Yellow Wallpaper

Realism has a definition as plain as the word itself. It is the real deal on life. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote a tale called “The Yellow Wall-Paper” that describes certain realism within the female society. Gilman uses a simplistic object to protrude her ideas about the woman’s place in a household. Her ideas are leaked out throughout her story and as easy as it is to read, it has a very sensible depiction.
From beginning to end she describes this hideous wallpaper that is in a room she usually sleeps in. It has lurid patterns and a disgusting yellow that make you deny yellow as a color of something gracious. She also gets angry every time she sets her eyes upon it because it is so disturbing. This, in fact, is her imprisonment. As a woman in that era, she was suppose to do everything her husband told her to do and was unable to rebel against him. She uses this wallpaper to show her imprisonment as a terrible thing that she detests and it makes her sick. Her husband constantly denies her illness because, as doctors sometimes do, he does not see that he is the cause of it and he lets it got along telling her that she is improving. She angers herself constantly while trying to solve the mystery of the wallpaper because she is beginning to realize her situation in social imprisonment. She soon realizes it because the paper, “becomes bars,” at night and she sees a woman behind them (Gilman 9). This calms her now that she knows as she says after find out, “I feel ever so much better now!” (Gilman 11). She usually sees this woman in a surface that reflects images back at the observer like the windows hinting that is actually herself that she sees trying to escape that hideous prison.
She also begins speaking of the woman rattling the cage trying to get out. Obviously this is Gilman attempting to be free, but this not only done with the rattling of the figurative cage; Gilman does this with her paper as well. All of her thoughts, emotions, and feelings are revealed in that rebellious biography she writes all the time. The cult of true womanhood is once again attacked here. Charlotte does not like the idea of being second-hand to her husband and it makes her sick. She loves her husband and does what she must, but like other women, her sacrifices were not enjoyable. She speaks her pain by saying, “John does not know how much I really suffer,” and tells the audience, to prove it is not her that is just complaining, that her brother is also a doctor and says she is fine as well, showing that it is not just her husband, but all men who are like that (Gilman 3). Also notice that she never speaks down about her husband, but she just says he does not understand and he never hurts her, but just does not think anything is wrong. Anger and hate were not always involved in the feelings of women and their spouses; men just did not know how it felt to be in their shoes. Also at the end her husband faints when the prison is torn away from her. This is symbolic toward the realization of a problem. Many times when people find out an overwhelming truth about something, it is so much to think about that they are left unconscious. He did not realize his wife was so imprisoned so, in his misunderstanding, he is bombarded with thoughts in his mind. He cannot believe what has truly been going on.
Gilman gave a very similar message in her writing of “The Yellow Wall-Paper” telling the world about an unfortunate situation in society. She wanted out as the constant shaking and rattling of the bars symbolized in her writing. Also, in a way, the room is concealed thoughts of her mind and the wallpaper the barrier keeping her from breaking free. It is said that bottled up (or imprisoned) emotions are bad for health. At least she found a way to release herself and become free.