Element of Sexual Symbolism in the Yellow Wall- - Research Paper Example

Element of Sexual Symbolism in the Yellow Wall-Paper 1st Symbol: Yellow Wall paper There are various elements of sexual symbolism that are used in the book. In all the cases, the symbols used indicate how women are not progressive in their careers like men. The author also shows that women struggled against a society that was highly dominated by men (Barrish 125). There are two key symbols that are predominantly shown in the text which represent the element of sexual symbolism. The first and most noticeable symbol is the wallpaper itself, which the author has used to show the wall of oppression that women faced if diagnosed with mental problems. The wall paper symbol is used to indicate the mental wall that men used to oppress women. This shows that women in Gilman’s paper are characterized as the inferior sex, whereas men have been presented in a natural state of humanity. The wall paper is in yellow and not red, the color of love or white the color of peace. The author writes “the color is hideous enough and unreliable enough” (4). The wallpaper is in yellow, perhaps to represent sickness. The narrator also says “… a smoldering unclean yellow” (Gilman 3). Hence, the yellow wall paper is a symbol used by Gilman to show that women were treated as the inferior sex before the 20th century. John’s sister is not depicted in any way different from the other women in the book. She does not seem to be bothered by the wall paper until at some point in the story where she seems bothered by the paper. She tells the narrator that the yellow paper was the reason why she always found yellow smudges on her brother’s clothes. This implies that the yellow wall paper was responsible for the smudges, which is not possible in reality. She works as a housekeeper in the narrator’s home and has an enthusiastic personality and thorough in her work. However, she is also ignorant since she spends most of the day close to the narrator and yet is unable to tell that the narrator is under distress caused by the yellow wall paper. In order to show how the element of sexual symbolism in the story is represented by the yellow paper, the author introduces the leaders to another oppressed woman. She is directly placed in the yellow wall paper itself. The author does not explicitly indicate that it is a woman in the picture but rather a faint image as described by the narrator. It is only after few days of studying the wall paper that the narrator fully comprehends what the patterns are all about. She describes to readers that now she is in a position to point out a figure that resembles a woman behind a cage. The narrator view is that the woman in the yellow wall paper is behind the bars and struggling to break free from the trap. The author writes that the figure the narrator saw was “like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern” (Gilman 121). This shows that the author did not want to clearly depict it was a woman. As aforementioned, the author may be unconsciously depicting women as blank beings that cannot express themselves like men. 2nd Symbol: Two Windows The other key symbols used by the author are the two windows. These are two windows in the narrator’s bedroom. The two windows represent an opening, one through which women can use to fight for equity in the society. The windows present the narrator with a chance to observe the opportunities that will be available for women, not as the inferior sex but the sex that can also be equated to men. Apart from symbolizing that there is a way out for women in the book, the windows are also used to show equality of the two sexes. There are two windows, both of the same size and height. This is showing an element of symbolism in the story because the two windows will represent two sexes. The female and male sex characters are all portrayed with a role to play for example women have only the role of nurturing children, whereas her husband and other men in the book are given the roles of working characters. The narrator says that even when she feels that there is an illness that is affecting her, both her husband and brother, who are physicians, do not believe her and only insist that she is doing well (Gilman and Jean 25). This symbolizes how women struggled for equality while men were oppressing them. The author uses the two windows to show that there was an opportunity to shun the oppression that some women undergo in marriages (Golden, and Zangrando 20). However, this opportunity is not fully utilized because women the narrator was not even supposed to go outside. It is therefore evident that the expectations of women are undermined by the author, even when there is an opportunity to make progress (Troll 1). The issue of repression of women in the society is evident from the way the narrator’s husband ignores his wife’s opinions. For example, in page 25 of Gilman and Jean’s book the narrator says that she at times gets “unreasonably angry with John sometimes, I am sure I never used to be this sensitive, I think it is due to my condition” (25). This shows how women in some societies are treated in an unrespectable manner (Troll 165). The house is a physical symbol of this restriction. The barring of the windows in the narrator’s bedroom also depicts that there is little that the woman can do. It is through another experience of a sick man in the story that shows how women were treated differently when they got sick. The narrator was confined for a long time that she almost gave up. It can be observed that the narrator eventually loses her sanity due to her confinement in her bedroom. This is despite the fact that she has the capability of using either of the two windows to run away. Women were confined to houses when they were mentally unstable and not given the right medication, despite asking for it. Both the narrator and the woman in the yellow wall paper are shackled in a prison and have to deny their true self for the sake of concealing their femininity at its worst. This is because they are supposedly insane as the author wants readers to believe. This was a problem that also existed in the 18th century and perhaps long before the 18th and 19th centuries (Madsen 76). Characterization and how it relates to Sexual Symbolism The story has three key characters. The main characters are the narrator, John and Jennie, John’s sister. The narrator is the protagonist in the story. She is married to John who doubles up as also being her doctor. It can be observed that from the very beginning of the story the narrator is extremely imaginative and also expressive. She also seems to be suffering from emotional stress and depression. The narrator is given the character of a woman by the author, to show how women behaved in the society when they got sick. There are so many pages in the book where the author mentions of her nervousness and how John was never nervous. “…it makes me so nervous” (Gilman and Jean 28) and “…can one give credence to someone, who beginning with a mild nervous disorder?” (Gilman and Jean 89). Lastly, “…it makes me so nervous, I suppose John was never nervous in his life” (Gilman and Jean 111). This is author’s attempt to show that women were considered to be frail and weak, even in their thinking. In most parts of the book, the character of the narrator is shown as a person who thinks of herself as a frail and weak woman, who has the potential to do more, but does not attempt. John is the narrator’s husband is a physician by profession, and is highly rated in his occupation. He has a patronizing persona and as evidently portrayed in the text he always dictates terms to his wife. Like all the men in the book, he is portrayed as a strong being, given by the fact that he has also been given a role that shows a person is strong and not weak. As a man, he is given the role of a physician, one who has to help others when no one else wants to. He makes decision in regard to the people his wife is supposed to talk to, and the activities she can do. For example the narrator says that she sees “people walking in the numerous paths and arbors” (Gilman and Jean 28). This shows that women were permitted to do certain things and others were out of bounds for them. In some instances he is depicted as an arrogant man because he dismisses his wife’s wishes and opinion without even giving them a thought (Gilman and Jean 29). This ignorance is evidently described by the narrator when she says he lives without taking his time to know that his wife has an emotional problem. His view of his wife, or perhaps women was that they are weak creatures and this is contrary to how he thinks about other people, in the book, who are men. For example, on page 32, John tells his wife that is she does not get well he will send her to Weir Mitchell. This evidently shows that he trusted that another man could do his job or heal his wife, if she, his sister or any other female relatives were likely to be successful in helping her get well. Jennie is John’s sister. The narrator also indicates that she was a housekeeper and she “…hopes for no better profession” (Gilman 4). John sister’s character has been used by the author to show that women were the inferior sex and hoped for nothing more other than what they had. In addition, it is crucial to note that the author may be unconsciously presenting most of his female characters as blank screens. For example, the narrator who is a woman is depicted as an insane woman, whereas her sister in-law is also depicted as a person with no hope to accomplish more in life than what she had already accomplished. Works Cited Barrish, Phillip. The Cambridge Introduction to American Literary Realism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Gilman, Charlotte P, and Jean Shawn“The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Dual-Text Critical Edition. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2006. Gilman, Charlotte P. The Yellow Wallpaper. Champaign, Ill: Project Gutenberg, 1990. Golden, Catherine, and Joanna S. Zangrando. The Mixed Legacy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2000. Madsen, Deborah L. Feminist Theory and Literary Practice. London: Pluto Press, 2000. Troll, Yvonne. Writing Oneself into Existence: the Yellow Wallpaper and the Question of Female Self-Definition. Munich: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Read More