Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

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What would one expect to be the mentality of a woman who is confined to a barren room with distasteful yellow wallpaper? "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents such a woman who descends into madness because of the physical and mental constraints placed upon her. Through characterization, dialogue, and symbolism, Gilman portrays that a mind kept in a state of forced inactivity is bound to deteriorate.
To begin with, every individual in the story has a unique characterization that prevents the narrator from gripping onto reality. Throughout the story, the narrator's husband, John, dictates not only the narrator's life, but her thoughts as well. For example, she states that she is "absolutely forbidden to "work" until I [she]
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