Higher – The Yellow Wallpaper - Complex Character Essay
‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story which focusses on a woman, the
unreliable narrator, who has been placed on rest cure when she and her family move into a large
home in the secluded countryside. This move and ‘cure’ lead to a decline in her mental health as she
is prevented from having any distractions or stimulations such as seeing visitors, reading or going
outside. This results in a very lonely, isolated women who becomes increasingly obsessed with her
only stimulus – the yellow wallpaper in her room, and causes the reader to feel complex, conflicting
feelings towards her. Through the writer’s use of sentence structure, dramatic irony, symbolism,
word choice and personification, the reader struggles to determine fact from fiction and the
complexity of her character and narration is revealed.
The reader first experiences the complexity of the narrator’s character near the beginning of the
story, when her obsession with the wallpaper begins to grow. Through the writer’s use of word
choice and personification, the reader observes that the narrator is associating negative, evil
influences with the wallpaper. The quote, “This paper looks at me as if it knew what a vicious
influence it had” exemplifies this personified version of the wallpaper. The word choice of “vicious”
suggests that the narrator believes the wallpaper to have malevolent, evil intentions for her. This
makes clear the fear and paranoia the narrator is experiencing in the room. Furthermore, the
narrator’s personification of the wallpaper reinforces the effects that the forced isolation has on her,
as she seems to believe that the wallpaper is consciously trying to torment her. The reader can
clearly see the psychological impact of the forced isolation on the narrator. The lack of effective
stimulus has caused a growing paranoia and fear of the wallpaper in the room. The narrator is clearly
fearful of the wallpaper, which simultaneously causes the reader to feel both sympathetic but also
suspicious of her. As her obsession grows, so does her erratic behaviour worsen. The complexities of
her character cause us to experience the conflicting emotions of both sympathy and suspicion, as
her mental health clearly deteriorates.
During the steep decline of the narrator’s mental health, she begins to believe that the wallpaper is
hiding a woman behind it. Through the use of symbolism, word choice and dramatic irony, the
reader is exposed to the drastic decline in the wellbeing of the narrator. This is seen in the quote:
“And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern”. The symbolism of
the woman in the wallpaper is observed here as it has changed from a distracting, frustrating map
that defies all logic – to the narrator – to a jail-like entity that has trapped a woman behind it. Just as
the narrator feels trapped under the constraints of societal norms, the woman behind the wallpaper
is constrained by the wallpaper. However, through dramatic irony, the reader can see that the
woman in the wallpaper is simply a direct embodiment of the narrator’s feelings of isolation and
entrapment. Furthermore, the fear felt by the narrator is seen again through the word choice of
“creeping” suggesting that she believes this figure in the wall to be sneaky, sly and hiding from her,
conjuring again a feeling of fear and unease. Once again, the reader is capable of experiencing more
than one feeling for the narrator. While the sympathy remains as her mental state is clearly
declining, our distrust and suspicion grows. It is obvious that the forced isolation experienced by the
narrator is negatively contributing to her declining mental state, but her paranoia causes us to
simultaneously lose trust and hope for her. As she moves further away from our accepted view of
society, our fear for her and those around her begins to grow.
As we near the climax of the story, the narrator becomes increasingly paranoid and suspicious, even
eventually of her own diary. The writer’s use of narrative structure, word choice and symbolism of
the diary further the reader’s understanding of the mental state of the narrator. This is seen through
the quote: “I have found out another funny thing, but I shan’t tell it this time! It does not do to trust
people too much”. The statement of “It does not… too much” exemplifies to the reader that the
paranoia that has been building is reaching a crescendo, as her distrust in all that surround her is
clear. Furthermore, the first-person narrative style of the story has been to the reader’s advantage
throughout due to diary-style entries that gives us access to her true thoughts. However, we can see
the narrator reject even the previously comforting audience of the diary as she becomes suspicious
of her own writing. Additionally, the word choice of “funny thing” creates a sense of mystery for the
reader as it is never revealed what it is that the narrator has discovered, thus causing us concern for
her welfare. While this quotation is a sign of her increasing paranoia, the reader understands and is
sympathetic of her distrust as she has tried to confide in her spouse before, and has been mocked
and imprisoned as a result. However we are also concerned and distrustful of the narrator herself as
she is becoming increasingly erratic. Her behaviour creates an ominous atmosphere and points to
someone on the brink of a mental breakdown. The complexities of her character and her treatment
lead to the reader experiencing conflicting emotions for her – sympathy and compassion, but fear
and distrust, as we do not know what she will do next.
The narrator’s mental health seems to suffer its most significant blow yet when she displays an
almost protective, maternal desire to defend the wallpaper. Using sentence structure and word
choice, Gilman conveys her fast descent towards a breakdown when she begins to display aggressive
tendencies in order to protect her study of the wallpaper, and the woman behind it. This is seen
when she says, “But I am here, and no person touches this paper but me, - not alive”. The word
choice of “not alive” suggests the narrator is willing to harm, and even kill, anyone who comes into
contact with the wallpaper. This suggests an almost total mental collapse, as her desire to
understand the paper has led violent and aggressive behaviour. Our concern for both the narrator
but also those who are around her – Jennie, John and her child – is increasing, as she seems willing
to harm anyone who she deems to be preventing her from solving this problem. This concern is
amplified when she begins to talk of harming herself: “I am getting angry to do something
desperate. To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise”. The word choice of
“desperate” suggests that she does understand suicide to be a serious, extreme act, but believes it
to be almost worthwhile. Furthermore, the word choice of “admirable” suggests she believes suicide
would be commendable if it meant that she was able to get answers for her questions. Her earlier
agitation and frustration has now been replaced with suicidal thoughts. The reader is again
concerned, but also almost totally fearful of her. The helplessness we now experience not only
causes us to fear for her and her family’s wellbeing, but mirrors the helplessness the narrator
experiences at the hands of her treatment, both medically and in society. The lack of autonomy to
prevent her downfall that is experienced by the reader is also the same lack of autonomy that has
caused her descent towards a breakdown. The complexity of the narrator’s character has now
resulted in totally conflicting feelings towards her – fear and distrust that she may harm herself or
those around her; but also sympathy and an understanding of the isolated helplessness that has led
her to this.
In conclusion, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that focusses on a
key character, the narrator. Through the use of word choice, symbolism, sentence structure,
narrative structure, dramatic irony and personification, the narrator is revealed to be a complex
character that the reader feels conflicting emotions for, such as distrust, sympathy, understanding
and fear. The story highlights the isolated, suffocating and oppressive life experienced by many
women at the time, who were ignored and misunderstood by medical professionals. The story is
similar to the experience of Gilman, who herself was placed on rest cure, and thus acts as a
propaganda piece criticising the cruel treatment of women in society at that time.