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Why Does The Narrator First Dislike The Yellow Wallpaper?

Updated 14 February, 2024
Answer:
The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" initially dislikes the wallpaper as it symbolizes her oppression and confinement imposed by her husband, who is also a physician, and a patriarchal society. The wallpaper's patterns reflect the narrator's suffocation and frustration with her situation, leading to her growing obsession with it, which serves as a metaphor for her descent into madness. The narrator's increasing dislike for the wallpaper represents her increasing disillusionment with her life and her realization that she is trapped. The wallpaper becomes a powerful symbol of the narrator's struggle against societal constraints.
Detailed answer:

The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman initially dislikes the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom because it is a symbol of her oppression and confinement. The narrator has been diagnosed with a nervous condition and her husband, John, who is also a physician, has prescribed complete rest and inactivity as a cure. As a result, she is confined to a single room in their summer home, with nothing to do but stare at the yellow wallpaper.
The yellow wallpaper becomes a symbol of the narrator's frustration and anger towards her husband's control over her life. The pattern of the wallpaper, which she describes as "sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin," becomes a reflection of her own feelings of suffocation and entrapment. The wallpaper is symbolic of the patriarchal society of the time that sought to control and confine women to the domestic sphere, and the narrator's dislike for it is a manifestation of her resentment towards this societal structure.
Moreover, the narrator's growing obsession with the wallpaper serves as a metaphor for her own descent into madness. As she spends more and more time staring at the yellow wallpaper, she begins to see the patterns as moving, which reflects her own unraveling mind. Her increasing dislike for the wallpaper represents her increasing disillusionment with the reality of her situation, and her growing realization that she is trapped in a life that she does not want.
In conclusion, the narrator's initial dislike of the yellow wallpaper in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a symbol of her oppression, confinement, and growing disillusionment with her situation. It is a reflection of her frustration with patriarchal societal norms and a manifestation of her descent into madness. The yellow wallpaper serves as a powerful symbol of the narrator's struggle against the constraints imposed upon her by her husband and the larger societal structure.

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