The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
The Narrator’s Self-Quest
in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Jamie Liao & Sharon Sie (廖庭麟&謝欣婷)
National Hsinchu Girls’ Senior High School
Class 201
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
I.
Introduction
A.
Women’s status in the 19th century (Victoria era)
The women in the 19th century were “subordinated,” which means the woman was in a
lower position with less authority at that time.
In the course of the early 19th century, the social status of women was regarded as an
inferior to men. Although some feminists began to concern themselves about this problem,
the majority of people still had gender stereotypes. Fortunately, in the end of the 19th century,
more and more reforms and campaigns enabled women to get the rights they should have.
Based on this background, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman was published in 1891 to represent the long-time constrained women and also hoped
to inspire them to strive for the lives they wanted.
a.
The early 19th century
During this period, the society took two different attitudes toward the women. Initially,
the women’s status was always belittled. Both in politics and the society, they did not get the
rights and respect they should obtain. However, later there were opposite viewpoints.
Some people started to pay attention to the problem that women’s status was ignored;
however, those who wanted to improve women’s conditions didn’t take action to solve this
problem. On the other hand, others who held a conservative view took it for granted that the
women’s status was inferior to the men’s. Because of this strong stereotype, women lived
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
under the bondage of the tradition and therefore were constrained: women were asked to do
anything that conformed to “Womanliness,” which well defined women’s roles. Namely,
women shouldn’t have their own opinions but do anything complying with the tradition.
Therefore, though the voice that supported women to strive for their proper rights
appeared in the early 19th century, women was still confined in the domestic sphere and seen
inferior to men.
b.
The late 19th century
As time went by, more and more people took side with the feminists and started to take
action to raise the women’s status. In the educational aspects, some universities began to
provide the opportunities for women to study. After gaining much knowledge, the women
realized that they should endeavor to obtain their rights in politics for themselves. As a result,
they started to hold some campaigns to make the society aware of their protests against
gender injustice. In addition, women of that time didn’t have the chance to do anything for
themselves because of centuries of neglect in the legislature. Therefore, they also undertook
to fight for suffrage.
The action mentioned above was only the initiative feminist movement striving for
women’s rights. However, it was no doubt that those efforts provided a good base for the
women in the 20th century to do more for themselves further in the society.
B.
The background of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's writing of "The Yellow
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Wallpaper"
After Charlotte Perkins Gilman gave birth to her baby with her first husband, she got a
serious depression, which inspired her to write “The Yellow Wallpaper” in 1891 to express
her emotions and represent the attitude that people took toward women at that time.
During the period that she got depression, she was treated with “Rest Cure.” Medically,
it was a way of cure for the patients who got mental problems. When the patients received
this treatment, they should do “bed rest” for at least one month and be separated from their
families or friends. The only people they could contact were those who took care of them.
What’s more, they were forbidden to write and could not express their emotions as a result.
Silas Weir Mitchell, a famous physician of that time, prescribed “Rest Cure” for
Charlotte Perkins Gilman. But this treatment was torture to her. In the process of “Rest Cure,”
Gilman’s body and soul were constrained and she couldn’t articulate for herself. This
constraint caused her to write “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a vivid representation of women’s
restricted emotions. As a result, “The Yellow Wallpaper” became an important feminist
literature in the 19th century.
II.
Thesis：The four-stage transformation of the narrator
After reading “The Yellow Wallpaper,” we find this short story not only impressive but
also meaningful. Some of the plots reflect the social and family situation, in which women of
that time were subordinated. The progressive changes of the narrator in the story especially
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
interest us: she experiences a four-stage transformation to complete her self-quest. The
following is our analysis about her development and transformation.
A.
The protagonist—The no-name narrator
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the name of the narrator is never revealed, which signifies
the subordination of the women of that time. Throughout the story, the narrator’s husband
always calls her “darling” or “little heart” instead of her real name (655). “Name” symbolizes
one’s identity and the sense of existence of a person. In terms of this point, John always
neglects “the no-name” narrator. Importantly, the narrator went through a bit of an identity
crisis. She cannot realize who she is: she is not merely John’s wife but also his patient. She is
her baby’s mother but is deprived of the right to access to him. Nor does she have the chance
to take care of him. Under constant control and repression, she finally completes the process
of self-quest step by step through her transformation.
B.
The antagonists: John and the tradition
The opponents of the narrator in this story are John and the tradition.
a.
John
The role of narrator’s husband as a doctor symbolizes the high status of the men at that
time. Instead of paying attention to the narrator’s feeling, John makes the narrator do what he
wants her to do. “Rest Cure” in fact is a restriction that he imposes on the narrator. Also, he
insists on his thoughts, regardless of the narrator’s complaint about the treatment and the
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house. As a result, John is an important factor that causes the narrator to break the constraint
and search for her real self.
b.
The bondage of the tradition
An antagonist refers to the character in fiction who stands directly opposed to the
protagonist. The idea that women are subordinate to men has been long existed. Although
such a tradition is not a character, it is an opponent of the narrator.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” there is no doubt that the tradition is a crucial factor
constraining the narrator’s actions. Therefore, the narrator has no choice but to hide her
emotions and repress her upsetting feelings.
In traditional perspective, women should always be commanded by men or accept
anything that they do to them. Under the bondage of the tradition, the narrator is persuaded
into accepting John’s treatment in her initial stage of transformation.
Fortunately, when she sees the pattern—the stooping woman in the yellow wallpaper, it
gives her the motive and empowers her to fight instead of keeping silent. Moreover, it
symbolizes a beginning that females strive for their rights.
Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes some changes, and her identity is changed,
from a wife to a patient. Then, she becomes a detective, trying to discover information and
finding out the factors that influence her. Again, she is changed to become the woman she
finds in the yellow wallpaper. Finally, by becoming the woman in the yellow wallpaper, she
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is empowered and thus turns out to be a victor over her husband.
1.
Stage One: Changed from a wife to a patient
The excuse of helping the narrator enables John to justify himself as a doctor. This
situation makes their relationship as husband and wife subtly change into one as doctor and
patient. When the narrator gets melancholia, John, as a husband, does not give her emotional
support. Instead, he neglects her feeling and treats her as a patient. When they move into the
mansion, John considers it a good place for the narrator to get over the sickness sooner. The
narrator, in contrast, considers it “a haunted house” (649). Obviously, the narrator doesn’t like
the mansion at all. However, John still insists on it. John’s attitude plays an important part in
the woman’s change and her search for her true self.
1.1
John’s attitude
a.
The name
In the story, the narrator’s name is never mentioned.
“What’s in a name?” In Shakespeare’s drama, Romeo & Juliet, Juliet asks herself.
Falling in love with the son of her family feud, Julia questions the credibility of a name. In
fact, a name is not only a noun but also a source of self-identity. It is essential for a person.
However, in the story, John calls the narrator “dear,” “little sweet heart” and so on, never
calling her by her name. It seems that she isn’t important in the family but is one of John’s
properties. In addition, John’s method, the Rest Cure, drives the narrator to a crazy state.
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
b.
The Rest cure and the double identity of John
The way, “Rest cure,” with which John helps the narrator get over the sickness,
becomes a chain to her because he doesn’t pay attention to her sensation. As a husband, John
decides to move into the house, which he considers good for his wife. Additionally, as a
doctor, he commands that his patient receive “Rest Cure,” which paradoxically drives the
narrator insane at last. In fact, both “husband” and “doctor” are the codes of power and
authority in the mainstream of the society.
In the story, John is both the narrator’s husband and “a physician of high standing”
(649). The double identify of authority gives him supreme power to control the narrator, and
she has to do everything that her husband wants or expects her to do. Therefore, the
expectation from the narrator’s husband becomes a kind of repression. On the other hand,
John’s decision to live in the house determines the woman’s transformation, too.
1.2
The house
It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure
ancestral halls for the summer.
A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and
reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of
fate!
Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.
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The Narrator’s Self-Quest in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted?
(649)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the house as an important symbol: a jail. Although the
house used to be a nursery place, ironically, it does not “nurse” the woman at all but
imprisons her because she is doubly confined as a wife and a patient in the house.
a.
A colonial mansion
The house is meant for a sanitarium for the narrator to live in for a summer, but it is
actually a “colonial mansion.” Importantly, a colony means that a country is controlled by a
more powerful country. Gilman employs such a metaphor to indicate the relation between the
narrator and her husband: she is under the control of her husband and doctor.
b.
A hereditary estate
Another metaphor used in the story is the “hereditary estate,” which means a passed
down house from generation to generation. Significantly, it connotes tradition and
conservation. In the 19th century, women’s status is still inferior to men’s. Besides, living in a
hereditary estate suggests that the narrator is forced to live in a surrounding of oppression.
1.3
The importance of writing to the narrator
As a wife, the narrator is supposed to take care of her baby. However, because of the
sickness, she is treated as a contagious patient and is separated from her baby. The narrator is
deprived of the right to stay with and take care of her baby. Under the repression of her
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husband and the society, the narrator struggles to find something to vent her
pressure—writing, which helps the narrator arrange her thought while facing the tiring cure.
The journal, then, serves as a listener, while nobody can listen to her.
Little by little, the narrator chooses not to talk to John about what she feels because she
knows he will not listen to her. As what the narrator says, “John does not know how much I
[the narrator] really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (651).
Because of her husband’s constant constraint, she begins to repress her upsetting feeling in
the depth of her mind. The only way for the narrator to express herself is through writing.
However, John’s prescription of “Rest Cure” deprives her important source of comfort. As a
result, the writing habit can’t set the narrator free. The repressed condition is still making the
narrator nervous, which drives her to suspect the surroundings, including the house and her
husband.
In the story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses two kinds of writing skills to represent the
lonely feeling of the narrator: Epistolary and monologue.
a.
Epistolary
Epistolary novel refers to a novel written as a series of documents with a form of diary
entry. Some people use journals or diaries as psychotherapy to help them find their true selves.
The narrator’s act of writing a journal is very similar to this kind of “self healing.”
The narrator mentions that John forbids her to “work” until she is getting well, and her
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brother, who is also a physician, has said the same thing (649). As doctors, they enjoy high
social status. As health professionals, they consider the way they cure her is certainly right.
However, they fail to realize that they have imposed constraints on the narrator. “But what is
one to do?” laments the narrator (650). She has no choice but to write secretly and thinks of
as a “heavy opposition” (649). Writing then becomes the only way for her to express her
opinion.
b.
Monologue
In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a long dialogue between the narrator and John seldom
appears. That is, Gilman uses the skill “monologue,” in which the narrator talks to herself.
Being alone, she has no company to listen to her. The only one to whom she can talk is the
narrator herself. Importantly, lack of communication between the narrator and John is
revealed through monologue.
Realizing there is a communication gap between her and her husband, the narrator is
eager to have a talk with John. “I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the
other day, and tell him how I wish he would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and
Julia” (654). However, John tells the narrator that she isn’t able to go, nor able to stand it
“after he got there” (654). Like a commander, John prevents her from having any social
activity and freedom. As a result, the narrator even has to convince herself to accept anything
John does for her: “Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick” (654).
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Although she doesn’t like what John has done for her, she is convinced to adjust herself to the
condition, in which she is subordinated.
Moreover, the monologue takes on strong ironic significance in the story. Because the
narrator can’t make any counterattack against her subordinated conditions her husband
imposes on her, what she can do is continually convince herself through a false fact: out of
love, John arranges everything for her.
2.
Stage Two: Acting like a detective
The narrator understands she is not happy. Like a detective, she tries to discover
information about her unhappiness.
After they move into the mansion, the narrator can’t live with her baby, which depresses
her a lot. She complains, “and yet I cannot be with him [her baby], it makes me so nervous”
(651). In addition, the narrator begins to write secretly because she knows “John would think
it absurd” (654). As a result, the narrator has no way to reduce her pressure. Like a detective,
she starts to suspect the surroundings and observe everything in her life. She suspects that
there is something wrong in her life.
2.1. Jenny’s behavior
Jenny, John’s sister, comes to their house one day and has become the housekeeper
since then. The narrator thinks she is “perfect” and “enthusiastic” at first (652). But since the
treatment John gives to the narrator is actually a kind of oppression rather than love, she is
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gradually unable to put her trust in people around her. She thinks Jenny is monitoring her and
suspects her depriving her of her hobby, writing.
2.2. Mary’s place in the family
While the narrator is sick, Mary is the one who takes care of the baby. That is to say, the
narrator’s status of being a mother is replaced. In the Bible, Virgin Mary is the mother of
Jesus Chris. So the name “Mary” is related to the divine motherhood—the most appropriate
name for a mother.
2.3. The pattern in the yellow wallpaper
The narrator dislikes the house a lot. Among all the things in the house, she hates the
yellow wallpaper to the extreme. “The paint and paper look as if a boys’ school had used it”
(650). She considers the paper “a worse paper” in her life. The narrator suspects that there are
some codes in the yellow wallpaper, and she begins to decipher the code.
At first, the narrator sees the surface of the wallpaper only, which is “stripped off” and
the color is “repellant” (650-651). This makes her uncomfortable. Then, she discovers that
there is “a recurrent spot where the pattern looks like a broken and two bulbous eyes at you
upside down” (652). Also, the narrator is annoyed because she sees the patterns “crawl” and
the “unblinking eyes” are everywhere, monitoring her (652). In addition, the narrator finds
that there is “kind of sub-pattern in a different shade, a particularly irritating one, for you can
only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then” (653). As time goes on, she becomes more
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and more curious about the sub-pattern in the yellow wallpaper. Gradually, she sees “a
strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and
conspicuous front design” (653). Finally, the narrator finds the sub-pattern, which is like a
woman.
3.
Stage Three: Decoding the pattern in the yellow wallpaper
The woman-like pattern, which the narrator finds in the wallpaper, symbolizes the
projection of her mental condition. When the narrator finally realizes this connection, it
becomes an important turning point in her life because she launches her self-quest.
3.1. The image of the woman in the yellow wallpaper
In the yellow wallpaper, the narrator sees an image, which is “like a woman stooping
down and creeping behind the pattern” (655). Psychologically, this image of woman in the
wallpaper actually is a projection of the narrator’s mental condition. Furthermore, the
stooping-woman pattern symbolizes the women who were oppressed by the society and men
at that time. However, the narrator doesn’t realize the meaning of the image at first. What she
knows is that the pattern repels her and makes her extremely unpleasant. To avoid such an
annoying thing, she turns to her husband for help.
3.2. The impact on the narrator
She tries to find out the reason of her depression and believes it has much to do with the
wallpaper. She tries to tell John about the problem of the yellow wallpaper but John considers
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it her “silly fancies” and asks her to use her “will” and “self-control” to help herself out of
unhappiness (652). After she finds something wrong with the paper, she is glad of what she
has found because no one has ever noticed that:
There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will.
Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day.
It is always the same shape, only very numerous.
And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.
I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me
away from here! [With emphasis] (655)
Although she sees the ghostly woman in the wallpaper, she doesn’t understand that the
woman symbolizes herself. Ironically, she relies on her husband to take her away.
However, John is as self-centered as usual. “It is a false and foolish fancy” her husband
rebukes her for her imagination, telling her, “Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell
you so?” (656) With superiority, he refuses to listen to the narrator again.
A transition in her life occurs when she realizes the impossibility of communicating
with her husband, who is also her doctor at the same time. The narrator is no longer obedient
to his words. “So of course I said no more on that score,” the narrator says, “He thought I was
sleep first, but I wasn’t, and lay there for hours trying to decide whether that front pattern and
the back pattern really did move together pr separately” (656). At that moment, what John
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says is no longer important at all. Instead of relying on John to take her away from the house
with ugly yellow wallpaper, she decides to find out the truth of the pattern in the wallpaper,
and her depression as well, by herself.
4.
Stage Four: Liberation of her self: Becoming the woman in the wallpaper to be the
victor
In the last stage of her self-request, it is crucial to the narrator that she realizes the
posture of stooping down and creeping signifies the lower position of women who struggle to
live under inequality. The woman in the yellow wallpaper inspires the narrator to break the
constraint from her husband. She first imitates the creeping posture, becomes the woman in
the yellow wallpaper, and uses this given posture to free herself in the end.
4.1. To be the woman in the wallpaper
The narrator observes the woman-like pattern every day and night, and gradually
becomes the woman in the wallpaper without awareness. One of the proofs that the narrator is
changing is her observation: “By daylight she [the woman in the wallpaper] is subdued,
quiet” (656). Like what the woman in the wallpaper does, the narrator sleeps in the daytime
and complies with John's demand. At night, she finds the "front pattern does move" and "the
woman behind shakes it." However, things change when she finds “that woman gets out in
the day time!” (658). According to the narrator, she sees “her on that long road ender the trees,
creeping along and when a carriage comes, she hides under the blackberry vine” (658). Since
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it must be very humiliating to be caught creeping by daylight, the narrator imitates the
woman. She begins to “lock the door” and “creep by daylight” as the woman in the yellow
wallpaper does (658).
Moreover, the narrator starts to be afraid of John. She claims that John seems very
“queer” sometimes, and even does Jennie (656). The narrator guesses that it is because of the
wallpaper, but actually it is that the narrator herself who is influenced—she gradually turns
into another person, while she doesn’t even notice that very subtle change.
Observing the wallpaper for a long time, the narrator is deeply influenced by it. On the
one hand, the narrator is extremely interested in the women in the wallpaper, wanting to help
her out. On the other hand, the narrator is imitating the woman who she has been observing,
and with the same posture, she liberates herself from John’s oppression.
4.2. Self liberation
The narrator sets herself free from the constraint of her husband at last because she sees
the projection of herself in the yellow wallpaper, which intensifies her desire to escape from
the social bondage. In the end of the story, the narrator takes action to decipher the code
behind the image and help “the woman with the creeping posture” in the yellow wallpaper to
get out on the last day during their stay in the colonial mansion.
First, the narrator observes that “as soon as it was moonlight, that poor thing began to
crawl and shake the pattern” (659). Once it happens, she gets up and runs to help the woman
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out by “peeling off yards of that paper,” (659)—an action which symbolizes that the narrator
starts trying to break through the constraint. Also, she is determined to liberate the woman in
the wallpaper even though the narrator notices, “when the sun came… that awful pattern
began to laugh at me [the narrator]” (659). It seems that the woman in the wallpaper is not
worried or frightened by the narrator’s action, which she regards as a futile attempt.
Regardless of the sneer, the narrator declares she will “finish it today” because she is “angry
enough to do something desperate” (660)
Step by step, the narrator becomes much crazier than “peeling the paper.” She wants to
peel off all the paper that she “could reach standing on the floor” (660). It is an action which
reveals her determination. However, she finds that the wallpaper “sticks horribly and the
pattern just enjoys it” (660). What she finds signifies how deep-rooted gender stereotype of
the society then.
When she finishes peeling off all the paper, she is entirely transformed into the woman
in the wallpaper. Namely, the woman in the wallpaper and the narrator herself, have become
one. After the transformation, she finds “there are so many of those creeping women, and
they creep so fast” (660). To the narrator, all the women out of the windows are like her and
the woman in the wallpaper as well. Since they are all confined and subordinate to men, they
creep to survive. When the narrator realizes her symbolic posture and her new transformed
identity, she wonders, “If they [those creeping women] all come out of that wallpaper” as she
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did. It is her epiphany that she knows she shares the same fate and identity with the woman in
the wallpaper and those creeping women out of the windows. Because now she has freed the
woman in the wallpaper, she has also freed herself. She even supposes she “shall have to get
back behind the pattern when it comes in night” (660). However, she gives up this idea
because she feels free. After experiencing her new found freedom, she exclaims that “it is so
pleasant to be out in this great room and creep around as I please” (660). Accordingly, she
doesn’t want to be back to the wallpaper again.
With the creeping posture, the narrator ironically breaks through the condition in which
she has been trapped for a long time. When John comes to the door, he is shocked by the
narrator’s creeping posture. He can’t understand what she is doing, and then he faints.
Importantly, the narrator asserts, “I’ve got out at last… so you [John] can’t put me back,”
(660) announcing her victory in advance. The most important of all, at the last scene, the
narrator finally can “creep over him [John] every time” (660) instead of being the woman
who is always subordinated. What she can do significantly stands for her successful
self-liberation in the end.
When the narrator finally can’t repress her sensation any more, she becomes mad. To
free herself, the narrator has to become the woman in the yellow wallpaper first. By
“creeping over” her husband, a symbol of both liberation and victory, she becomes a victor.
To her, a spurt of satisfaction surges up. After the process of striving for freedom is
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accomplished, she feels joyful.
III. Conclusion
The narrator experiences the four-stage transformation to liberate herself from the
oppression of the authority. As a subordinated woman, the narrator is always silent under the
command of her husband. However, she finally knows that she has to break the inequitable
traditional bondage. In such a situation, being mad becomes an essential process so that the
narrator takes immediate action and changes her life.
Throughout the story, especially in the last stage of her transformation, madness is the
inevitable consequence of all the changes in her self-quest. Firstly, the narrator is deprived of
her identity—as a wife and a mother by her husband, John, who never takes the narrator’s
thoughts and feelings seriously. In addition, because no one listens to the narrator, she can
only choose to keep her thoughts in her mind and talk to herself. As a result, she no longer
trusts people around her. Like a detective, she is eager to find out the truth that causes her
unhappiness. Moreover, because of the unfair treatment, she finally becomes a “crazy”
woman in the eyes of John and Jennie. However, were it not for madness, she could not
liberate herself from John’s domination. Ironically, by being mad and creeping over her
husband, she claims her victory. Thus, such “craziness” is an essential thrust which leads to
the narrator’s final victory over John, who embodies the social constraint on women. Without
becoming mad, she cannot complete her self-quest eventually.
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IV. References
1. Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Nina Baym, et al, Eds. The Norton
Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 2, 3rd Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.,
1989
(p. 647-660)
2. Holman, C. Hugh. A Hand Book to Literature. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Educational
Publishing, 1980.
3. “Subordinate.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. 6th ed. 2004.
(p. 1175)
4. “The biography of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.” Grade Saver. 9 Feb. 2008.
<http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/authors/about_charlotte_gilman.html>
5. “Hereditary” and “Colonial.” Cambridge Dictionary Online. 17 Jan. 2008.
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