Gumiran, Mary Mae - Mini Task1

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THE YELLOW WALLPAPER

Charlotte Perkins Gilman
PLOT OVERVIEW
The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman ⎯ an American
feminist intellectual, social reformer, and
philosopher ⎯ in 1892. She received considerable
attention for publishing “The Yellow Wallpaper,”
discussing the unequal status of women within the
foundation of marriage: a woman who was
confined in a domestic sphere, which robbed her
desire for self-expression alongside propagating
mental health awareness and the stereotypes
attached to it.
The narrator, an upper-middle-class woman,

is married to a physician. The journey begins when
her husband takes her on a 3-month summer
vacation ⎯ for her to have a perfect rest. They
landed on a large ancestral house. The narrator
confessed that she is suffering from a mental
illness ⎯ a nervous depression. Ironically, her
husband and her brother, who are physicians of
high standing, don’t believe her. She tried
reaching out to them. However, instead of giving
proper treatment and medication, they confined
her inside a nursery room with a troubling yellow
wallpaper and disregarded her sentiments. Even
worse, her form of self-expression and meditation
⎯ writing ⎯ was taken away from her.
Throughout the story, the narrator obsesses

over the yellow wallpaper in her room, which
Throughout the story, the narrator obsesses
over the yellow wallpaper in her room, which
disgusts her to the core. She loathes the yellow
wallpaper, for it doesn’t please her aesthetic
preferences. Every day, she notices differences in
the pattern and design; it is moving. Until one
night, she confirmed. The sub-pattern in the
wallpaper resembles a woman, sometimes a
woman, who creeps at night, trapped inside that
yellow paper, wanting to escape. Towards the end
of the story, the narrator is convinced that she is
the woman behind the wallpaper. To free the
trapped figure inside, she tears down the yellow
wallpaper.
BOOK ANALYSIS
The Yellow Wallpaper is a work of fiction. The

author discusses the life of women who remain in
the realm of domestic life and mental health,
meeting the universality and permanence in
literature. This true-to-life short story of Charlotte
Gilman about mental health and domestic life can
evoke human responses, cross all gender, cultural
barriers, and timeliness.
In 1892, women’s obligation to pull off

housekeeping, childcare, and religion was
prevalent. To date, women still live on to this
domestic sphere, preventing them from
expressing their full capabilities in working and
carrying out recreational activities and hobbies
like writing. Women, in most cases, are still seen
as incapable of maintaining their work while doing
household responsibilities. The social role and
expectations established in women are creating a
division between their lives-halting their full
development. In addition, the patriarchal family
affects women. Men dominating the family or
society translates to inequality and domestic
violence. In the narrative, the husband takes
control of everything, including the slightest
detail.
As a response, the narrator feels subordinate even
if this act is abuse to her body, mind, and soul. After
all, John is a doctor and head of the family, which
says a lot about the narrator’s subordination.
Aside from this, the narrator is mentally ill. She

is suffering from a “severe nervous breakdown.”
Her situation was disregarded by doctors ⎯ his
husband and brother itself. They see it as nothing
more than a lack of rest. Given her environment, it
is the main reason why she is suffering. She lives
in a misogynistic society where women are
considered as fragile, weak, and dense. She lost her
stability because she was forced to become passive
and subordinate, hiding her anxieties and fears
within a facade of resting in a vacation house. The
narrator’s way of relief ⎯ writing ⎯ was off-limits,
causing her insanity. Mental health across different
countries is not treated seriously. There are
stereotypes and discrimination attached. People
think you’re crazy, dangerous, or worse ⎯ people
think you have no prayer life.
To summarize, this work of fiction is a way of

protesting against prevailing issues (i.e., women
imprisoned in the domestic sphere and mental
health) in the 1980s and until the present time. It
is astounding to discern that these themes were
part of the discourse and are relevant until today.

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THE YELLOW WALLPAPER

The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story written

The narrator, an upper-middle-class woman,

Throughout the story, the narrator obsesses

The Yellow Wallpaper is a work of fiction. The

In 1892, women’s obligation to pull off

Aside from this, the narrator is mentally ill. She

To summarize, this work of fiction is a way of

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