In the nineteenth century, women in literature were often depicted in a position that was dominated by men. Women did not have a profession or job. Women were expected to be retained and not have their own opinion. In "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, the author uses symbolism in order to portray the narrator's fight to free herself from oppression. The use of symbolism in the story helps to create a vision to show how the narrator feels.
The story takes place in mansion that narrator refers to as being haunted and says that there is something queer about it. She is forced to stay in this house by her husband/doctor John. John says that she needs perfect rest and all the air she can get because she suffers from temporary nervous depression. By isolating the narrator from the outside world, is just another way that her husband uses her illness to keep her oppressed. John believes that focusing on the scenery will help her forget the nervous depression. I think her doctor/husband is causing more harm, because of the house and environment that she is being forced to reside. John forces the inactivity that pushes her deeper into madness. The room that the narrator is confined to has bars on the windows, which suggest captivity or prison. Prison can be defined as a place or condition of confinement or forcible restraint. The bars on the windows gives that narrator the idea that she is being punished for being ill, therefore she must do as her husband says in order to be freed from the imprisonment. John has made her a prisoner in their marriage. During the nineteenth century women were forced to live in a male controlled society. The bars on the window symbolized the narrator's trapped feelings. The narrator feels trapped by her husband because he disapproves of her writings. She is not allowed to express her feelings or emotions through her writings, which is another way for her husband to control her life.
