Yellow Wallpaper
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
The wallpaper and the figure behind it, is symbolic of women"'"s suffrage. She says the figure is '"'like a woman stooping down and creeping about'"' and then '"'shakes the pattern as if she wanted to get out.'"' The figure could also symbolize herself. She refers to a front pattern and a back pattern which is less visible. Maybe the front pattern is what is proper and what the world is seen to be, while the back pattern is the reality of suffering and oppression. At the end, she rips off as much of the wallpaper as she can to symbolically free herself and the figure behind the paper. In the conclusion of the story when she tears off the wallpaper and says, '"'"'"I"'"ve got out at last,"'" said I, "'"in spite of you and Jane? And I"'"ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can"'"t put me back!"'"'"' Gilman is showing the discovery of feminism by society. Her husband and Jane were symbolic of society and when the wallpaper is down the images are out, feminism is also out...