"The Yellow Wallpaper" authored by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story which provides deep insight into the life of a nineteenth century woman. This short story was written on behalf of Gilman's own experiences during the treatment of her condition titled nervousness. Due to the time period this was written, this story did not become particularly popular until the twentieth century during the feminist movement. Gilman uses direct symbolism, innocent tone, and somber irony in "The Yellow Wallpaper" to discuss the constant oppression women faced in the nineteenth century. 

From the beginning of this short story, one is able to depict the major symbol used throughout. That being said, it is obvious that the wallpaper Gilman writes about, holds the position to be the most prevalent symbol in this story. This symbol is first seen in the title but then mentioned again quickly. Gilman first describes the great beauty of the house she is being treated in; until she describes the room she will be staying in. She hates the room, and most especially, the wallpaper. Throughout the entire story, she constantly brings up the wallpaper, and through this she is merely describing what she makes her own life out to be, essentially paralleling the wallpaper to her mental deterioration. When she first describes the wallpaper she uses adjectives such as "dull", "repellant", and "unclean". This shows that through the subordination that she faces on a daily basis, it has caused her to believe she is less of a person. An outside literary analysis states, "It is the wallpaper, though, that is the focal-point of the story, and it holds within it many descriptive and fruitful metaphors for the insidious discrimination and oppression of women" (Ames). This too implies that the wallpaper describes the feelings and emotions Gilman and other women felt during this time period. Gilman even describes a woman that she sees within the wallpaper. She includes "she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern- it strangles so; I think that is why it has so many heads" (Gilman, 218). The "she" in this excerpt is symbolizing Gilman and the "many heads" symbolizes all the oppressed women during this time. The pattern she describes is the society that all the women live in. Women try to rise up but they come to realize that they are only pushed further down. The deep symbolism of the wallpaper expresses the hardship and oppression that almost all women faced during the nineteenth century.

Gilman uses naive tone throughout the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" to depict something deeper than what is shown to the blind eye. As one may read this story out of context, he or she may only see a woman with a condition and a loving husband who tries his hardest to help his wife in any possible way. This is how many interpreted this story before the feminist movement. An outside source describing feminist movements stated, "a feminist upsurge was initiated by women who had attempted to function politically in the major reform movements of their days, and had found that because they were women, they would be unable to do very much at all" (DuBois). This statement shows that women were unable to make necessary changes in their own lives due to the great oppression that they faced during this time. Gilman shows this through her innocent tone. She uses this innocent tone in an ironic way to show the position of women during this day, though this is not what she actually believed to be appropriate. Gilman states "Dear John! He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick" (Gilman, 214). To the blind eye, a reader may believe that Gilman uses this innocent tone to show that she knows her husband loves her and would do anything for her. In reality, Gilman uses this tone to show a deeper meaning. She is trying to illustrate how women during her time are brainwashed to a state that causes them to believe a bad thing is actually a good thing or that women try to convince themselves into believing this treatment is appropriate. Gilman also uses this tone in John's speech, as seen in "'What is it, little girl?' he said. 'Don't go walking around like that- you'll get cold'" (Gilman, 215). The tone Gilman sets for John is a tone that is most commonly used by a parent to a child. She is trying to portray the submissive role of women in society during the nineteenth century. It was common for husbands to treat their wives as if they were children. Men belittled women to the point that many women disregarded this treatment and accepted the fact that they were seen as inferior to men. Gilman uses this innocent tone throughout "The Yellow Wallpaper" to demonstrate the deep oppression women faced up until the twentieth century. 

Gilman uses depressing irony throughout this short story to portray the true emotions of many women during the nineteenth century. In the short story, the narrator is placed in a bedroom in which she describes as a horrific old nursery. She describes how the bed is nailed to the ground, there are bars on the window, and the wallpaper is torn off in many places. As she illustrates this image, the reader may interpret this room as a jail cell or a room in an insane asylum. This irony displays many emotions to the reader. This irony of the room further enhances the idea that women during this time were often seen as equivalent to children by Gilman addressing this room as a nursery. Also, because the reader may depict the room as a cell in an insane asylum, this shows that doctors during this time would have seen Gilman as insane with her condition of "nervousness" while today, she would have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and treated in a more humane manner. A deeper form of irony is shown at the end of the story when Gilman writes about how she has committed suicide. Gilman foreshadows this event when she states "there is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down" (Gilman, 212). There are also several other instances within the story that the narrator parallels herself to the wallpaper. Gilman did not commit suicide in her actual life but includes this element in her story to depict a deeper message. The treatment for nervousness or the absolute treatment of women during this time was not acceptable in Gilman's eyes. Especially in the treatment for nervousness, Gilman found that it would only worsen the condition of the woman by holding them in confinement and allowing them to do essentially nothing. The overall treatment of women, from Gilman's point of view, was also unacceptable. Through this irony she shows that the belittlement of women was so extreme that the only possible way out was death. As stated in an outside source discussing feminism, "women discovered that they could not put their faith in male reformers because the oppression of women was not top priority for anyone but women themselves" (DuBois). This statement reflects the same standpoint as Gilman. Women during the nineteenth century could not rise above their inferior identities no matter how much they wanted to. Gilman uses this dismal irony to display the true hardships of the inferior middle-class women during this time period.

The short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" authored by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one in which indirectly portrays the role of women during the nineteenth century. Writing a story based on an event in which she lived, Gilman describes what life was like as a woman through her use of obvious symbolism, child-like tone, and depressed irony. Gilman's short story gives deep insight into the controlled and belittled lives of women during the nineteenth century.

