Jordan Gonzales 

Mrs.Sharp 

English 11 

21 March 2019 

Within the yellow wallpaper 

The yellow wallpaper was written by Charlotte Gilman, a woman going through her own 

depressing times at the time of the 18th century, she was alive during the times in which woman 

didn’t have many rights or a say in anything political/business like as well as they did not have 

social equality, is another words, they had no rights everywhere except in the domestic life 

(Home), and that is taken away from this main character. The story “The yellow wallpaper” is 

about a woman who gave birth to a child and had postpartum depression, and the doctor says that 

a rest cure could help her, the thing is that the doctor basically told her to relax and rest until she 

feels better, her husband, john, rents a house in the country to get her fresh air and help her get 

rest, the room he puts her in is a nursery room on the top floor with nothing to do but rest, but 

throughout the story the attraction of the yellow wallpaper gets to her, to the point she thinks a 

woman is trapped in the wallpaper, in the end she realises that she is the woman trapped in the 

wallpaper,and basically losing touch with reality by tearing off the wallpaper, john who finally 

entered the room to see his wife and the teared wallpaper on the floor and he faints, the women 

steps over him and out the nursery room. The author states her purpose through the use in 

archetypes, the standard position of the character, the woman can be described as the trapped 

spouse and the husband, john, can be depicted as the tyrant due to his position to tell his wife 
what she needs to do to feel better, but it is only making her worse with the thoughts of the 

wallpaper, driving her insane. 

The woman (the main character) has the archetype of the trapped spouse due to her being 

stuck with nothing for her to do but rest, but instead of that rest, she puts focus to the wallpaper, 

slowly making her crazy with the illusion that there is a woman in the wallpaper. She starts to 

lose sanity when she talks about the wallpaper and how it moves at night and then she mentions 

how “it is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is always like a woman stooping 

down and creeping about behind that pattern.(Gilman 4)” She is starting to see things, this 

depicts her being the trapped spouse, filling her head with illusions and causing her so slowly 

ascend into madness. As time passes she gets a bit more into the wallpaper, describing how she 

sees her during the day outside, explaining how “she is always creeping, and most women do not 

creep by daylight”(Gilman 8). Her illusions and boredom led to her thinking that the lady is 

everywhere, she is alone with no one to really talk to. The source of her insanity comes from her 

husband john, the tyrant who put her in the room. 

Since john was a doctor, the main character went with his idea to do nothing but rest, 

making the condition worse, not better. John had taken there in the beginning telling her she can't 

do anything productive, the main character even depicts that “It is so hard to talk with john about 

my case, because he is so wise, and he loves me so”(Gilman 6). This sentence explains why she 

can’t talk sense into her husband, telling him that the resting plan isn't working, she is blinded by 

the fact that he is a doctor, but doctors don't know everything wrong with a person, and thinking 
of a basic way will physically and mentally harm the person if it isn't working. The reason he is 

described as a tyrant is her fault as well because of her willingness to be manipulated by her 

husband, refusing to see reality of insanity, an example is the morning after she mentioned her 

thoughts of the resting situation, when she explained her uncomfortability, john replied saying 

”you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You 

are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you”(Gilman 

6).He is saying that she looks better because he is a doctor, but his falseness led to his wifes 

craziness. Due to john being the tyrant and centering his wife into confusion or right and wrong 

and causing problems for the both of them. 

This story depicts a woman going through depression and her husband suggest she gets 

rest at a house they rented, but overtime the time at the house drove her into madness with her 

husband at fault for pushing it. The archetype of the wife is obviously the trapped spouse and the 

husband the tyrant, both roles led to the story’s ending.