Close Reading of Gilman

Step One:
The narrator is struggling with her mental state, and fluctuates between her emotions. The narrator feels that her husband doesn't understand the severity of her situation, and is trying to dismiss her. Throughout the story, the yellow wallpaper is a disturbing object for her. She cannot stand its appearance or smell, and wants to remove it. The yellow wallpaper is symbolic in many ways to her mental state.

Step Two:
Throughout the story, the narrator's feelings change. At one point, she seems to be growing somewhat fond of the wallpaper stating that, "I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps because of the wallpaper."Yet, at the end, the narrator says that the wallpaper disturbs her so much that she has thoughts of burning down the house. Her "nervous condition" has gotten so bad that she has become "angry enough to do something desperate."

Step Three:
The use of vocabulary accentuates her feelings about the wallpaper, or her state. The repeated use of the word "creep" gives of the feeling of something not being right. She wants to be rid of the paper, and her condition, so badly that she is willing to do anything. As the condition grows worse, her desperation to remove the paper does as well. This is symbolic of her wishing so badly that she could heal, yet, she is stuck.

Step Four:
In the end, the narrator peels off the wallpaper, and kills herself. This represents her breaking free from the things that had bothered her. The women creeping in the paper, or her feelings, finally drove her mad. In retrospect, when the narrator addressed the issue of the wallpaper with her husband, had he taken her seriously, perhaps her suicide could have been prevented. Using the wallpaper for a metaphor for her condition, the reader can infer that neither her condition or dislike for the wallpaper was taken seriously. In a time when women's conditions were seen as something that were easily cured, or nonexistent, Gilman is drawing attention the the severity of issues that can exist with a person's mental health.