Symbolism in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as a feminist writer, assures her readers to explore the indoor life of a restricted woman. The story examines the mental condition and depression of a woman through her unescapable pressure. The narrator has no name and spends her life in a room. It leads to alienation in the outer world and therefore, she writes a secret journal. She uses writing as a way to her independence and writes due to her loneliness. It is a tool for expressing her thoughts. However, her husband, John, hates her writing. It is a bit of a toxic relationship between them as they both do not understand themselves. There are some claims that the short story mirrors Gilman’s past life. She is also considered the first woman writer with a feminist perspective. 

The main symbol of the story, as stated in the title, is the wallpaper of her room. Not fitting into gender roles, the protagonist sees herself as trapped in the yellow wallpaper of the room. Its pattern represents social pressure and roles that she does not fit into. She associates herself with the woman in her head; observes and later describes its pattern in the journal. 

“I lie here…follow that pattern about by the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, '' 

She finds it “repellent”. Surrendered by her sister-in-law, she feels guilty about herself for not being like her. By saying “a slight hysterical tendency”, John also blames her. In addition, she was mainly controlled by John. At that time, women were imputed as “hysteric” creatures when they expressed their ideas and tried to defend themselves. They were underestimated and never accepted in society. The protagonist is limited by the pattern of society and cult of domesticity. 

Our “unnamed heroine” is an indicator of the desperate struggles of a woman in the nineteenth century. Through these circumstances, she becomes a lunatic character. She has no name due to her being seen as an unimportant figure in society. The room has the significance of being a child's room that barred windows. It signifies the paternalistic thought of the era. Women were generally seen as children as if they were not able to take action in their lives alone. They had to be “protected” by men. John also has that type of behavior towards his wife. He tries to protect them and explain to her like he knows everything. The egoistic attitude of him oppresses her in a cruel way. 

“It is the strangest yellow, that wallpaper! It makes me think of all the yellow things I ever saw - not beautiful ones like buttercups, but old foul, bad yellow things.”

The color of the wallpaper, yellow represents sickness and fragility. She is full of depressed thoughts which make her sick. But doctors and even her husband do not seem to take her condition seriously. She suffers from depression and needs to be cured. The color is not appealing and disturbing for her. She feels sick and wants to find peace for the woman in the wallpaper. The color has significance to the dull ambiance of the room. 

In conclusion, the society that she lives in has patriarchal values and gives no place to women. Therefore, solitariness in the whole mansion leads her to go mad eventually. The torn wallpaper is a final sign of her scattered inner world as a woman.  The alienation of her from society also overwhelms her day by day. Her shredding of the wallpaper seemed a way to freedom and look for a new hope.