The Yellow Wallpaper: Symbolism of the Wallpaper and Women's Plight

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the symbolism of the wallpaper in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper.' The paper explores how the wallpaper represents the oppression and suppression of women in the 19th century, as well as the constraints imposed by a male-dominated society. It examines the historical context, the author's personal experiences, and the various interpretations of the wallpaper's significance. The essay highlights the wallpaper's role as a symbol of confinement, madness, and the struggle for women's identity and freedom. The analysis references key feminist perspectives and literary criticism to provide a comprehensive understanding of the story's themes and its enduring relevance. The essay concludes by emphasizing the wallpaper's powerful representation of the challenges faced by women during that era and its continued resonance in contemporary society.

Running head: THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
Significance of the Wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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According to Judith Butler in her famous work ‘Gender Trouble’ “gender is just a
construct, a social performance to maintain the status quo or the power balance within the
society” (Butler 49). As opined by Donadey (335), patriarchal hegemony had dominated the
human society since its foundation and formed an integral part of the society of 19th society as
well. Bondevik, Robson and Lian (121) are of the viewpoint that 19th century women were
relegated to the background and enjoyed very little freedom within the framework of the
society. Charlotte Gilman, one of the premier women authors of the 19th century depicted the
oppression as well as the suppression that the women had to face in the society. For example,
the wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be seen as a representation of the plight of the
women in the 19th century and also the suppression that had to endure within their marriage
and also other forms of relationships. This paper will evaluate the symbolical meaning of the
wallpaper in Gilman’s famous work “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be
seen as a deep exploration of the condition of the women in the 19th century and also the
plight they suffered at the hands of the male dominated society of the times (Gilman 9). In
this regards, it needs to be said that Gilman can be seen as one of the foremost feminists who
advocated for the rights of women and also urged for the need to work towards the upliftment
of the condition of women of the age (Amro 150). The short story under discussion here in
this light can be seen as a narrative of the suppression as well as the oppression that Gilman
herself faced at the hands of the male dominated patriarchal society and also within the
institutions of marriage and other forms of family relationships. For example, Gilman herself
was a part of such a society wherein the women despite doing all the household chores as
well as taking care of the family were relegated to the background (Jing 470). More
importantly, they were supposed to depend on the male members of their family not only for
financial security but at the same time for their identity as well. In this context, it needs to be

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said that the identity of the women depended greatly on their husbands and also the social
position that their husband held within the societal framework.
The wallpaper in the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” when analyzed in the light
of the condition of women in the 19th century and also the personal history of Gilman herself
reveals insightful information. For example, in the initial phase of the story the wallpaper is a
mere piece of paper with arbitrary lines drawn on it and the narrator is unable to derive any
significant meaning out of it. However, as the story progresses it is seen that the narrator
recognizes the various arbitrary lines which are drawn on the wallpaper as the iron rods of the
cage in which the women of the age had been held captive by the male dominated society just
like the animals are being held captive in the cages (Brooks 18). This realization of the
narrator regarding the symbolical connotation of the wallpaper rather than being a personal
interpretation of the narrator becomes a microcosm of the entire society of the 19th century
and also the plight of the women in the age under discussion here.
Jing (471) is of the viewpoint that one of the most important aspects of the symbolical
connotation of the wallpaper in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and its interpretation by the narrator
is the fact that this interpretation was described by the other characters in the story as a
descent into madness. This in turn highlights the manner in which women were being treated
in the age under discussion and also the opinion that was held by the people regarding the
intellectual capabilities of the women. For example, the women in the 19th century or for that
matter since the ancient times had been considered to be inferior to women not only in terms
of physical capabilities but at time in terms of intellectual capabilities as well. The net result
of this is that when the narrator in the story under discussion here was finally able to decipher
the true meaning of the wallpaper she was considered to be totally irrational and also to be
showing the symptoms of madness (Brooks 18). More importantly, the interpretation of the
wallpaper as a symbol of the suppression that the women had to face in the contemporary

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society was a harsh reality for the male members of the society and thus they tried to
repudiate as the hallucinations of a mad as well as mentally unstable woman.
Bondevik, Robson and Lian (121) have articulated the viewpoint that since the
traditional times the women have not been seen as an individual human being but as a
domestic object which can be used by the men for reproduction and completion of household
chores. The patriarchal society thus took the help of various familial traps to keep them with
the family system like the different kinds of relationship, infusing into their brain the fact that
they were inferior to men and others. However, judging from the perspective of the women
this act on the part of the men was not only derogatory but at the same time inhuman as well
as the short story under discussion here reveals. For example, the only reason why the
narrator in the short story was able to derive that particular interpretation of the wallpaper
rather than any other was because of the fact that she herself felt all those emotions because
of the oppression that she received at the hands of the male dominated society (Donadey
335). Thus, it can be said that the wallpaper in the short story under discussion here not only
reminded the narrator of the plight that she faced everyday but at the same time of the plight
that the other women had to face since the dawn of human civilization. It is herein that the
prominence of the wallpaper in the short story under discussion and the short story itself lies
since it in an appropriate manner highlights the trauma as well as the condition of the women
in the 19th century.
To conclude, the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” through the use of the symbol
of the wallpaper intends to highlight the condition as well as the plight of the women of the
19th century and also the ages preceding it. More importantly, the story in a succinct manner
highlights the problems that Gilman herself faced at the hands of the male dominated
patriarchal society of the 19th century and also because of the various social institutions like
marriage and others. Thus, it can be said that the wallpaper in the short story under discussion

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rather than being just a symbol in the short story is representation of the bondage that the
women had been subjected to since the traditional times at the hands of the male dominated
society.

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References
Amro, Hiba. "A Breakdown or a Breakthrough?:“Madness” in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” Doris Lessing’s “To Room Nineteen,” and Khairiya
Saqqaf’s “In a Contemporary House”." International Journal 6.2 (2018): 146-156.
Bondevik, Hilde, Catherine Robson, and Olaug S. Lian. "Women with long-term exhaustion
in fictional literature: A comparative approach." Reading the Psychosomatic in
Medical and Popular Culture. Routledge, 2017. 113-127.
Brooks, Ashley N. "Nursery Versus Straightjacket: The Feminist Paradox of “The Yellow
Wallpaper”." Papers & Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate
Research 6.1 (2017): 18.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. Routledge, 2002.
Donadey, Anne. "Violence and Resistance." Women in Culture: An Intersectional Anthology
for Gender and Women's Studies (2016): 335. Retrieved from
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Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow wallpaper and other stories. General Press, 2018.
Jing, H. E. "Same Plight, Different Struggle: A Comparison of Female Protagonists in
Hamlet and “The Yellow Wallpaper”." Journal of Literature and Art Studies 6.5
(2016): 468-472.

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