Interpretation Of Symbols In The Yellow Wallpaper

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The Interpretation of Symbols in “The Yellow Wallpaper” Nearly every piece of literature has an interpretation which delves further in meaning than that which is immediately portrayed in the story. Quite frequently, the understanding of symbols in a story helps to emphasize the root meaning of a story and what the parts of a story represent. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” there are several significant symbols which emerge over the course of the story. The three main symbols with the most meaning in the story are: the room in which the main character resides during the story, the key to the room, and predictably, the yellow wallpaper of the room. The entirety of “The Yellow Wallpaper” takes place in a single room in an ancestral hall. “It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and then gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows …show more content…
The main character obsesses over it far beyond that which an ordinary person would. When looked at symbolically, it can represent a reflection of the main character herself. This is most signified during this paragraph in the story: “Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it! All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision!” (Gilman 320). The way she visualizes the paper represents the ecstasy she feels when her mind is being ripped apart. The strangled heads, bulbous eyes, and waddling fungus growths each represent the unusual portions of her mind which would not be there if the wallpaper represented a normal person. Specifically, their shrieks of mockery against the main character serve to portray her self-doubt. While the definition of these symbols may vary from person to person, these meanings were the most prevalent that I was able to
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