org/english/1454539-see-prompts.
“Discuss a Few Instances of Symbolism in Gilman'S Story Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1454539-see-prompts.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Discuss a few instances of Symbolism in Gilman's Story

Characterization of Charlotte Perkins Gillman's Story The Yellow Wallpaper

But in gilman's story, the narrator is self-evident.... Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Gilman's Technique of Characterization in “the Yellow Wallpaper” In the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses a purposeful technique of characterization in order to develop the story's central theme.... hellip; Primarily her story deals with the male domination within the patriarchal structure of a family and its deteriorating effects on women's psychophysical health....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Types and Contextualization of Symbolisms: Barn Burning Story by William Faulkner

hellip; symbolism in literature refers to language as a system of sound and written symbols that imply meanings and substance to the literary work (Bloomfield 74).... Instances in the story that reflects this kind of symbolism were those sentences that include question marks and exclamation points.... This type of symbolism, though may appeal to senses, must not be tied to emotional and physical state of the person yet it must be considered as important in interpreting meanings (Hinton et al....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Toni Morrison's novels Beloved, The Bluest Eye, and Song of Solomon

Trauma, in each of the novels, triggers a kind of narrative propulsion towards a new level of meaning, often serving as a catalyst, sign post or predicate to a moment of revelation, resolution or rebirth.... hellip; Throughout Toni Morrison's Beloved, The Bluest Eye and Song of Solomon, trauma, memory and narrative are interwoven to produce common strands on non-linear meaning and inter-textual cross-referencing....
7 Pages (1750 words) Book Report/Review

Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper

The central conflict in gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper is between the narrator and her dominating husband as she wishes to socialize and write but her husband made her confined to bed.... This happens because of creature's expressiveness as he tells his own account of events to Victor at the end of the story which persuaded him to do such bad actions.... But by the end of the story, the creature feels lonely and segregated and begs Victor to create a female counterpart....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Mannitol, Intracranial Pressure, and Vasogenic Edema

Its impact in terms of reducing brain oedema has made it a favourable option for neurosurgeons.... However, in recent years it has fallen out of favour in its use… Mannitol is considered an osmotic diuretic agent and also a renal vasodilator.... It is applied clinically for osmotherapy in order to decrease intracranial pressure until other treatment options can be applied (Battison, Andrews, Graham, and Perry, 2005)....
34 Pages (8500 words) Essay

Symbolic Meaning in Hawthorns Writings

Hawthorne has a unique atmosphere for symbolism in his works especially in The Scarlet Letter.... In literature, an allegory is a story whereby characters, events and objects have been given a hidden meaning and are This essay will explore the symbolic meaning in the works of Hawthorn.... In line with this, an insightful look into his symbolism is quite important for one to have a good understanding of his novels....
5 Pages (1250 words) Term Paper

Symbolism in Chekhov

Another famous novel by Chekhov is gooseberries where the author uses symbolism in several instances.... The character Nina uses Later in the story, a seagull is shot down and given to her, this is later used by another character Trigorin to show how he will destroy Nina just as the seagull had been killed.... Weather has been used in the story to act as a backdrop for what is set to happen....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Gilmans Arguments Arise Again

What Charlotte Perkins Gilman reveals of society in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be contrasted with the conditions revealed in Sylvia Plath's story in The Bell Jar, written approximately 50 years later following the 'sexual revolution,' to discover what elements of female life had changed and what has remained the same.... great deal of what Gilman argues in her short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is that women have been forced to place too much importance on their ability or inability to maintain a proper household as in keeping a husband's interest and caring for her children while considering this to be enough (Akers, 1980)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us