    The most important theme in "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the depression of the main character Jane. She was suffering the postpartum depression and her husband believes the "rest cure" could fix it.  Jane was trying to fight for her freedom, but her husband refuse Jane by saying love her.   In the story, we are aware that the male dominate and ruling the family without caring the facts of being right or wrong. Jane believed that there is woman behind the yellow wallpaper. She thought by escaping the woman behind the yellow wallpaper could make her free also. The truth is neither she nor the women behind the wallpaper get free, and the rest cure destroyed Jane' life.

    Jane did not believe her husband in many ways but she still did everything that he asked. She knew the "rest cure" is not good for her but she was not brave enough to prove it. Nobody will understand her feeling so there is no way that she can express herself. In the story, Jane says, " You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do."(Gilman) Jane admitted there is nothing she can do will change John's mind. She had to believe John because he is the man in this family. People will explode at one point after being alone so long and the feeling of the family without trusting. The unhealthy relationship of the family was dragging Jane in to a deeper mental illness world. In the story, Jane says, "John is a physician, and perhaps I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind, perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster". (Gilman) She refers her writing as a dead paper and relief to her mind.  Jane was stressing out about her mental condition. She knew that she will lost her mind at someday and John mistreatments make her worry herself even more. All the pressure that she wants relief only took one paper. The mental struggle shows that she tried not to think about her unhappiness and start believing John is right about the "rest cure".

    The settings in the story are making Jane feeling depress as well.  In the book, Jane says, "The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight. It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulphur tint in others."(Gilman) She feels sick about the color of the wallpaper. This is the turning point of Jane's mental issue. She can not help the way that she thinks about the wallpaper. The word "sunlight" is a positive thing but Jane feels revolting about it. This room is not helpful for her treatment because it gives her all the crazy thought. John thinks this room is the best room for her recovery and also convenient for him. In the book, Jane says, "There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down," (Gilman) Jane feels someone staring at her behind the wall. She was doing the writing that John prohibited. It make Jane nervous about John may find out her writhing someday. This mental struggling of doing stuff behind John back makes her feel anxious. She feels someone watching her behind wall because John wants make sure that she did the right thing. She will always be the follower in her relationship because she can not do the thing that she like to do. She can not make the decision of the surrounding things all lead to her depression getting worse.

    The creepiest scene in the story is Jane believed someone hiding behind the wallpaper. Her mental problem getting out of control after a long period having no social life with other people. In the story, Jane says, " Sometimes I think there are great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over."(Gilman) There were so many women that had the same situation as Jane. Jane using this way to say that the most women have no right at their society.  Jane saw the woman behind the wall because she is the woman. She trapped in her own life and never got out. No one should follow the rules that men made but Jane was powerless to change it. In the book, Jane says, "Then I peeled of f all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it!"(Gilman) Jane went crazy at the end of the story. She was hoping get out the house by helping the woman behind the wall. The society she lived in is the wallpaper.  She enjoyed ripped the wallpaper because that is the only way to fight with her husband and the society. The woman behind the wallpaper is the shadow of Jane's life.

    In conclusion, Jane is struggling with her life in "The Yellow Wallpaper". The writer wants us to reconsidering the women's right at that time. People like Jane are struggling to get independence. Most of them were suffering the depression without the right treatment. The only end for them is going insane or death. Jane went crazy because she took the rest cure. The writer using word and sentences make us feeling not only the creepy of the wallpaper but also the miseries of Jane's life. We also can feel the anger and helpless as same as Jane after we finished the story. The woman and man are treating equally in our society, but we should not forget what it was before.

Charlotte Perkins, Gilman. "The Yellow Wallpaper". The "new woman" and her bicycle-there will be several varieties of her. Opper, Frederick Burr, 1857-1973. Illus. from Puck, v. 37, no. 954, (1895 June 19), back cover. Department of English, USC Columbia "The Carolina Reader for English 101." (Fall 2014)
