In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman, the young wife seems

to become a victim of her society’s attitude towards women. Although the young wife is

victimized, she appears to free herself of her afflictions and retain a sense of personal power by

keeping her real thoughts to herself and acting on them secretly. Before losing her mind, she

tries desperately to communicate her despair to everyone around her, but when no one appears

to care she begins to think she is trapped in a world that only she can see. In “The Yellow

Wallpaper”, the young wife seems to become a victim of her surroundings, a victim of her

To begin, the surroundings in “The Yellow Wallpaper” are very important in

understanding the young wife’s feelings of being a victim and creating the setting of the story.

The story takes place in New England during the late 1800’s. When the young wife sees the

rental home for the first time she states, “A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a

haunted house.” This statement by the young wife shows the immediate concern of her

he first sees the house. Also, during this time, women were expected to be

isolated. Throughout the story the young wife ask her husband John to stay with her, or even if

statement, “I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how

Some topics in this essay:
Yellow Wallpaper”, Henry Julia, Charlotte Gilman, “the yellow, “the yellow wallpaper”, personal power, yellow wallpaper”, Frees Soul, sense personal power, sense personal, husband john, wife victim, wife retains, attitude towards women, wife retains sense, victim society’s attitude, wallpaper” wife, retains sense, attitude towards,