Internal Struggles in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Contents

• The Struggle Between Society's Demands and Personal Wants
• The Fight with One's Own Mind
• Impact on the Narrator's Mental State and Well-being

Struggles Inside in "The Yellow Wallpaper"

The short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman dives deep into inner battles through the eyes of a narrator we never really get to know by name. The tale digs into the clash between what society expects and what individuals actually want. It also looks at how folks can fight with their own minds. With vibrant images and symbols, Gilman paints a clear picture of the main character's path to understanding herself and finding freedom. So, let's look at these internal battles shown in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and see how they mess with the narrator’s mental health and overall well-being.

The Struggle Between Society's Demands and Personal Wants

One big internal fight in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is between what society wants from you and what you actually want for yourself. Our main gal here is dealing with postpartum depression, stuck in a room by her hubby in this old mansion. She’s told to chill out, no thinking or creating allowed. This kind of confinement shows how society back then put women in boxes, keeping them from chasing their dreams.

Now, this yellow wallpaper she can't stop staring at becomes a symbol of her being trapped. As time goes on, she gets more and more fixated on it, saying stuff like, "I never saw a worse paper in my life... The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight" (Gilman). Her hate-love thing with the wallpaper mirrors her struggle—does she conform or follow her heart?

This push-and-pull is made even clearer when she talks about wanting some mental action. She says something like, "Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good" (Gilman). Her craving for intellectual challenges shows her longing to break free from societal chains.

The Fight with One's Own Mind

Another biggie is battling your own brain. Being stuck in that room makes our narrator lose it over time. She starts seeing patterns in the wallpaper that aren't even there! This slide into madness shows the turmoil going on inside her head.

Her obsession with that ugly wallpaper is just bottled-up wants and frustrations bubbling up. She says something creepy like, "I don't like to look out of the windows even - there are so many of those creeping women, and they creep so fast. I wonder if they all come out of that wallpaper as I did?" (Gilman). She's scared stiff about losing herself just like those imaginary women trapped behind that paper.

This fight against her mind grows as she tries to hold onto reality while paranoia creeps in. She even says something along the lines of, "I don't want to go out, and I don't want to have anybody come in till John comes. I want to astonish him" (Gilman). That need to surprise her husband? It's a desperate attempt to hold onto sanity and be her own person.

Impact on the Narrator's Mental State and Well-being

All these inner fights take a toll on our narrator's mental state and overall happiness. Being locked up by both hubby and society only makes her postpartum depression worse—it’s a straight shot down into madness. Without any mental stimulation or creative outlets? Her mind just goes downhill from there.

Her fixation on the wallpaper ties into these inner struggles perfectly. The more she loses herself in that paper maze, the worse off she gets mentally speaking. In one intense moment, she says something like "I pulled and she shook, I shook and she pulled, and before morning we had peeled off yards of that paper" (Gilman). Tearing down that wallpaper? It's her way of finally pushing back against all those societal constraints choking her spirit.

In wrapping this up—Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" really digs into inner conflicts—between societal norms versus personal desires plus grappling with one’s own mind using vivid imagery & symbolism effectively capturing protagonist journey towards self-discovery & liberation showing implications such struggles have impacting mental state/well-being highlighting detrimental effects imposed limiting individual freedom/happiness reminding importance embracing one's desires maintaining balanced mental state crucial fulfilling life!

References:

• Gilman C.P., The Yellow Wallpaper: A Story (1899)
• Bauer D.M., Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Optimist Reformer (1998)
• Treichler P.A., Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis & Discourse in The Yellow Wallpaper (1984)