Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Jane's lessening of her introspection as the story progresses indicates how much further she has sunk. She doesn't question this fantasy of hers about the woman behind the wallpaper -- she obviously accepts it as fact. it's entirely possible that everything Jane has offered us in the way of details of her life in that house could be utterly fabricated (Gilbert; Snyder). Since she is our only witness, however, it is impossible to tell what is real and what is not.
Taking this idea one step further, we have to admit that it is possible that John isn't actually a real person. The alliteration of the names could be an indication that these characters are all simply the human manifestation of Jane's many facets of personality. John represents the practical side, while Jane is the imaginative side. it's possible that what we are witnessing in this story is not the struggle between man and wife, or patient and physician, but the struggle of one psyche to maintain a balance between her imagination and the demands of her practical life. Jane has failed to find a middle path between these two facets of her personality.
Whether or not these two opposite interests exist within the same mind or within the same house, the message is relatively clear. This message is that practicality and imagination coexist in a state of a fragile balance. If that balance is disrupted and one side begins to win over other in a dramatic fashion then a serious struggle will ensue. Both traits must give way to the wisdom of the other without overwhelming it -- very much like the classic...
If only Jane were allowed to write, it could have operated as a release valve in her mind. Just as a hyperactive child will run himself ragged and collapse into a sleeping heap when the energy has run its course, imagination will eventually be spent and the capabilities of practicality will resume. "The Yellow Wallpaper" shows us that this is not a reciprocal process, however, and that practicality must allow the hyperactive child of imagination run wild on occasion or else it will lead to spontaneous mental combustion.
Works Cited
"A Tragic Triumph: A Look at Individuality in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'." Online Internet
18 November 2006. .
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper." The Forerunner, Oct.
1913. 8 June 1999. Online Internet 18 November 2006. .
Gilbert, Kelly. "The Yellow Wallpaper': An Autobiography of Emotions by Charlotte
Perkins Gilman." American Literature Research and Analysis Website. Editor, Dr. Jim Wohlpart. 27 July 1998. Online Internet 18 November 2006. .
Notaro, Anna. "Space and Domesticity in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman." Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 10 (1999): 59-68. Online Internet 18 November 2006. .
Snyder, Beth. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Poetics of the Inside. Domestic Goddesses. Editor, Kim Wells. August 23, 1999. Online. Internet. 18 November 2006. .
Works Cited
"A Tragic Triumph: A Look at Individuality in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'." Online Internet
18 November 2006.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper." The Forerunner, Oct.
1913. 8 June 1999. Online Internet 18 November 2006.
Perkins Gilman." American Literature Research and Analysis Website. Editor, Dr. Jim Wohlpart. 27 July 1998. Online Internet 18 November 2006.
Gilman." Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 10 (1999): 59-68. Online Internet 18 November 2006. <http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~jast/Number10/Notaro.html>.
Snyder, Beth. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Poetics of the Inside. Domestic Goddesses. Editor, Kim Wells. August 23, 1999. Online. Internet. 18 November 2006. <http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/snyder.htm>.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge The cliched image of the Romantic poet is of a solitary tortured genius; it is ironic that the work of the poets collectively regarded as the 'Romantic School' is marked by collective and co-operative effort as much as by individual creativity. For none of the great figures of Romantic poetry is this so true as it is for Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The first-rate poetic output of this extraordinary,
This is the problem of induction in a nutshell, and it is something that has alternatively been seen as one of the most severe limitations on true knowledge about the world or as a non-issue in any practical terms. If inductive reasoning cannot be trusted, then all past experience and even experimental data is essentially meaningless in predicting the future and there is no logical reason to assume things should
Ford Mustang Marketing Research I spoke to five male car owners in their 20s. Three of them had purchased a vehicle in the past two years, the other two had their cars for longer. None of them had purchased a Mustang, but one had a Camaro. The four that owned other types of cars indicated that they did not want a pony car for a number of different reasons, from gas prices
Nursing Case Study Jane lives a very difficult life when it comes to the everyday implications that she has to deal with. Taking care of one child at a young age is difficult enough; taking care of six by the age of 26, seems to be nearly impossible. It is not surprising to hear that having six children that range from eight months old to nine years old, can become something
But the threshold nuclear-weapons states will not give up their nuclear option without seeing proof of a timetabled move towards a nuclear-free world. The road towards the nuclear-free destination includes still deeper reductions in the nuclear arsenals of the five nuclear-weapons states; further constraints on the deployment of their nuclear weapons on the territories of other states, for example by means of regional nuclear-weapon-free zones; the entry into force
Emerson, he believed resistance to conformity and exploration of self, led to a kind of self-reliance that permeated the inner workings and imaginings of the human soul. What began as a simple analysis of self-explored concepts, took on the form of universal philosophy. This essay will examine Emerson's work, "Self-Reliance" in a way that will not only analyze themes, but also provide a closer look into the context surrounding