In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator identifies with the woman hidden behind the yellow wallpaper. The woman behind the wallpaper is seen as a representation of the narrator’s own personality. Throughout the story, the narrator experiences a descent into madness and becomes obsessed with the woman behind the wallpaper. The narrator’s identification with the woman behind the wallpaper reflects her own struggle for freedom and escape from societal constraints.
The story is a commentary on the limited roles and lack of agency available to women in the late 19th century. The narrator’s husband, John, is a physician who believes that his wife’s nervous depression can be cured by rest. He isolates her from the world and forbids her from doing anything that could be mentally stimulating. The narrator’s descent into madness is a result of this treatment, which only serves to worsen her condition. Gilman uses the character of John to criticize the patriarchal medical system of the time, which often ignored the mental health needs of women.
The narrator’s identification with the woman behind the wallpaper is a symbol of her own desire for freedom and escape from the constraints placed upon her by society. The woman behind the wallpaper represents the narrator’s own suppressed desires and emotions. By the end of the story, the narrator tears down the wallpaper in an act of rebellion, freeing the woman behind the wallpaper and herself. Gilman uses this act of rebellion to comment on the need for women to break free from the constraints of patriarchy and societal expectations.
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