I think the story, The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman is very easy to read which made me enjoy it even more. This story has various gothic elements and images. For example, the color of the wallpaper in the room where the wife stayed represent a gothic element. We know that a gothic color may be described in terms of light and dark, but in this case, there is something about the yellow color that represents something old and decayed. The color of the wall paper is described as, “a smouldering unclean yellow” which is “strangely faded by slow-turning sunlight.” These words used in the story give a sense that something is not right and I think she is using these words to refer to her marriage in a way. She feels that there might be something wrong with the doctor’s(husband) treatment because she feels that activity, freedom, and work would help her condition.
I think that one of the themes in this story is feminism because she seems to want to be free and he doesn’t let her do what she wants. I might not be right in this, but I believe that the husband might be exaggerating with her mental illness, so she can stay in the house like people believe women should do during that time. For example, he didn’t let her socialize with people and also didn’t let her do any activity.
I likd how you describe the relevance of the yellow wallpaper as a way of symbolism and relating it to the state of the narrator’s marriage which is also “faded” and “old”. Although feminism isn’t always a theme present in many gothic texts, it was sure in way present in this text because the narrator was trying to take a stance as a woman who is also facing female oppression like the other gothic texts we’ve read. The narrator takes stance by ripping the yellow wallpaper, this might not be the biggest deal to many but at this time and how the narrator lived in oppression most of her life, this was a great deal for her.