Michelle Feldner
English 1302
March 28, 2013
Literary Analysis Essay

At first glance, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story can be confusing to read. You may think you are reading about a woman who is losing her mind, or as the narrators husband says “there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression”(9), but in all actuality it’s about a woman who is suffering from post partum depression. Even though the plot of this story is based around her illness, there is another objective to the story, to deliver a completely unrelated message. Gilman seeks instead to evoke a message of individual expression and successfully does so by recording the progression of the illness, through the state of the wallpaper.
In the story it’s apparent that the women allows herself to be inferior to men, particularly her husband, John. John is a physician and he orders her to not do anything, simply to rest. “Personally I disagree with their ideas,” she writes. ”Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?”(12-14) This statement shows her lack of self-confidence and feeling of inferiority. She is very accepting that her thoughts and opinions do not count. She belittles herself throughout the story several more times.
Many people, in our society today, go through not being able to speak up for themselves with doctors. Although one knows what makes themselves feel better, but they will most often follow the doctor’s advice because of his or her authority. She is trying so hard to get better, but she is constantly being ignored and shut down by her husband, her brother, and her own personal insecurities. Even though her reason and her emotions rebel at the “rest” treatment, she turns her imagination onto neutral objects, the wallpaper, to try and ignore her growing