"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is told from a feminist point of view, but I believe the story has a deeper meaning when read through the disturbed wife's eye. The story's distortion from the pure, female perspective, into the disturbed wife's eye changes what the reader sees. The entire story is told from the mind of the disturbed wife, the narrator. Her vivid illustrations of descriptive elements enhance the reader's perception of the particular kind of insanity that afflicts the disturbed wife.

"A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house, and

reach the height of romantic felicity…John laughs at me, of course, but

one expects that…he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and

seen and put down in figures." (469)

This passage, which occurs at the beginning of the story, describes the distinct point of view of the narrator. She describes this house with an intense feeling of discomfort. She believes that the mansion incorporates external instruments of restraint suggestive of a prison or mental ward. John, her husband, laughs at her opinions regarding the house and her feelings toward the area. Her comme

"He says no one but myself can help me out of it, that I must use my will and

These passages clearly illustrate the insanity felt by the narrator, the disturbed wife. I believe that Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote this story not only with a feminist perspective, but also intended that it be seen through the insane wife's eye. I am sympathetic to the woman (disturbed wife) in this story because she is definitely a prisoner, struggling within her own mind, and reading "The Yellow Wallpaper" through her mind clearly enhances our insight and interpretation of the story.

nt, "but one expects that," implying within a marriage, conveys the narrator's helplessness and perceived inability to change her uncomfortable situation. She shows us that her husband does not approve of her feelings or beliefs because he is not superstitious, and being a doctor, John only believes something if it is documented. His lack of concern for her feelings only drives her deeper into madness.

"I've got out at last," said I "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off

Here, the narrator explains to the reader her feelings for a particular room that she has been forced to live in, as it grows on her. The wall-paper represents the narrator's "repressed other" or "suppressed self," and that is why i

Some topics in this essay:
Perkins Gilman, Jane I've, Yellow Wallpaper, disturbed wife, yellow wallpaper, wife's eye, charlotte perkins gilman, disturbed wife's eye, yellow wallpaper mind, Charlotte Perkins, mind disturbed wife, charlotte perkins, dwells mind, perkins gilman, disturbed wife's, mind disturbed, wallpaper mind,