Complexity Of Society :: essays research papers

Complexitiy of Society Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the window, and the wallpaper which encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The barred window in the bedroom, is a specific characteristic of the house that symbolizes her trapped feeling in the house. Traditionally a window symbolizes the felling of a view of possibilities, but now it is a view of things she doesn't want to see. Through it she sees all that she could be and could have. But closer to the end she says "I dont like to look out of the windows even - there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast"(Gilman 205). She knows she has to hide or she too will have to creep in order to be part of society and she does not want to see all the other women who have to do the same because she knows they are a reflection of herself. "Most women do not creep by daylight," means that they need to hide in the shadows; they try to move without being seen (Gilman 203).The window no longer holds as a gateway for her because of the bars holding her into her place in society. She will be controlled by man and will not be allowed to express her self. She will be forced to creep. The most important symbol in all of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the wallpaper itself which plays a double role. Complexity Of Society :: essays research papers Complexitiy of Society Showing their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a male dominated position. Especially in the nineteenth century, women were repressed and controlled by their husbands as well as other male influences. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the protagonist is oppressed and represents the effect of the oppression of women in society. This effect is created by the use of complex symbols such as the house, the window, and the wallpaper which encourages her oppression as well as her self expression. It is customary to find the symbol of the house as representing a secure place for a woman's transformation and her release of self expression. However, in this story, the house is not her own and she does not want to be in it. It represents a prison in which she is trapped. She declares it is "haunted" and that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Although she acknowledges the beauty of the house and especially what surrounds it, she constantly goes back to her feelings that "there is something strange about the house"(Gilman 195). Her first impression of the house almost tells you that the narrator knows of the upcoming transformation that will take place in the house while she is there. The barred window in the bedroom, is a specific characteristic of the house that symbolizes her trapped feeling in the house. Traditionally a window symbolizes the felling of a view of possibilities, but now it is a view of things she doesn't want to see. Through it she sees all that she could be and could have. But closer to the end she says "I dont like to look out of the windows even - there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast"(Gilman 205). She knows she has to hide or she too will have to creep in order to be part of society and she does not want to see all the other women who have to do the same because she knows they are a reflection of herself. "Most women do not creep by daylight," means that they need to hide in the shadows; they try to move without being seen (Gilman 203).The window no longer holds as a gateway for her because of the bars holding her into her place in society. She will be controlled by man and will not be allowed to express her self. She will be forced to creep. The most important symbol in all of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the wallpaper itself which plays a double role.