Response 8 The Yellow Wallpaper

It must have been a traumatizing experience being a woman at that time. The treatment of women probably played a huge factor in Gilman’s depression. That depression seems to have influenced this story. I really liked this story, not only because it is a interesting piece of work with symbolism in it, but it also reflects the author. It is like the author incorporated a part of her own traits in to the narrator of the story and exaggerated the situation a bit. Maybe the narrator sees the woman in the yellow paint as herself subconsciously, and it means that she feels trapped. It is possible that someone in real life had prescribed her a “rest cure” for her mental illness, as depression and other mental illnesses weren’t taken very seriously at that time which could also be one of the reasons she felt trapped. As the story progresses the patterns turn into a human-like figure and eventually a woman, then the woman starts to develop traits like the “smell”, multiple faces and proffering a certain time to be visible. As the woman in the wallpaper develops so does the narrators mental instability until eventually they merge together and become one.