Therefore, by falling into madness, the narrator progresses to eventually achieve freedom. Within "The Yellow Wallpaper, " the narrator's descent into madness is a higher form of sanity as she rejects and escapes the insane society that imprisons her. .
Authors Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar contend that "The Yellow Wallpaper " tells "a striking story of female confinement and escape that all women could tell if they had the choice " in the 19th century (Gilbert and Gubar 89). Gilman introduces this idea when the narrator's obedience and lack of authority are immediately presented as her illness and treatment are described at the beginning of the story. Not only does Gilman introduce the narrator without a name to illustrate her oppressive reality, but Gilman also outlines the narrator's compliance as she agrees to the treatment her husband suggests. John arranges for them to move to an isolated house for the summer "solely on her account " in order for her to have "perfect rest and all the air [she] could get. " Although the narrator asserts, "I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change would do me good, " she adheres to her husband's orders and moves into the old nursery at the top of the house. Immediately, the yellow wallpaper in the nursery provokes a strong response from the narrator, and with that, the relationship between the wallpaper and the narrator is born. This relationship and the way the narrator feels about the wallpaper develops and changes greatly throughout the story, symbolizing the transformation occurring within the narrator herself. .
While at first she attempts to relieve her need for expression through writing on the "dead paper " within her journal, John's opposition to her writing forces the narrator to take that energy and closely observe the symbolic patterns in the wallpaper instead. Literary critic Lisa Kasmer suggests that she makes this transition to interpret the wallpaper once she "is stopped from speaking " and "at that point, turns to the wallpaper " (Kasmer 4).
