"The Yellow Wallpaper"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how, of all the short stories written by Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" best expresses the symbols of depression which reflect the mental dilemma of the narrator, Gilman herself. The paper identifies and explains these literary symbols employed by Gilman. The paper relates that since depression went relatively undiagnosed during the time "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published, Gilman utilized symbolism as the only method to inform her readers that this disease was far more than "nervous agitation" and was in fact a very debilitating and life-altering condition.

From the Paper:

"In 1886, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860 to 1935) wrote in her autobiography, "In those days, a new disease had dawned on the medical horizon. It was called 'nervous prostration.' This disorder involved a growing melancholia and consists of every painful mental sensation, shame, fear, remorse. . . oppressive confusion. . . a steady brainache that fills the conscious mind with crowding images of distress" (Hunt, 184). Obviously, Gilman was referring to mental depression, a disease which currently affects millions of Americans by disrupting their personal and professional lives to the point of madness."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bauer, Dale. The Yellow Wallpaper: Charlotte Perkins Gilman. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 1998.
• Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Charlotte Perkins Gilman Reader: The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Fiction. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.
• ---. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper: A Sourcebook and Critical Edition. New York: Feminist Press, 1977.
• Glanze, Walter D., Ed. Mosby's Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Dictionary. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Company, 1990.
• Hunt, Douglas, Ed. The Riverside Anthology of Literature. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin,1988.

More papers on "The Yellow Wallpaper":

• Analytical Essay # 127732 : "Jane's Insanity in "The Yellow Wallpaper"
• Essay # 89300 : "'The Yellow Wallpaper'"
• Book Review # 94713 : "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"
• Essay # 71169 : "Settings in the "Yellow Wallpaper"

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