Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that the symbols or motifs of sunlight and moonlight are used, in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", to bespeak the narrator's true feelings about gender roles and repression not only within her marriage and her society but also within herself. The author points out that, in the beginning of this story, shortly after describing the house, the narrator makes her first references to sunlight and moonlight and reveals how they have an effect on her behavior. The paper relates that the moonlight and daylight do not merely influence the narrator's behavior but also how she perceives her surroundings, such as the wallpaper. The paper stresses that Gilman does not use sunlight and moonlight to represent the masculine repressing the feminine, but rather, she uses sunlight to reflect the oppressive force that can be found in a woman who feels suffocated and burdened by the traditional roles of her gender.

From the Paper:

"The evening and the day, as she complains, have an effect on more than just her conduct, but also on her appetite; she has good appetite in the evening, and suffers from poor appetite in the morning. In this manner, it is established in the beginning that by moonlight, or in the evening, she is not only inclined to subtly rebel against her role as a submissive wife, but furthermore, it is in the night that she is inclined to satisfy her appetite for basic human needs-- of which food may only be one. And yet, the narrator's husband is not the only one who wishes that she subdues herself, as she does by daylight."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Perkins Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Longman Masters of Short Fiction. Ed. Dana Gioia, and R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 297-308.

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