The language in The Yellow Wallpaper is very important to the meaning of the story. The narrator, an anonymous woman (who I will call Jane), uses syntax and language that expresses her mental state. The story was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who suffered from depression herself; she later wrote The Logic of Vegetable Perception, which is about her own mental state. The syntax is extremely important to the story because it shows Jane’s feelings, which are linked by the tone of the language she uses.
The words that go into this piece come from The Yellow Wallpaper itself, along with The Logic of Vegetable Perception by Charlotte Perkins Gilman . First of all, The Yellow Wallpaper is written in first person point of view; this means that it is told through Jane’s perspective. She uses very fragmented sentences and short words to express the fact that she has lost touch with reality and has descended into psychosis. For example, she writes: “It was on just such a night… ” (Gilman 1), “I never saw any one pace like that” (Gilman 3), and “I have not seen it since” (Gilman 2).
The first sentence is a fragment, which means that it does not make sense on its own. The second sentence also uses very short words, so the reader gets an idea of how rushed Jane seems to be. The last one refers to “it”, but the reader still doesn’t know what “it” is until she mentions it again later in the story. The fact that she refers back to something without fully explaining it draws the reader into her unsettled state; this shows how deranged her mental state has become.
She begins at normalcy, but as she becomes more ill, her thoughts become less organized and structured like they once were. The use of parentheses is also important because it shows that Jane is not fully thinking about what she’s writing down. The reader can see that she’s distracted, and this adds to the overall madness of the piece. The fluctuation in her syntax and language style indicate an abrupt change in mood; sometimes, she is calm and collected while other times, she is scattered and frantic.
The story itself gives the reader a sense of foreboding and uneasiness but does so by using simple language: “Now let me see: Oh, I know! He thinks I’m walking in my sleep. ” (Gilman 2). The end of this sentence refers back to something that was said at the beginning; now we understand why “he” thinks that Jane has been walking in her sleep. The reason she gives is horrifying; not only does she seem to be hallucinating about seeing someone (or something) behind the wallpaper, but there is also a “he” who thinks that she’s doing it, and we don’t really know exactly what he means by that.
The reader can assume that it has something to do with Jane’s husband because of the way they’re described: “They say,” he began one night, after such a meal, and stopped in some alarm at my expression. ” (Gilman 7). The readers gets an idea of how protective Jane’s husband is because of this description. He wants her to get better so they can continue their everyday lives together, which seems impossible when Jane is locked in an upstairs room. The language in The Yellow Wallpaper is also important because the reader finds out about the plot through Jane’s perspective.
The tone of her language changes as she goes from being rational to delusional, which adds suspense to the plot. The Logic of Vegetable Perception by Charlotte Perkins Gilman helped me understand Jane’s mental state more clearly. The book uses a lot of quotations that I would label as evidence for my argument that The Yellow Wallpaper is written in first person point of view and that it contains very fragmented sentences and short words. The protagonist in The Logic of Vegetable Perception is Charlotte; she returns home after eight months because she has gone mad (due to “pecuniary troubles”).
She says: “I’m not crazy! If you were a woman you’d understand! ” The tone of this statement is frantic and desperate, which shows that Charlotte does not believe herself to be ill. This also demonstrates how much power Jane’s husband has over her; she refers to him as “you” in the third person because he seems so separate from her. The use of parentheses indicates an insecurity, which is important when discussing The Yellow Wallpaper because it shows how deranged Jane truly is.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is a story that is filled with underlying meaning. The narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the text, is trapped in her bedroom (in what seems like an insane asylum) due to a “nervous condition,” which the narrator says she has been diagnosed with by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell; The Narrator describes her room as yellow, and it is this color that fills her mind with thoughts of screams and strange shadows.
The wallpaper on the walls of The Narrator’s room looks very similar to a Victorian woman being entrapped within her own home, or perhaps more fittingly–her own cage. Throughout The Text the narrator’s language is very careful, sentence structure varies slightly but The Narrator seems to be under the impression that she cannot say anything against Dr. S. Weir Mitchell due to his status as a doctor or rather The Narrator’s false belief that her “nervous condition” requires The Doctor’s treatment.
The wallpaper in The Text serves as an example of The Narrator reacting to circumstances (ex: The Yellow Wallpaper) with passive means; The only time The Narrator breaks away from her nervous condition and passive behavior is at the end of The Text when she decides to burn down her room and escape–she must make this decision on her own outside of The Doctor’s diagnosis; After reading The Yellow Wallpaper one must take into consideration Gilman’s choice of wording and The Narrator’s emphasis on The Yellow Wallpaper as The Narrator’s wallpaper; The Text gives insight as to why The Narrator is unable to escape her situation like she does in the end–her surroundings make The Narrator feel as if she is trapped within a prison.