Short Story Essay Sample

The story of the Yellow Wallpaper is a description of women’s miserable life and the power of men over them back in the 18th century. Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, this short story represents the primary issue of male superiority and cruelty over women. The main character who was not identified, was a woman who suffered from postpartum depression. She was not given proper recognition which only proved that women during those times were regarded with hostility in the society. She narrated the story about her tragic experience in the hands of her husband who for many years confined her inside a small room and was kept in isolation from the real world. Through the author’s product of imagination and symbolism the narrator’s solitary life was formed into reality. As a wife, she was treated like a child by her husband John. Unable to assert herself without being regarded as insane, she gave in to her husband’s wishes and desires. Aside from being her husband, John also acted as her doctor which gave him ultimate power over her. He believed that his wife needs to be on bed rest to relieve her of her turmoil. Her husband decided that they should move to another house for the summer so she could regain her normal condition. “My husband said that the worst thing I can do is to be concerned about my well-being which made me feel very unhappy”. I chose to disregard my own feelings and settled in the house instead”. These phrases clearly showed that the narrator was forced to accept her husband’s dominance over her by preferring to care about other people’s feelings and condition rather than her own misery. The house turned out to be a cold prison for her. She was confined in a single room with yellow wallpaper and covered windows. Trapped in a room everyday of her life could definitely drive her crazy. Looking at the complex and agonizing designs of the yellow wallpaper, she began to imagine that there are other women trapped behind it. She believed that these women depict her own detention by her cruel husband and she began to develop a fondness and fascination towards these women in the wall. Her imagination was strongly directed towards the wallpaper that one evening she began to remove almost all of the wallpapers. The following day, she was hopelessly trying to free these women in the wall by biting the wallpapers. Signifying her own freedom, she finally “freed” the women in the wall. She helplessly crawled around the room and when her husband arrived, he was shocked to find his wife gone completely mad. Her husband fainted from what he saw but she ignored him. She was feeling confident that she is finally free for the rest of her life. “At last, I’m over him”, she exclaimed. All of her life, she was cruelly treated and was regarded as insane by John. As a husband, he refused to listen to her and was insensitive of her feelings. Throughout their marriage she was always at a loss. He was always proud of his superiority over her but in the end he was the one that was left alone. The story ended with a sound conclusion that the narrator has gone completely crazy. Gilman presumably wrote this story to reveal the hostility towards women in the 18th century.