Effects The Yellow Wallpaper Has On The Mind

Personal Reflection

            The Yellow Wallpaper was difficult to comprehend because what Gilman said was not what she literally meant. For example, Gilman talked about a woman living in the wallpaper. Due to her mental condition she believed she saw a woman, but you yourself have to put your own interpretation on the story. My personal interpretation on the story is quite simple. The story behind all the mayhem was Gilman comparing women trapped in the wallpaper to women trapped in real life. Her societal connections stayed hidden beneath her text.

            I have learned multiple things from Gilman’s story. The most important lesson I have learned from The Yellow Wallpaper is independence should be a main priority, but you can’t spend too much time alone. It’s important to surround yourself with people who care about you. Sometimes you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely. No one should ever be too alone. Another thing I learned from The Yellow Wallpaper is that women sacrificed their sanity along their journey for women rights. I believe Gilman went insane due to her desperation of wanting to be treated equal to men. I admire the fact she and many others had one goal they may not have accomplished, but died never backing down. Men should continue to live in fear because women are only becoming more and more powerful.

            My favorite part of this assignment was definitely being able to have control over the majority of the assignment. Everyone may not have agreed with all of my statements, but for my project my opinion was the only thing that mattered. I enjoyed this project because it was something different. It made me rethink everyday events, but it also allowed me to put a unique creative spin on different experiences. Truthfully, I feel confident going into High School knowing the general idea of what teachers will expect from me. The Yellow Wallpaper drastically changed my way of thinking and I’m grateful that I was able to be a part of this project. 

Society's abuse to women from the 1800's, to present day.

     Historical/Societal Connections: referring or comparing a topic to events that have occurred in the past. You wouldn't be telling the truth if you said, equal rights have been strictly enforced globally for men and women. Realistically, in some parts of our world even through everything we have experienced, they haven't. Life as a woman in the 1800's was brutal, and unfortunately, women internationally still suffer to this day. "Stereo typically, a man's job was to take out the trash. As a women's job was to stay indoors," (Heather Donnelly). To sum up, that quote is indeed stereotyping, but in the 1800's women were seen as a weak link in a man's lifestyle. For example, John talked to Jane as though she was a child or if it was impossible for her to comprehend what came out of his mouth. Due to these opinions and certain actions, Gilman suffered from nervous breakdowns that later led to complete hysteria. Society, or men in this case, took advantage of women. Physical abuse was a common punishment if a woman refused to obey the dominant male. Luckily, Gilman didn't suffer through physical abuse, but her mental state equated to enough pain. 

(Beijing Declaration of Platform for
Action Emblem)

(Emblem for International
Women's Day)

     "Violence against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms...In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to a physical, sexual, and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class, and culture." Beijing Declaration of Platform for Action. "Human Rights of Women." United Nation's Women: Beijing Platform for Action. n.d. Web. 20 Mar 2014. The quote states that the unfair treatment against women robs them of their real value and effects their life drastically. The Beijing Declaration of Platform for Action is the fourth world conference for women's rights. In the 1800's, organizations or interest groups were non-existent or kept in secret. If Gilman or "Jane" was in her right state of mind she might have been one the leaders orchestrating one of these groups in private. The Yellow Wallpaper is depressing to process because I believe Gilman was already pushed over the edge when she was a child. To make matters worse, later in life, all she had to live for was her hope to one day abolish all inequality between men and women. I can't bare to imagine being in Gilman's shoes. Thankfully, society had adjusted since then because if it hadn't... imagine your every day life surrounded by multiple "Jane's" or Gilman's.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mustn%27t
Dicotnary.com to help with some unfamiliar vocab.

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/  
This link will lead you to the website of the organization in Beijing that fights for equal rights. 

Vocabulary Terms

nullifies- to deprive something of value

fundamental- a foundation, or main base

Symbolism: Reading between the lines of The Yellow Wallpaper

     Symbolism: the practice of representing things by symbols. Multiple symbols throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, are used to express the inequality during the late 1800's between men and women. In the 1800's, the dominance of the male Society left women trudging their way through life. I feel as though Jane knew the real reason John had kept her in that room with the disgusting yellow wallpaper. As some people know, the color yellow represents illness and weakness. John sees Jane and the wallpaper as one. Jane describes the wallpaper with multiple metaphors and similes. She wrote, "The color is hideous enough, unreliable enough, infuriating enough." This quote is the same/similar to the way men saw women in the late 1800's. On top of Jane already feeling lower than men, she is placed and trapped in a room that radiates and reminds her of men and their opinions of women. Gilman refuses to be seen as the wallpaper or even compared to it. Jane wants to be recognized for intelligence and eventually, prove that women are just as great, if not better than men. Jane's mental illness prevents her from being able to pursue what she truly wants to achieve for all women everywhere. 
     Jane continues to stay at the summer house with John. In text Jane explains, John and her brother are physicians. Both physicians choose to ignore the fact Jane is truly suffering from mental illness. All men desperately wanted to have power over women. For example, they let Jane drowned in her own sickness. In all fairness, I don't think men were truly right back then either. Their minds were programmed to abuse women, physically and mentally. Reading between the lines is important when reading The Yellow Wallpaper. As you read and look over the story, symbolism is lurking around and waiting for you to notice the main point of the story. The symbolism in The Yellow Wallpaper is simply screaming and telling you about women being treated unfairly by men and most importantly, people everywhere.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trudging?s=t
This link will lead you to dictionary.com in case certain vocabulary words are misunderstood.

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+symbolism&oq=what+is+symboli&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.6631j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
Symbolism's meaning will b explained through this link.

Protagonist: Jane vs. Society or herself?

      Protagonist: the leading, positive character of the story. Gilman narrates a story about the events in her life called, The Yellow Wallpaper. In real life her name was Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but in fear of people knowing she was writing, she changed her name in text to Jane. Although, there doesn't seem to be anything positive about "Jane's" life, she is the protagonist of the story. Protagonist means positive, but positivity doesn't necessarily have to be about someone being overjoyed and smiling all of the time. Positivity can be as simple as one single thought in a person's mind that drives them to keep going. I believe that one little thought is what Jane had been experiencing in her own mind. "Jane" or Gilman was determined to carry on. Jane explains different events that I personally, believe happened because of her long tiring fight for desperately wanting to be treated like everyone else. Depression and fatigue had gotten too severe that she could no longer grasp what's real and what isn't. Gilman became completely oblivious to most things such as, John's actions, or her doctor's actions in the story. Jane takes recognition to the fact he is giving her medicine, but she never thought to question whether the medicine would truly help or hurt her. That question still lingers around today. Was John giving her medicine to "help" or was he trying to continue to mentally destroy her? Even so, as the Protagonist, Jane carried on. On the other hand, Jane goes into deep description about how much she loathes the wallpaper in her room. Throughout the story, Gilman spends more and more time examining this peculiar wallpaper. The examination soon becomes an obsession. The obsession is so extreme that she can no longer control herself around the wallpaper. Her imagination explodes and starts to hallucinate begins to see a woman in the wallpaper. At first, you would think it's herself, but I believe she sees the woman as someone who is trapped like she is. This other women is also creeping around like Jane. Both are waiting for Society to accept them as Society accepts men. Jane talks about the woman shaking the “pattern” in the wallpaper, but what she really sees is the woman "shaking prison bars" or trying to escape the horrid and unfair treatment that Jane, herself has to deal with. As the story progresses, Jane describes an indentation circling the wallpaper, but what she doesn't realize is she, herself was the one that created the indentation. This indentation, to me, was caused by Jane leaning up against the wallpaper and circling around the room. Jane circling the room is a resemblance to her never ending desire for people to treat her as everyone else is treated. All in all, Jane can no longer separate imagination from reality. Her story is starting to become a Self vs. Self conflict rather than a Self vs. Society conflict.

http://www.lcradar.com/2011/09/28/charlotte-perkins-gilmans-the-yellow-wallpaper-is-a-loving-tale-of-insanity/
In site on The Yellow Wallpaper and Gilman.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006033026787\
Answers to questions about Jane's hysteria.

Theme of The Yellow Wallpaper

Theme: the subject or main, dominant idea. I think the theme of The Yellow Wallpaper is Madness. Gilman’s thoughts throughout The Yellow Wallpaper are extremely deep and depressing. There is no other word to describe the theme besides madness. Charlotte Perkins Gilman speaks a lot about a women living in the wallpaper. She describes the wallpaper changing as the light hits it by saying, “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be.” Gilman was definitely insane. Not only did she hallucinate, but rubbed herself on the wallpaper. On page 9, Gilman describes how she is beginning to see the woman from the wallpaper go out during the day. Gilman said, “It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping along, and most women do not creep by daylight.” As the story continues Gilman becomes quieter than usual and her imagination continues to grow wilder. I personally believe "Jane" is mixing reality and her thoughts together. There's no way she can tell the difference between the two if she is being trapped in the same room with only the yellow wallpaper to occupy her. Madness is insanity, and insanity truly plays a major role in Gilman’s journey.

                                                                     

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Wallpaper
Information about The Yellow Wallpaper.

http://www.sarahreadstoomuch.com/2012/04/book-review-yellow-wallpaper-by.html
This is a review someone wrote about Gilman's piece, The Yellow Wallpaper.

Information About Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born on July 3, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut. The majority of her family were writers, thinkers, and eventually Gilman became a writer herself. Intermarriages were quite common and was something certain people took pride in. Toward the middle of the story, Charlotte Gilman stated, "My mind is exhausted and seems to be sinking into deadness." Lots of symptoms proved she was suffering from depression. Over the course of time, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell told Gilman she was a “mental wreck”. If someone is formally diagnosed with depression that does not mean they are insane. According to Gilman's story and everything she stated proved she was clearly struggling to grasp onto reality. At first, I believed depression was the only illness Gilman was suffering from. My opinion drastically changed by the end of the story. Along Gilman’s fight for women’s rights multiple people have told her she was insane or delusional. Her childhood was quite rocky due to lack of support and loneliness. Gilman's childhood ruined her future. In my opinion, she soon became too independent and got too comfortable being alone. Even though she had difficulty participating in every day activities, I find Gilman inspiring. Most people do not believe this was the right thing to do, but she left her husband, Charles Walter Stetson and child in fear of being held back. I think people today should admire her independence. Gilman later fell for another man, John that attempted or pretended to help her. Gilman could have healed and possibly repaired broken relationships, but Society overtook her life. It was physically, mentally, and emotionally overwhelming and impossible for Gilman to break through Society's walls.                                                                      

Charles Walter Stetson

https://www.google.com/search?
My first link will lead you to pictures of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-yellow-wallpaper/study-guide/about/
My second link is extra information about Gilman's background.

Back ground information: Personal information about a person's past life.