the yellow wallpaper

            The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story that really struck me because I realized how women were treated depending on the time period they were in. Now days women are more equal and independent, where as in the late 1800’s, women were looked down upon and did everything their husbands asked them to do, just like the protagonist of the story did with her husband, John. It is very apparent that the protagonist is going through some sort of depression and because John is “a physician of high standing” she listens to everything her husband tells her.

John and his wife rented a mansion for about three months because their original home was going through some sort of renovation. At first the protagonist sees this rental mansion as “the most beautiful place!” and likes everything about it. In her writing, she shows great enthusiasm about her and her husband’s new temporary home and she loves most of the things that come with it, like the “delicious garden.” Everything except the yellow painting that came along with one of the rooms, a room she and John ended up using as their bedroom. It was sad to see that the protagonist, didn’t have a say in something as simple as picking a room or changing the color of the room. John was aware of the disconfort his wife had while being in the room and she clearly told him that the wall paper was the main issue that got her to feel this way, “but John would not hear of it.”

John is so controling over the activities his wife does dat he doesn’t even let her do the things that she enjoys doing. In the beginning, the protagonist states that she enjoys writing but that “…he hates to have me write a word.” She suddenly stops writing when ever John or his siter, Jannie are around. She is also “absolutely forbidden to work” or even see her own baby. “Mary is so good with the baby. Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him…” She follows all of John instructions and although she does not agree with most of the things he says, she still chooses to obey.

The yellow paper plays a huge roll in this womans life and it comes to the point where all she thinks of is this wallpaper. The protagonist begins to notice a certain odor all over the house, a scent she later describes as “a yellow smell.” She also sees a trapped woman in the yellow wallpaper that “gets out in the daytime.” Earlier in the story she also asks John if she could go visit cousin Henry and Julia but John opposes it every time because he wants her to get better before letting her visit. This trapped woman symbolizes how the protagonist really feels about her life. John doesn’t let her do anything or go out anywhere and the only place she actuallyspends all her time in is the room, but because she is basically forced to stay there.