"The Yellow Wallpaper"

I think there is a theme of self- expression in “ The Yellow Wallpaper”. Being a woman at the time, the narrator was supposed to be the homemaker and she was to obey her husband. It was her husband’s idea to confine her to that room and so she went. She is not only physical constrained but also mentally. Her husband does not want her writing but to instead rest. She’s ultimately forced to hide her anxieties and making it seem like everything is okay. She isn’t allowed to exercise her mind in anyway. Although she already had depression, not being able to express herself and being controlled is what drove her to insanity. Being confined in a room with absolutely nothing to do would drive anyone insane. She is not named, or does not have an identity. I think by not being able to express herself or do what she wants to do is the one of the reasons she is not given an identity. I think the woman behind the wallpaper is a way to express her thoughts. She feels trapped just like the woman is behind the wallpaper.

            For someone with depression, it is more detrimental to stay inside, especially in a little confined room, and do absolutely nothing. Doing nothing all day but resting and being forced to forget about your problems only makes the mental illness worse. It is better to confront your mental illness and deal with it. Going out and keeping busy and exercising your imagination and expressing yourself is a better cure for depression than laying in bed all day, that only makes one feel worse. I was surprised when her husband not only forced her in the room then banned her from writing.

            In the text it says, “ I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus-but John says the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the house”( page 486). In this passage she even interrupts her own thoughts and self expressions about what she thinks is best for her by listening to her husbands commands by restating what he thinks is best. Her husband must command her around so much that she hears his voice in her head and what he is telling her how to think. Being locked in a room and not being able to express herself, she needs to focus on something, so she focuses so much on the wallpaper that she becomes obsessed.

            I think not being able to express herself and control her own thoughts is a representation of the woman hiding behind the wallpaper. She feels trapped and is trying to break free of her husbands control and also break free of her depression. Once she finally goes crazy and rips the wallpaper off, she feels free because by ripping the wallpaper off she is expressing herself and trying to deal with what she is going through in her own way. Also with depression, you loose a little sense of identity because it consumes you. I think by her ripping off the wallpaper, she had a break through. She was rebelling against her husband and by doing what she wanted to do. She was taking control of her life and trying to find herself again. Everyone deals with what they are going through differently. Her husbands control made her situation worse and she was forced to deal with it in a different, more psychotic way, than she maybe would have had to if she had the freedom to self express and control her own life.