Haynes 1

Sophia Haynes
Mrs. Pritchard
English II Block 1
13 December 2015
You Mad Bruh?
Dark Romanticism and Realism were two influential movements in the 1800s and early
1900s. Dark Romanticism was a period when writers wanted to explore the inner workings and
psychological effects of the mind, giving it a fantastical and shadowy approach. Unlike Dark
Romanticism, Realism was the movement in which novelists wrote about stories of real people
with real jobs. These writers wanted to portray life for what it was, making a huge impact in the
literary movement. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a dark-romanticist writer, wrote The Scarlet Letter to
show the struggles of a young girl who sunk into the temptations of sin and temptation.
Dimmesdale, the man who was also tempted, lived a life of secrecy and misery. Hawthorne uses
symbolism to portray the darkness they both felt throughout the book. Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
a realist writer, wrote The Yellow Wallpaper to introduce a girl that suffered with illnesses such
as post-partum depression. Realism was an accurate description of how life was and is. Both
movements play influential roles in the way authors write today, and it also shows the growth
through time. Dimmesdale and the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper both become mad
because actions and people have driven them to the point of absurdity.
Madness is the accumulation of past events that constantly haunts ones being, and
becomes the outcome of what could be considered insanity. Dimmesdale has had to live and bear
this sin for seven years. The guilt, the sorrow, and the grief started to become too much for him
to handle, and all of his thoughts and demons slowly started to make its way and effect his being

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both physically and mentally. He was looked at as an inspiration, a beautiful man with an angelic
voice, someone that many could look up to, but little did people know that he committed
adultery, something he has to face for the rest of his life. He becomes too weak and lonely even
though he has both Hester and Pearl. Dimmesdale says, Happy are you, Hester, that wear the
letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after
the torment of a seven years cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am!
(Hawthorne 199). Dimmesdale tells Hester that her situation is different to his situation because
shes been able to confess, and shes been punished for what shes done. Hes had to keep this
hidden within, and hes happy he can finally share his thoughts with someone. Dimmesdale can
finally look at someone, and feel free. Dimmesdale also goes on to say, God knows by giving
me this burning torture to bear upon my breast! By sending yonder dark and terrible old man, to
keep the torture always at red-heart I had been lost forever! (Hawthorne 210). He brings
religion into the matter and says that God the one that has given him this flame to withhold in his
heart forever. Chillingworth has only made the matter worse because hes been tormenting
Dimmesdale in order to get revenge for what he has done. His feelings and demons drive him to
the point where hes too depressed and mad to function, which ends up killing him. Dimmesdale
become psychotic because he doesnt know what to do or how things could possibly be resolved.
Madness takes over his being.
In The Yellow Wallpaper, Gilman introduces the narrator as a girl that struggles with
post-partum depression. Shes locked up in an abandoned place with windows barred up, and
shes left there alone. She writes to relieve her stress and thoughts however she doesnt want her
husband, John finding out about it. John intimidates the narrator, and while shes in the house,
the disgusting, yellow wallpaper constantly haunts her. She continuously glares at the wallpaper,

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and it somehow controls her state of mind. The narrator says, Such a peculiar odor, too! I have
spent hours in trying to analyze it I wake up in the night and fight it handing over me. The
only thing I can think of that it is like is the COLOR of the paper! A yellow smell (Gilman 8).
She spends her time thinking about the wallpaper and all of its certain characteristics. It blurs her
mind, and drives her crazy, but she cant stop thinking about it. She feels trapped physically and
mentally, and she becomes psychotic. She starts imagining that there is a girl on the other side of
the wallpaper, and that girl symbolizes herself. The narrator says, Ive got a rope up here that
even Jennie did not find. If that woman does get out, and tries to get away, I can tie her!
(Gilman 10). Shes hallucinating and imaging the whole thing, but she takes out her depression
and madness on the wallpaper. In order to free the girl, she rips all the wallpaper off. It
symbolizes the freedom she wanted from her illness, the room, and John. Madness destroyed her,
and her thoughts continued to haunt her until she went on a rage.
Hawthorne and Gilman incorporate many elements of both dark-romanticism and realism
in their stories. Hawthorne incorporates dark-romanticism by using symbolization and including
darker elements into his writing. He represented Dimmesdale as someone like a sun but
Dimmesdale was clouded by his thoughts. He brought this shadowy approach to the character
and constantly used symbolization to add that mysterious effect to the characters and story
overall. Madness was portrayed all throughout the book, especially for Dimmesdale, and the
dark-romanticism incorporated makes his character dimmer and more grasping. Gilman
incorporated realism by introducing a real person with real problems and relatable plotlines. The
narrator in the story faced issues that were badly treated due to the lack of knowledge people had
about mental illnesses back then, which resulted in her psychotic outrage because her mind was
bottled up with negative thoughts, and she took it out on the wallpaper. She wanted to free

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herself, and Gilman gave a realistic, mad approach to the character. Both authors wrote during
dissimilar movements, giving the characters different approaches to the same idea and traits of
madness.
All in all, both Dimmesdale and the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper represented the
idea of madness. They wanted to free themselves from their thoughts. Dimmesdale couldnt find
a way to escape his actions, his past, and was never able to move forward like Hester. The
narrator was trapped and didnt know how to express her feelings. She felt as if she wasnt able
to do anything for multiple reasons, and it became too much for her. Their thoughts killed their
being, driving them to that point of madness.