The Yellow Wallpaper

Word Count: 258

 "Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern-it strangles so;"

This quote is very strange and has a very creepy and almost insane feeling behind it that may make readers feel very uncomfortable. The main woman of The Yellow Wallpaper has essentially gone crazy from her nervous depression and it is causing her to see this woman who is trapped in the pattern of the wallpaper. I feel as though there may be a connection to her going insane with her husband's control over her. Her husband restricts her actions by telling her that she is sick from her condition of nervous depression and that she must stay home and rest. He is constantly telling her she needs to stay home in which she is forced to sit around and do nothing but stare at this inquisitive wallpaper. Over time, she loses her mind and is seeing things in the wallpaper and hallucinating this woman around the house. I feel as if there is almost a connection to Mrs. Dalloway with Septimus and his shell shock or PTSD from the war. Septimus begins to slowly go insane as well from the hallucinations. However, Septimus kills himself from the mental anguish he experiences. Unfortunently, as I read this piece of writing, I feel as though there is a possibility of predicting her imminent suicide.

Comments

  1. Grace CurranApril 6, 2021 at 7:22 AM

    I really liked your comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper to the film Mrs. Dalloway. I can definitely see your viewpoint that both stories deal with mental health and insanity. I completely agree with you that there is a connection between the insanity of the narrator and the husband's control. However, I also think he did what he did because he truly loved her and cared for her. Although her confinement ultimately led to her going insane and losing sense of reality, he didn't want her doing anything worse outside of the house.

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  2. Jordan MillsApril 8, 2021 at 8:45 AM

    I agree with the feeling of unsettledness that the quote gives just like the story it makes us feel very uncomfortable and the way the main woman is on the brink of insanity and her journey of trying to get past it and living her life with her husband who isn't as helpful as he thinks he is the comparison to Mrs. Dalloway does give us more insight of another mental experience and how it was treated in the time before medical advisors came up with proper treatment.

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