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Dusty Slaughter
Professor Dan Anderson
English 123
27 June 2010
How the Isolation of the Narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper, and Emily Grierson in A Rose for
Emily led to their individual demise.
Can isolation cause madness, or aberration? A quote from Carly Frintner gives us some
insight, “when I’m by myself for too long, I start to question my own understanding of reality-of
who I am and what the world is really like” (Frintner). In the short stories, The Yellow
Wallpaper, and A Rose for Emily, the idea of isolation causing madness, can be examined
thoroughly.
In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is married to a high standing physician named
John, and they are moving temporarily into a colonial mansion, while their personal home is
being renovated. The narrator hints toward something possibly being uncouth about the home,
stating that they received an unusual price. Nevertheless, they move into the house, and into
the upper room which used to be a child’s nursery. The room is extremely large, but empty,
everything removed except a bed that is nailed to the floor. Moreover, the windows have bars
on them, and the walls have this garnish yellow wallpaper on them.
As we gain knowledge about the narrator, we find she suffers from temporary nervous
depression, from what exactly is unclear. However, doing some research about the author
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Charlotte Perkins Gilman, leads the reader to believe the narrators condition is Neurasthenia
(The Yellow Wallpaper), a psychological disorder characterized by chronic fatigue and
weakness, no longer in scientific use. Further, in today’s medicine this disorder would have
been recognized as postpartum depression. In addition, John does not explicitly believe his
wife to be sick, and so his diagnosis is a “rest cure” (The Yellow Wallpaper), meaning that his
wife will stay in a large room with plenty of air, and to have no intellectual stimulus. Although,
the narrator disagrees with the decision, she goes along with all of the recommendations John
gives. But, the only reason why she goes along with the decision is due to the fact no one would
side with her. For example, the narrator makes the comment “if a physician of high standing,
and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter
with one but temporary depression-a slight hysterical tendency-what is one to do” (Charlotte
Perkins). Furthermore, having a doctor tell your friends and relatives that there is nothing
wrong with you physically, takes all validity away from one’s introspect, which in the case of the
narrator leads to her living inside her mind and vicariously through the wallpaper, such as
feeling extremely complicated and trapped behind bars. In short, the narrator is forced to hide
her anxieties and fears in order to provide the façade of a happy marriage.
As the story moves forward the narrator progressively gets worse, almost stricken to the
large yellow room, subduing to complete isolation. At one point in the story the narrator is
having a conversation in the middle of the night with John, stating that she did not want to be
there anymore. John replies that she is getting better, and her response is “better in body
perhaps-” (Charlotte Perkins). This is the first insight that she believes that she is going mad. By
this point, the narrators undertaking of isolation has acclaimed her, making the comment “I
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wish he would take another room” (Charlotte Perkins), this referring to John when he was
interfering with her study of the wallpaper. The climax of the story is reached at the very end,
when the narrator has completely relinquished herself to madness. Believing, there was
someone trapped inside the wallpaper, and it was up to her to free them. In addition, John
comes home to find her locked inside the room embracing the isolation, and when he finally
gets inside the room and sees what she has done he faints, all the while the narrator continues
to creep on the outside of the room stepping over him as she passes.
Furthermore, in the short story A Rose for Emily, the reader gets a totally different
perspective on isolation. In this story we have Emily Grierson, born into an aristocratic family, at
one time living along the most select street in town. In addition, Emily did not have to pay taxes
to the town of Jefferson, because of a claim that her father had loaned the town money.
Growing up Emily was expected to fulfill great expectations by her family and the
community but, every suitor that came to court Emily was accredited as not being good enough
by her father. Soon Emily’s father died leaving her no money, no one to take care of her, just
the house. Furthermore, his death started Emily’s ascent of isolation from the town. For
example, after the death of her father it is stated that Emily rarely came out of her house at all.
With the few times that she did leave being for reason’s like Sunday rides with Homer Barron a
Yankee suitor that she would eventually kill with poison, because his status did not fit well
enough into her heritage. Moreover, what is peculiar about the death of Homer is that he was
not found for forty years, this gives us insight to the magnitude of Emily’s isolation from the
world. Further, the rest of Emily’s time in Jefferson was spent sitting by a window overlooking
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the world, “with only a combined gardener and cook” (William Faulkner), going into the house
the last ten years of her life.
At her funeral, the narrator notes that Emily has been “. . .a tradition, a duty, and a care;
a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (William Faulkner). However, Emily has very little
to do with the townspeople during her life. Also, it was not until her death that people in the
town could really access who this lonely figure was, by being allowed to go into her house. The
people of the town did not waste any time, going in right after burying her. What was found by
the town of Jefferson showed exactly how mad Emily had become, the people went into a
room that no one else had seen in the last forty years, and what they found was shocking; the
body of Homer Barron lying in a bed with bridal clothing everywhere. In addition, lying next to
Homer was a pillow with a head indention and a hair from Emily’s head.
The idea of isolation causing madness is one that will be examined more closely in years
to come, but the two examples discussed above will provide insight to the process. The reader’s
now have a better understanding of depression. Further, I believe that loneliness is truly a
sickness, and humans are much happier with other human contact. Although, today it can be
treated with talk therapy or psychotherapy. In addition, had either of the two characters had
these resources, they would of lived better lives.
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Works Cited Page
Charlotte Perkins, Gilman. The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2002
Frintner, Carly. “Lonely Madness: The Effects of Solitary Confinement and Social
Isolation of Mental and Emotional Health.” Serendip’s Exchange, Web 25 June 2010.
<http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1898>
“The Yellow Wallpaper.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol 62. Detroit
Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25. June 2010
William, Faulkner. A Rose For Emily. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2002
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