Lose Yourself to Find Yourself
In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes a woman’s painful progression towards madness. Paradoxically, as the narrator slips away from the outside world and disconnects from society and her family, she gains a better understanding of herself. The narrator disconnects from her physical self and gains an uncomfortable understanding of her mental identity. She finds solace in the truth of herself.
The narrator’s excessively imaginative yet terrifying childhood dreams show her to be an extremely creative woman. The narrator’s creative energy is continually suppressed by her husband, a doctor, who equates independence of spirit with mental instability. The husband tries to cure his wife’s mental illnesses with complete relaxation. He denies his wife the liberty to express her desires, or write or explore the outside around their house.
Denied the exercise of her own volition, the narrator seeks refuge by focusing her imagination on objects such as the house and wallpaper. She is desperate to distract herself from the frustration caused by her total lack of autonomy.
The progression of disassociation with the world begins with the wallpaper in her bedroom/cell and is shown increasing by the writing in her secret diary. Both of these objects help to propel the narrator further into her world of fantasy and madness. The diary is the narrator’s solace in her world of mind-numbing boredom. The moment she starts writing in her diary her thoughts are concealed from all except the reader. From the beginning, Gilman uses a choppy type of prose to convey a woman losing her mind. The sentence style mirrors her increasing illness.
It is interesting that, at first, the narrator fails to see a connection between her and the imaginary woman that she sees as trapped within the wallpaper. The narrator initially finds it objectionable that the woman is trying to escape her imprisonment and believes that the woman intends to “tie her up.” The narrator eventually comes to the realization the she too is trapped within the wallpaper, a metaphor for the walls of her prison. The narrator empathizes with the women who are imprisoned by the narrow domestic expectations in their lives.
The most surprising revelation is at the end of the story when the narrator says, “I’ve got out at last… in spite of you and Jane.” Here the narrator refers to a previously unnamed character. Personally, I think that Jane is the name of the narrator. This is an extreme demonstration that “Jane” has become completely detached from herself. At the same time, the narrator is affirming the results of her introspection. By being focused completely inward, she has finds herself.
In order to untangle her life and break free from her situation, she had to tear herself apart. It was painful and fascinating to see a woman who is so “insanely” cut off from the outer world able to find personal revelation within. Insanity seems to rule out the possibility of coherent thought, yet Jane proves just the opposite. (500)
In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes a woman’s painful progression towards madness. Paradoxically, as the narrator slips away from the outside world and disconnects from society and her family, she gains a better understanding of herself. The narrator disconnects from her physical self and gains an uncomfortable understanding of her mental identity. She finds solace in the truth of herself.
The narrator’s excessively imaginative yet terrifying childhood dreams show her to be an extremely creative woman. The narrator’s creative energy is continually suppressed by her husband, a doctor, who equates independence of spirit with mental instability. The husband tries to cure his wife’s mental illnesses with complete relaxation. He denies his wife the liberty to express her desires, or write or explore the outside around their house.
Denied the exercise of her own volition, the narrator seeks refuge by focusing her imagination on objects such as the house and wallpaper. She is desperate to distract herself from the frustration caused by her total lack of autonomy.
The progression of disassociation with the world begins with the wallpaper in her bedroom/cell and is shown increasing by the writing in her secret diary. Both of these objects help to propel the narrator further into her world of fantasy and madness. The diary is the narrator’s solace in her world of mind-numbing boredom. The moment she starts writing in her diary her thoughts are concealed from all except the reader. From the beginning, Gilman uses a choppy type of prose to convey a woman losing her mind. The sentence style mirrors her increasing illness.
It is interesting that, at first, the narrator fails to see a connection between her and the imaginary woman that she sees as trapped within the wallpaper. The narrator initially finds it objectionable that the woman is trying to escape her imprisonment and believes that the woman intends to “tie her up.” The narrator eventually comes to the realization the she too is trapped within the wallpaper, a metaphor for the walls of her prison. The narrator empathizes with the women who are imprisoned by the narrow domestic expectations in their lives.
The most surprising revelation is at the end of the story when the narrator says, “I’ve got out at last… in spite of you and Jane.” Here the narrator refers to a previously unnamed character. Personally, I think that Jane is the name of the narrator. This is an extreme demonstration that “Jane” has become completely detached from herself. At the same time, the narrator is affirming the results of her introspection. By being focused completely inward, she has finds herself.
In order to untangle her life and break free from her situation, she had to tear herself apart. It was painful and fascinating to see a woman who is so “insanely” cut off from the outer world able to find personal revelation within. Insanity seems to rule out the possibility of coherent thought, yet Jane proves just the opposite. (500)
1 comments:
Silvergirl--the editor suggests that Jane may be the given name of "Jennie" the housekeeper. But I find your interpretation intriguing, even if I can't find enough evidence to evaluate it. But it is consistent with the loss of self the narrator has experienced, isn't it?
I also like the phrase "exercise of her own volition." Good one.
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