In "The Yellow Wallpaper," why must the woman in the wallpaper “creep” by daylight, and why must it be “humiliating” for her to do so? What could the daylight symbolize in your opinion?
After reading this story it almost seemed similar to The shining, with the supernatural element and the main character developing a slow sense of insanity that fully consumes them in the end. With the creeping women, I always thought of them as ghosts that lived or stayed at the house like the main character and now haunt the place, they probably do it during the daylight for the same reason why she creeps in the day. The reason being they don't want anyone becoming suspicious at night yet they want to leave the room with the yellow wallpaper. It could be argued that the daylight symbolizes the yellow wallpaper, because sunlight or the sun is depicted as yellow in many illustrations or descriptions. In a sense, even though the main character hates the yellow wall, it becomes her only sense of freedom. Though she is probably embarrassed because she is supposed to stay in the room like her husband. She is supposedly ill and is asked to remain in the room until she gets well. Seeing a sick woman walking around an area that can worsen her condition would surprise her husband and sister. Also, its probably because it makes her seemed uncivilized like the "other woman" she supposedly sees. Overall, it could be an interpretation of how the isolation in the room with the yellow wall paper drives the main character insane in wanting freedom to the point she believes that she is already free within the confinements of the house.
From the yellow wall paper, the women must creep during daylight because it is some what an underlying message of the domestic issues that are happening in her life. This story was written when men had a lot of control and say over women in their marriage, when the woman talks about creeping she is speaking about how she has to hide behind what is going on in her Marriage as far as the domestic problems.(even in the story she speaks about how her husband grows angry by the day and how he is very controlling on what she does and eats) . What's is humiliating to the woman could be the fact that she is publicly being humiliated by this situation and has to hide behind it all and act as if she is okay. The daylight could actually symbolizes her realizing what is actually happening to her. Thought out the story the women is blocking out things that are happening in her life trying to say that her husband is only doing it because he loves her, things starts to change when the sun starts to shine on the wall paper and she starts to see more then the ugly pattern. The woman then starts to see a cage and a women trapped, and from that she even starts to see thru her husband saying that he was faking at the end of the story when he changed his voice tone.
In the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the woman in the wallpaper represents the narrator herself. She is repressed of her imaginative power which is why she isn’t allowed to write in her journal and must “creep” by daylight because it is the only time she can do as she pleases; it is “humiliating” because her husband limits the power and control that she has over her own self. She is constantly controlled by her husband who is also her doctor. In my opinion, daylight represents the realization of the narrator as she comes to terms with the bringing in light to the fact that her thoughts about what is going on in her own body physically and emotionally is ignored even by her husband. Her thoughts are ignored simply because she is a woman and her husband has a higher position over her since he is a doctor. Gilman is illustrates the unequal treatment of women when they are “ill” compared to men. Gilman is showing how intelligence and competence is viewed depending on the person’s sex.
This short story deals with the complex issue of gender oppression at the time. Gilman herself felt repressed so she is using the narrator as a parallel for her own struggles as a female controlled by the actions of the men around her. The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" must creep about because the men in her life, her husband and her brother, don't allow her to engage in anything that interests her or stimulates her creatively (ex: her desire to write). In this story the women do not creep by daylight because they have to hide in the shadows and hide from the people who are trying to keep them down. This is shown when the narrator lies awake at night intently studying the wallpaper but by day she sleeps to keep the pretenses up. Once again, the window is seen as a symbol in literature. It represents all the freedoms the narrator cannot have as she watches the woman from the wallpaper creep about but the literal bars on the window keep the narrator locked in.
After reading this story it almost seemed similar to The shining, with the supernatural element and the main character developing a slow sense of insanity that fully consumes them in the end. With the creeping women, I always thought of them as ghosts that lived or stayed at the house like the main character and now haunt the place, they probably do it during the daylight for the same reason why she creeps in the day. The reason being they don't want anyone becoming suspicious at night yet they want to leave the room with the yellow wallpaper. It could be argued that the daylight symbolizes the yellow wallpaper, because sunlight or the sun is depicted as yellow in many illustrations or descriptions. In a sense, even though the main character hates the yellow wall, it becomes her only sense of freedom. Though she is probably embarrassed because she is supposed to stay in the room like her husband. She is supposedly ill and is asked to remain in the room until she gets well. Seeing a sick woman walking around an area that can worsen her condition would surprise her husband and sister. Also, its probably because it makes her seemed uncivilized like the "other woman" she supposedly sees. Overall, it could be an interpretation of how the isolation in the room with the yellow wall paper drives the main character insane in wanting freedom to the point she believes that she is already free within the confinements of the house.
ReplyDeleteFrom the yellow wall paper, the women must creep during daylight because it is some what an underlying message of the domestic issues that are happening in her life. This story was written when men had a lot of control and say over women in their marriage, when the woman talks about creeping she is speaking about how she has to hide behind what is going on in her Marriage as far as the domestic problems.(even in the story she speaks about how her husband grows angry by the day and how he is very controlling on what she does and eats) . What's is humiliating to the woman could be the fact that she is publicly being humiliated by this situation and has to hide behind it all and act as if she is okay. The daylight could actually symbolizes her realizing what is actually happening to her. Thought out the story the women is blocking out things that are happening in her life trying to say that her husband is only doing it because he loves her, things starts to change when the sun starts to shine on the wall paper and she starts to see more then the ugly pattern. The woman then starts to see a cage and a women trapped, and from that she even starts to see thru her husband saying that he was faking at the end of the story when he changed his voice tone.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Yellow Wallpaper”, the woman in the wallpaper represents the narrator herself. She is repressed of her imaginative power which is why she isn’t allowed to write in her journal and must “creep” by daylight because it is the only time she can do as she pleases; it is “humiliating” because her husband limits the power and control that she has over her own self. She is constantly controlled by her husband who is also her doctor. In my opinion, daylight represents the realization of the narrator as she comes to terms with the bringing in light to the fact that her thoughts about what is going on in her own body physically and emotionally is ignored even by her husband. Her thoughts are ignored simply because she is a woman and her husband has a higher position over her since he is a doctor. Gilman is illustrates the unequal treatment of women when they are “ill” compared to men. Gilman is showing how intelligence and competence is viewed depending on the person’s sex.
ReplyDeleteThis short story deals with the complex issue of gender oppression at the time. Gilman herself felt repressed so she is using the narrator as a parallel for her own struggles as a female controlled by the actions of the men around her. The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" must creep about because the men in her life, her husband and her brother, don't allow her to engage in anything that interests her or stimulates her creatively (ex: her desire to write). In this story the women do not creep by daylight because they have to hide in the shadows and hide from the people who are trying to keep them down. This is shown when the narrator lies awake at night intently studying the wallpaper but by day she sleeps to keep the pretenses up. Once again, the window is seen as a symbol in literature. It represents all the freedoms the narrator cannot have as she watches the woman from the wallpaper creep about but the literal bars on the window keep the narrator locked in.
ReplyDelete