In “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses the color yellow to specifically describe the narrator. The color yellow is a symbol for many different moods and or feelings. Out of all of the different emotional states, one of the first that comes to an individual’s mind is the feeling of warmth and cheeriness.  Another feeling given by the color yellow is something that is a complete opposite of warmth and cheer; sickness and fatigue. Both of these feelings are expressed throughout this short story. It is to be argued that the narrator of this story is a perfect representation for each of the two feelings for the color yellow.

It is assumed that the narrator’s relationship with her husband John, isn’t the most pleasant of relationships. The story gives off a certain vibe that she is stuck living under his control.  John is a physician who works with sick and mentally unstable people daily. As a husband, it could be argued that he would care more for his wife than a regular patient, but that is not the case. The narrator feels sickly throughout the story and continues to get worse. She complains about one of the feelings that yellow represents: sickness and fatigue. Now, it is obvious that John could be a main source for this feeling of tiredness and depression. The narrator explains “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”(299)  here we get the obvious feeling that the narrator feels as if John isn’t taking proper care of his wife and wants her to remain sick so she will continue to be too tired to try and do anything that he wouldn’t approve of or disobey him and continue to live under his standards. The narrator also states, “I did write for a while in spite of them, but it does exhaust me a good deal- having to be so sly about it…,” (300) and “we have been here two weeks, and I haven’t felt like writing before, since that first day”  (301). Both of these examples show that both John and the new lifestyle and setting have given her a non-stop feeling of tiredness to the point where she isn’t even able to do things that she once loved doing. and something that would relive her of the feelings she is going through now.

That brings me to my next point. Not only is John creating this feeling of depression and fatigue towards his wife but also the new house. She talks about how much she cannot stand the new ‘yellow wallpaper’ in her room. She says, “the paint and paper look as if a boy’s school had used it. It is stripped off- the paper- in great patches all around the head of my bed… the color is repellent, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow… No wonder the children hate it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long” (301). She says this without knowing that for her time being there, she would be locked in this room the whole stretch having to study this wallpaper due to there being nothing else for her to do! Day by day she would study the paper and it would make her more exhausted as time went on. After weeks of watching the wallpaper and taking in its patterns, she comes to a point of being completely drained as she says “Half the time now I am awfully lazy, and lie down ever so much” (305). 

An Individual could claim that the house is not just making her fatigued, but also bringing out the most typical representation of the color yellow out in her; warmth and cheeriness. She talks about how much she loves the house at first sight claiming “The most beautiful place!” (300) and “There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden!” (300) with compliments like these it is shocking that she felt the way she did after staying at the house for a few weeks. When studying the wallpaper there it is obvious that she in intrigued. She studies it day after day week after week because she knows that there is something to it! The narrator hasn’t always been this sad and unhappy person. Her husband John has forced her into a sheltered lifestyle when all she has wanted is to go out and explore he world. She knows that behind that wallpaper is the women she wants and used to be. 

Towards the end of the story, she begins to get a closer look at the wallpaper. Tearing it piece by piece the narrator knows that what is behind that wallpaper is worth the struggle to find it. She has asked for help from her husband and her brother, who is also a physician, and has received nothing. Now it is up to her to help herself. 

So behind this “yellow” wallpaper is her true yellow side. Her happy, warm, and cheery side. She no longer wants to live under her husband and his every word. She doesn’t want to be trapped in this room full of lethargy. She doesn’t have to be trapped anymore, both in this house and in the wallpaper, “I’ve got out at last…in spite of you and Jane. And I’ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can’t put me back!” the smoldering unclean yellow wallpaper has now been torn away only to show the new deep, happy, and full of life yellow wallpaper.

I don’t give grades on drafts because ENGL 101 is supposed to be graded on improvement, so it really doesn’t matter what the rough draft’s grade is. However, some students like a measurable mark of their writing, so I now give a “ghost grade” on the rough draft—that is, I grade it as if it were the final polished essay at the end of the semester, and I put the grade in brackets to highlight that the grade doesn’t count, it’s just to give you a sense of how much improvement you need to do. 

If this were a final draft you were turning in at the end of the semester for a final grade it would be a [C] quality paper. Make sure you focus on my comments and revise to show improvement. 

Your final revision goes in your portfolio at the end of the semester along with this version. If you want to do additional drafts throughout the semester, you can send it to me, and I will get comments to you in 2 weeks or so. Also, as you make changes, don’t forget to save your first draft separately so you’ll have it for your final portfolio. 