The
yellow wallpaper is written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman who is an American
writer. It is written when Gilman is diagnosed with
“neurasthenia” and prescribed the “rest cure” treatment. Gilman considered that
she is not sick and hated to take a rest as her doctor suggested. She felt
better by working as usual. She intended to convince the doctor about her
desire by writing The Yellow Wallpaper. That is why Yellow Wallpaper has a
contradictory theme based on the writer’s experience.
The
theme is “Between suffering and affection”. The story is about the narrator who
suffers from serious depression and anxiety; besides she loved by her husband
in inappropriate way. Narrator’s husband cared her by putting her in a suitable
place for her recuperation, but she suffered being in that place along day with
nothing to do for she thought that she was not sick. She would feel better
without limitation in doing many things she wanted even just for walking around
the place. So, there is a contradiction between what the narrator feels and her
husband’s affection. Those all related to the characteristics of the characters
in the story.
There
are many characters appeared in that story either the directly involved
characters or indirectly involved characters. The directly involved characters consist
of an anonymous as the narrator (main role); John, the narrator’s husband and
Jennie, the narrator’s sister in low. The indirectly involved characters
consist of Merry, the narrator’s babysitter; Henry and Julia, narrator’s
relatives and mother and Nellie. The characteristic is round characteristic noticed
by the narrator who wants to be free (hyperactive), on spirit, critical, but sometimes
is weak; Jennie as understanding and careful person who always took care of narrator;
John as a physician who is always over protective to the narrator and high
standing. A mixing method (discursive and dramatic) is used by Gilman in
characterization. Discursive or direct method noticed by direct mentioning of
John’s high standing characteristic and Jennie’s enthusiastic characteristic.
Dramatic or indirect method noticed by character’s behavior and some dialogue
that mostly used to show narrator and john’s characteristics.
Yellow
wallpaper has two kinds of setting. Those are physical setting and social
setting. Physical setting consists of actual geographical locations, those are ancestral
hall in a colonial mansion, an upstairs bedroom, and a garden; time setting,
those are daylight and moonlight (midnight); weather, those are foggy and rain;
season, that is mentioned as summer; environment, that is quite for no one
disturbed her when she was trying to figure out her fancy about the wallpaper.
The feminism of women in that era is as the social setting in the story. The
story told about how women in that era fought for their right to get the
freedom in doing many things they wanted including not to be imprisoned in such
a dim house.
The
readers of Yellow wallpaper do not need to make their own solution; it means
this story has a closed plot. The ending has been told clearly. It is begun
from the exposition that contains an introduction of the place where the
colonial mansion had an ancestral hall, an upstairs nursery room, a delicious
garden, also the condition or appearance of the wallpaper in the nursery room;
character’s characteristics and their occupation; the mental condition of the
narrator. Rising action is when the narrator had conflict with herself since
being anxious all the time was very hard for her. She also had conflict with
her husband. She never wanted to be jailed in her room even though she was sick
but her husband did not realized it; what he knew just to give all the best for
her recuperation. Narrator also had conflict with the environment around her.
She always had high fancy about many things appeared on the wallpaper even the
Yellow or spots of it. Climax of the story is when narrator had discovered
something from the wallpaper. She enjoyed with her own imagination and was not
sure that everybody around her even her husband would believe in her thought
about the wallpaper. Falling action is when she got a certainty of her fancy
that there were women behind the wallpaper after the shake of the wallpaper;
besides that was almost her last day in that puzzling place. Ending of the
story is when she realized everything of the wallpaper that the women behind it
were just like her. She peeled off all paper setting the women free from the wall
then feel free creeping around the floor with locked door of the room. Knowing
that, her husband fainted. He realized what he had done fully jailed his wife.
The
high standing husband in the story symbolizes the old rule of women’s right in
that era which restricts women movements and really contradicts the basic of
feminism. Yellow wallpaper here as a boundary or jail for women that avoids
them to become one of world outside the jail as they desire. It also symbolizes
the women’s role as boring feminine creature. The delicious garden outside the
room symbolizes how beautiful and meaningful life they will get outside (free
decision that is good for them) rather than being jailed with their own fancy.
That is why this story seems teach us about similarity between man and woman,
trusty one another, and a justice.
