John is the Yellow Wallpaper
"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is dark, but what is more haunting is the story is based off Gilman's life. Of course there was no magic wallpaper and women "creeping" around her yard, but there was mental abuse by her husband in both real life and the book. Gilman was married to a man that condemned her to her bedroom, convincing her she was mentally ill, leading her to later on experience hallucinations. During her episodes, Gilman wrote her short-story "The Yellow Wallpaper." Throughout the story she described a figure of a woman "trapped" behind the vines in the yellow wallpaper in her room that only tried to escape at night.
I then put together that John, her husband, was metaphorically the vines in the yellow wallpaper, trapping the woman in one place and the narrator saw herself as the woman trapped behind the vines, also known as John. At the end of the story the narrator tore down the wallpaper and freed the woman, just as Gilman wished she could free herself from her controlling husband.
I then put together that John, her husband, was metaphorically the vines in the yellow wallpaper, trapping the woman in one place and the narrator saw herself as the woman trapped behind the vines, also known as John. At the end of the story the narrator tore down the wallpaper and freed the woman, just as Gilman wished she could free herself from her controlling husband.
Great interpretation Tori !
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