Yellow Wallpaper

English Literature: Literary Analyses

Title of the story: The Yellow Wallpaper

Author: Charlotte Perkins Stetson

Thesis of the Story

The story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, is about mental illness, treatment for married women, and freedom of thought and expression that bring ups and down in their emotions. The writer has offered various symbols like the diary, the yellow wallpaper, and day and night light to symbolize the story and the character’s feelings. 

Justification of Critical Perspective

Since the story is written by a female writer and was married too, the female experiences are different from those of men, particularly in married life, which corroborated with the Feminist perspective. The narrative parts of male and female viewpoints would be scrutinized with the given story. The female author’s take on the plot events and the protagonist should be better evaluated. How and why the author thought of married life, illness, and freedom of thought to be connected should be assessed independently from male personality being married and mentally ill, also if a male writer wrote it. 

The author was unaware that the story she would write decades ago would be considered a classic in its genre and still be acclaimed in modern times. The writer symbolized the story of repression and the impact it has caused mentally over the psychological working of a woman. Also, the story best fits the writer’s personal experiences, who was believed to be on the brink of madness and being recommended the treatment of Victorian “rest-cure” for curing nervous condition among females. The story was a protest from the writer for the women undergoing any similar conditions. 

The constant criticism from her husband in the story, sarcasm, and irony have been intertwined to produce a controlling nature of men over a female’s sanity within Victorian culture. Therefore, the condition of near madness is due to suppression of her liberty to express to which wallpaper displays the complex image of herself. 

Annotated Bibliography 

Source 1: Bibliographic Entry

He, Xiaojun and Lina Liao. “Women Consciousness Exploration in Jane Austen and Her Works.” Journal of Education and Training Studies, vol. 3, no. 6, Nov. 2015, pp. 293-297, doi:10.11114/jets.v3i6.1125

Evaluation and Analysis

The source is peer-reviewed, and there are seemingly no factual errors. The article is relevant to my chosen text since it talks about Jane Austen, a feminist writer, and gives her feminist perspectives strongly. Although she wrote most of her writing anonymously, she believed that females should be given the same rights as men. A man’s struggle is reflected in most stories, such as Pride and Prejudice, where a man has a higher rank than a woman. The Yellow Wallpaper supports the same fact where the husband of the mentally ill wife could be considered a patriarch and feels contemptuous towards his wife. A strong quote from the source that would be helpful in my research is: “Jane Austen wrote the novels on the assumption that women were inherently as intelligent and rational as men were. In the marriage market into which her heroines usually enter, the woman is as likely to be the instructor as the man is.” Also, the source relates to the chosen critical perspective that I have already explained for Jane Austen’s connection with feminist writings. The quote from The Yellow Wallpaper says, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s husband, assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?” creates a sheer relation to this bibliographic source. 

Word Count: 245

Source 2: Bibliographic Entry

Gou, Rongqiong. “Brief Analysis of Feminist Literary Criticism.” Advances in Social Science, Education, and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), vol. 300, pp. 453-456, https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/55912763.pdf

Evaluation and Analysis

The source is peer-reviewed, and there are no factual errors. The article is relevant to my chosen text since it highlights the feminist perspective that has been used in various literary works along with the feminist movements in a different era that impacted the literary works. As liberal feminism started to take shape from 1980 to 1920, The Yellow Wallpaper, written in 1980, also talked about gendered roles and discrimination. The bibliographic source discussed the initiation on talks about patriarchy, which the selected story does. A strong quote from the source that would be helpful in my research is: “All in all, Patriarchy can be understood as male-dominated, male supreme over female and androcentric in the society.” Also, the source communicates with the chosen critical perspective as the male-written literary works showed a superior role of men and the responsibilities alien to the female readers, creating a different emotion for the writings that were coming from female authors that clicked the readers. The quote from The Yellow Wallpaper saying, “he (John, the husband) scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures” forms a strong relation to this bibliographic source. 

Word Count: 206

Source 3: Bibliographic Entry

Raina, Javeed Ahmad. “Feminism: An Overview.” International Journal of Research, vol. 4, no. 13, pp. 3372-3376, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339939198_Feminism_An_Overview

Evaluation and Analysis

The source is peer-reviewed, and it appears that it has no factual errors. The article is relevant to my chosen text since it highlights the work of feminism and its influence over the female’s emotions and oppression with the help of a literary lens. The bibliographic source debated the females’ acceptance of the male-dominated society and its embedded suppression to which females have always been a target. Their own identities are harshly affected rather than taking them as individuals who should be cared for, loved, and nurtured. A strong quote from the source that would be helpful in my research is: “The feminist thinkers call these notions into question by showing a protest and resistance to masculine coded codes of conduct.” Also, the source resonates with the chosen critical perspective since the historical insignificance that women have been subjected to created feminist wanes in the political movements and literary writings, such as in the form of second-wave feminism. The social patriarchy and gender inequality have been intensely discussed in the literary discourse within the article. The quote from The Yellow Wallpaper saying, “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage,” frames a powerful link to this bibliographic source.