The Yellow Wall-Paper

Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Analysis by Bert A. Mikosh

The Yellow Wall-Paper can be said to be told from a female perspective, but I would say that it is told from a disturbed wife's eye since there is another female character in the story. The story's distortion from the pure, female perspective, into the disturbed woman's eye changes what the reader sees. The entire story is told from the mind of the disturbed wife, the narrator:

A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house,and reach the height of romantic felicity--but that would be asking too much of fate! Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it....John laughs at me, of course, but onee expects that in marriage.....John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures...

This passage describes the distinct point of view of the narrator when she describes the house, with nothing except a feeling, a discomfort. Her husband laughs at her opinions on the house and her feelings towards the area. John does not approve of these feelings or beliefs, because he is not a superstitious person. He,in that era and being a medical doctor, does not believe anything unless it has been documented. As it is written in the previous passage, John is being explained to the reader from the wife's point of view. John probably sees the house as a place of healing for his wife and a get-a-way for the time being while their house is remodeled.

I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper. Perhaps because of the wall-paper. It dwells in the mind so!

Here the narrator tells the reader her feelings for the room that she has been forced to live in, as it grows on her. At this point it becomes quite apparent, to the reader, that she is not getting any better. In later lines she talks of herself laying on the bed and trying to follow the lines to their destinations, wherever they might lead.

He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me...."My darling," said he, "I beg of you, for my sake and for our child's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?" So of course I said no more on that score, and we went to sleep before long.

Again, John is manipulating the narrator. In the second passage the narrator becomes comfortable with the room, now she likes the room enough and is curious enough to open up to her husband and tell him what she thinks she has been seeing. John becomes terrified of these ideas she has in her head and what she might believe to be real and not real. He begins to plead with her and tries to convince her that she must control all of her ambitions and act sanely. Later John is trying to manipulate the narrator with guilt. He is implying that she must think of herself as getting better, mind and body, for the sake of other people, rather than herself. The narrator is, however, doubting that she will ever recovery mentally. Although, John says her appearance has improved, she believes that she is not physically better.

The female perspective of today has changed quite a bit. For one thing the role of the female in society has changed drastically since 1892. The women of today compete for the same jobs that men do and this causes them to take care of themselves and fight for themselves. For another thing the role of the male has changed since the book was written. Since women today are a part of the working community, men are forced to reckon with the reality that women are as capable and stable as men.

"I've got out at last," said I "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off most of the" paper, so you can't put me back!"...

The end is the only time that John and Jennie get a peek of the disturbed narrator's imagination. She finally expressed herself without regard to her husband's wisdom or the fact that he is a doctor. The modern day viewer's perspective of the story is one of disgust or sickened compassion. The reader would read the beginning and think the narrator is a normal person who is controlled by her husband. As the reader continues a feeling of dislike or even hatred towards the husband for disregarding her opinions and feelings. I think a woman of today, if she were in the same position as the narrator, would have at the very least gotten a second opinion. Of course since medicine has advanced drastically since The Yellow
Wall-Paper was published, it leads me to believe that this situation would have never gotten so severe. The husbands of modern day, in general, do not hold such an air of superiority as John appeared to have. Since he knew he was right, being a doctor, he seemed to disregard any or all of the narrator's suggestions and opinions. He even had the ability and audacity to force his wife to stay in a room she was not comfortable staying in, even though the trip to this house was for own good. It is true that when we take a picture of anything, especially living, we sort of capture the object or imprison it. Remember, the Native Americans would not, for the longest time, allow their picture to be taken since they believed that this picture would capture and imprison their spirit. The woman in this story is definitely in a prison whether in a picture or not, but an image does add a twist to her predicament. You could say the movie is a living object and when we take a frame from this movie, and put it somewhere to be displayed, we in fact freeze or capture that image. The freezing of this image and displaying it, could be compared to a person going to a jail made of glass and having people stare at that person and the other prisoners.