In literature, nature has always stood as
a symbol for truth. As the characters of American literature have travelled
deeper into nature, so the truth has been deeply revealed. In The Yellow Wallpaper, author Charlotte
Perkins Gillman uses nature to reveal a truth about the narrator’s
deteriorating relationship with her husband as well as symbolize the reality of
her nervous condition. Nature gives us the opportunity to discover hidden
context and underlying theme.
Through her barred windows, the narrator
“can see the garden, those mysterious deepshaded arbors, the riotous old
fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees” (Gillman, 2). This vivid
description leads to an interpretation of an ugly truth, that through being
confined to the nursery, the narrator is experiencing a disturbing reality.
Even more, the way in which she describes the nature surrounding the secluded
mansion is internally troubling and perhaps a reflection of her own life;
Gillman certainly declares the house as mysterious, the narrators spirit as
riotous, and the relationship between her and John as gnarly, or challenging.
Describing the home in further detail, the narrator
says, “I don’t like our room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on the
piazza and had roses all over the window, and such pretty old-fashioned chintz
hangings! But John would not hear of it” (Gillman, 1). Again, the narrator uses
nature as a reference to the truth; however, in this instance, the symbol of
nature is much more significant that the simplicity of honesty. In terms of
honesty, this particular description does play an important role in the course
of the story; because John forbade his wife from living in the room downstairs
with the roses directly out the window, we can be sure that Gillman is implying
that he is denying the truth itself, the truth being the actual disposition of
her condition. Furthermore, roses have long stood as a symbol of love and
womanhood. Therefore, not only does John deny the narrators condition, he also
denies where his relationship to her stands and the role that she carries as a
wife and woman.
Nature
symbolizes truth and from truth we gain honesty, in situations and
relationships. Certainly the case in all examples of literature, this concept
is definitely apparent in The Yellow
Wallpaper. As our protagonist is driven to a state of insanity, she reveals
truth through nature to her readers and although by reading her diary we gain
instant access to her direct thoughts, it is through nature that we uncover the
hidden context.
Charlotte
Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, Boston, MA: Small & Maynard, 1899.
Print.
I thought this argument was very compelling and persuasive. I never thought of the way Gilman uses aspects of nature in her writing to explain the narrators condition and your evidence made sense and made me agree with you. Along with the way she describes the pleasant garden she sees from outside her bedroom window and the room she wishes to move to with the beautiful roses, I notice Gilman uses moonlight and daylight to explain the severity of the wallpaper. “By moonlight- the moon shines in all night when there is a moon – I wouldn't know it was the same paper” (Gilman, 10). This moonlight reflects bars onto the wallpaper trapping the woman inside. By using your analysis of nature, I interpret this as nighttime increasing the narrators imprisonment and the time when she feels most trapped.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really interesting interpretation of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” because most of the story takes place indoors so there are not very many direct references to nature, but that does not mean that it isn’t important. As we discussed in class, the narrator’s bedroom was reminiscent, and representative of, a prison, an asylum, and a nursery, all combined into one. This is in stark comparison to the thriving and beautiful garden that lies right outside. I agree with your statement that “Nature gives us the opportunity to discover hidden content and underlying theme,” however, I see it as more of a contrast between the narrator’s captivity in both the room and her marriage, as opposed to the freedom and possibility represented by nature. The fact that John forbids her from having the room closer to the garden and spending too much time outdoors represents that by keeping her inside is to further restrict her. In literature, nature often symbolizes the wildness and freedom that juxtaposes society and civilization. As the narrator becomes more affected by her restrictions, she pictures the woman from the wallpaper outside in the garden, once again illustrating that once out of her prison, the woman from the wallpaper chooses to go outside, to nature. As the narrator sits in the room that she is confined to, she is able to look outside and comes to see it as full of possibility; “I have watched her sometimes away off in the open country, creeping as fast as a cloud shadow in a high wind” (Gilman 13). Assuming the woman in the wallpaper is an alter ego of the narrator, this shows that she dreams of the liberation that comes with being in nature. By using descriptions of nature to parallel the narrator’s captivity indoors, Gilman symbolizes nature as freedom and liberation.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, Boston, MA: Small & Maynard, 1899. Print.