As I began reading the “Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman it took me a moment to realize it was a compilation of journal entries. I followed along for the most part, a few questions here and there but for them most part understood it was a woman who had a bit of an illness and basically had nothing else to do but write. Her living arrangements were a bit odd, and I still do not exactly get what the deal was with that, and by the end of her journal entries it left me a bit confused as to what exactly happened, and what the entire story was really about. It was a bit confusing, the wallpaper and different things she mentioned. I could not quite understand if she was locked up some sort of way or it was just a metaphor because she was so confined to her barred up house. Her husband, who is a physician, was another little mystery that her journal entries brought up. At first she portrayed him as a some what harsh man who made her stay locked up in some horrible place. But then she would say how sweet he was, and he spoke to her so nicely. I did however wonder if she was trying to say her husband was cheating on her when she was talking about walking in unexpectedly and John and the lady were “reading the paper” or something. The story as a whole brought many questions that I am not really sure if I ever found the meaning to them. I think the message the woman is trying to convey is for other people that share her same nervousness disease. She mentions many times how it is not helping her to be confined to her house with absolutely nothing to do. She is always asking her husband if they can leave, and seems quite bored with her situation. I think this message could possibly try and show other people suffering that there are other ways to cope with the illness. It is so boring to be confined inside with nothing to do but write in a journal. Well it might work for some people but not me! I am trying to look for symbolism in this story and while I am sure there is plenty I am having a bit of trouble trying to figure something out. I want to say that her house is a symbol for possibly her past and how her illness confines her to something she does not want to face. She describes the house as something she does not exactly enjoy, how the wallpaper is all messed up or the bars are so tight on the window. I think overall this story was something that had to do with this woman’s feelings and how her only way to express herself was through her writing.
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I think your opinion on the article is really interesting. Everyone else's blog that I have read both mention her apparent mental illness, but yet you mention nothing of this. I think it is interesting how people can take so many different meanings from the same story. The idea of the hidden meaning in the story being about women's writing never ocurred to me. While I still think that the purpose of the story was about the oppression of women, I highly value your original opinion on the article. If it makes you feel any better, you are not the only one who had a hard time understanding what was going on in the story. While I was able to follow along farely easily, many other people seemed to take many different meanings from it, thus the varied and different opinions on the story. If you are interested at all in the story, sometimes reading something a second time helps you to understand it better.
So, i love how you start out "complication of journal entries." Grabs my attention. As you start out though, what kind of questions did you have? I don't believe she was locked up, but I think in her mind she was. Her husband was a good ma for the situation he was is. He has a wife that was apparently unstable. I never thought though that he was cheating on her because she never liked some of the ladies that came for certain things. The only thing I am left with that is unanswered is at the end did she kill him, did he faint, or what? It leaves you stranded.
O wow I guess I didn’t realize it was a series of journal entries either haha well I guess I know now. And yea she was locked up her husband had put bars on her windows and kept her locked in a room because he said she was depressed although I don’t think anything was wrong with her in the beginning I think what caused her to be insane in the end was what she had to put up with from her husband. Like him giving her all the pills and not letting her do anything but sit in a room and think about wall paper. And you said that you thought the message that is trying to be conveyed is about her disease and its basically for other people that could have the same disease. I guess that could be it but I thought the message might have been about how controling her husband was.
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