The Yellow Wallpaper" Symbolism Uses and its Meaning

The most obvious motif in the story is the wallpaper, it takes centre stage and could even be
described as a character in itself. It’s importance lies in its symbolism, it represents the society of the
time, the narrators desire for creative expression and her obsession with the paper symbolises madness.
The 1890s in America was a time of great change, it was the turn of the century and although the
standard of living had increased because of the Industrial Revolution, the standard rights for women
were still primitive compared to life now. Women of the time were simply mothers and wives, their
position in society meant that they couldn’t be independent financially or creatively. The “repellant
yellow wallpaper” is symbolic of this repressive society. The creeping woman who eventually finds her
way out of the paper, is symbolic of the narrator in the story finally breaking free from the constraints of
society. The narrators madness is the only option for her to find freedom.: “The colour is repellant,
almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull
yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others.”

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is a short story published in 1892 and written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This
story depicts a woman in marriage from this time period and showcases how domestic women are
stripped of their freedom to express free thought and speech in the late 19th century. Mrs.Gilman
heavily uses symbolism in her story with the yellow wallpaper in the narrator’s room being the most
obvious one. The wallpaper has parts to it which symbolizes different concepts. These parts include the
wallpaper as a whole, the randomly intricate design upon the paper, and the woman inside of the
wallpaper, behind the design. 

The main function of the wallpaper is to symbolize traditions of society during this time period. During
the time of 1892, women have already began the fight for suffrage and equal rights as men. Mrs.Gilman
was a socialist during this time and wrote this short story based on her own life experience. She used
the wallpaper to symbolize relations like family authority, social standings, and medical practices. In
Mrs.Gilman’s story, she depicts the narrator as a woman who is slowly and gradually driven insane by
the wallpaper in her room.

The design in the wallpaper was seen as prison bars of a cell. It symbolizes the restrictions of society that
are implemented during this time period. The narrator in the story observed how the women in the
wallpaper desperately searched the pattern for a means of escape. When some of the women were
successful in squeezing through the small spaces in the pattern, they were strangled by the pattern to
death. This event symbolizes how when a woman would try to speak out and convey to the world her
thoughts, society would silence and strangle her, sometimes even leading her towards death.  

As the story progresses, the narrator becomes more aware of the woman behind the design in the
wallpaper. This shadow woman symbolizes the reality the narrator is in. The shadow woman is
constantly “creeping” and crawling about within the wallpaper in search of escape. The longer the
woman in the wallpaper stays there, the more bizarre she becomes; furthermore, it is as if the shadow
woman is gradually becoming more insane within her confinement. This symbolized how restriction of
free expression can in turn harm you mentally, driving you insane.

In the ending, the narrator comes to the conclusion that the woman she constantly sees in the
wallpaper was actually herself and she needed to break herself free from the prison. To do this, she
tears and rips the wallpaper from the walls as to symbolize she is tearing apart societies expectations of
her and setting her mind free. However, the cost of her mind being free is losing her sense of reason and
becoming completely insane. Mrs.Gilman wished to portray this finale as society's view of which if
women were to be allowed to reach complete freedom, then they would in turn be seen as insane.
However, the readers of the story know the narrator was turned insane because of the restrictions
placed upon her by society, not the freedom itself.

 The fact that Charlotte Perkins Gilman chose the color yellow for the wallpaper in her short
story “The Yellow Wallpaper” is significant.   Gilman could have chosen any color for the ugly, torn
wallpaper in the nursery, but chose yellow.  Perhaps it is meant to be ironic.  Or possibly the wallpaper is
past its prime, yellowed with age.  Or maybe, Gilman was making use of the psychological moods set by
this color.  Most likely, yellow was chosen for a variety if not for all of these reasons.  The yellow
wallpaper is an outward symbol of the narrator’s inward self.
            The narrator gives us several detailed descriptions of the hideous wallpaper.   She tells us that
“The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-
turning sunlight.  It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others” (298).  Then
she gives her first impression, her first feelings upon seeing the wallpaper: “No wonder the children
hated it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long” (298).   I shall point out in a bit the
significance of these opinions, but first I’d like to talk a little bit about the color yellow itself.
Under the listing for the word “yellow” in the dictionary, there are several possible definitions. 
Most literally: “a color like that of egg yolk”; and more abstract: “craven, timorous, fearful.”  And also
“to make or become yellow” as in “The white stationery had yellowed with age.”  I will revisit these
classic dictionary definitions more deeply a little later. (Dictionary.com)
            The psychological interpretations of the meanings and moods of the color yellow are also quite
interesting.  In an article entitled “Color Psychology – Yellow” written by Kendra Cherry, a psychosocial
rehabilitation specialist, yellow is describes as being “cheery and warm”.  This short story is in no way
warm or cheery; it is, in fact quite the opposite—depressing—as it is about a woman who is going insane
from post-partum depression.  If this were the only psychological interpretation of this color, one would
assume that Gilman was being simply ironic in her choice.  However, this same article points out many
other significant and useful information on the color.  Irony certainly plays a role, but there is so much
more than that.  The characteristics of the wallpaper are also those of our narrator.
            One might find it fascinating to learn that yellow is the “most fatiguing” color to human eyes “due
to the high amount of light reflected” and if used as a background it can cause extreme eyestrain
(Cherry).  Fatiguing.  Does the wallpaper fatigue our narrator?  I dare say that it does—to at least some
degree.  She spends what seems like most of her free time now—after being kept in this room—
examining the wallpaper, following the lines in the pattern and then she admits that “half the time now
[she] am awfully lazy, and lie[s] down ever so much” (302).  This suggests that her eyes are strained and
fatigued by following the pattern around the room, but then fatigue is only one of many other feelings:
“I get unreasonably angry at John sometimes”(298).  Could the wallpaper be somehow behind this
resentment the narrator feels for her husband, the physician?  These feelings can be explained by the
psychology behind the color yellow, as Cherry’s article continues:
“Yellow can also create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people
are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms”
(Cherry).
Anger, frustration, and hatred—which was the first emotion she felt regarding the wallpaper, as
I mentioned earlier, if you’ll recall—as well as resentment consume her as she is still forced to stay in
this old room and follow the pattern on the wall.  The characteristics of the color of the wallpaper show
through our own narrator’s personality.
The question as to why she is so obsessively looking at and in the pattern can be answered once
again with Cherry’s psychological expertise.  According to her research, this highly visible color “is also
the most attention-getting color. Yellow can be used in small amount [sic] to draw notice”.  So, our
narrator is physically and psychologically drawn into the worn-out, torn-up wallpaper. 
Our narrator is not only physically trapped in this nursery, but psychologically as well.  Is it that
she cannot leave?  Or that she won’t?  Obviously, her husband has some serious control over her, but
still she succumbs, not really fighting back.  Earlier, I defined yellow abstractly as “fearful” or the
opposite of courage. Cowardice.  I’m sure everyone has watched a film where one character calls
another “yellow” because of their obvious lack of courage.  What I’d like to suggest is the Gilman also
knew this usage of the word, and that it is not mere coincidence.  The narrator’s cowardice plays a major
role in her becoming insane.
The wallpaper itself holds the narrator captive in its yellow blotches and mushroom shapes.  Her
eyes are drawn into it, her emotions are displays of it, her behavior results from her psychological
reactions to the color yellow.  She realizes that she is a part of the wallpaper and that the wallpaper is a
part of her.  The woman she sees among the yellow hues is herself, encaged in the wall.  It is only as her
insanity sets in, as she succumbs, not to her husband but to the wallpaper itself, that she is made free.  
The woman becomes her, she becomes the yellow.
When the adjective yellow becomes a verb, yellowed, most people would know immediately
what that means.  Think of the old newspapers and books and important documents, sitting in glass
boxes in museums and how they turn yellow over time.  They are past their prime.  Again, let’s look at
the first description our narrator gives us of the wallpaper.  She describes it vividly as “a smouldering
unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight” (298).  The wallpaper is not only yellow,
but it has yellowed and faded.  Since the wallpaper is directly linked to the narrator, this implies
that she has also yellowed and faded.  She has gone from who she used to be, before she had her baby,
before her post-partum depression, and has turned yellow.  She has turned into yellow.
It is ironic that the color meant to make her warm and cheerful made her angry, hateful and
insane.  But just as yellow has many different effects on the mind, the narrator is able to break free from
the oppressive, fatiguing yellow, and through insanity, she becomes warm and cheery.  She is yellow, all
of it.  Throughout the course of this story she is, each in turn, the hate, the anger, the fatigue, the strain,
the warmth, and the cheerfulness.
I suggest that Charlotte Perkins Gilman decided on the color yellow for a significant purpose.  
That though there are a vast number of colors that each have emotions attached to them—blue for
depression, red for passion, green for life—Gilman chose yellow knowing it’s wide variety of possible
meanings. Her choice is precise, yet ironic.  Only the meanings behind the color yellow, only yellow’s
moods are reflected in our narrator so perfectly. The yellow wallpaper is the narrator’s imprisonment in
herself.