Essay/Term paper: The yellow wallpaper: what the hell????

Essay, term paper, research paper:  The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper: What The Hell????


The Yellow Wallpaper does nothing but confuse me. It seems to be about
a high strung, mentally ill woman who is obsessed with rotting wallpaper. This
yellow wallpaper obsesses her so much that she begins to distrust everyone, even
her husband. She is terrified that someone will take her wallpaper or find out
more about it than she knows.
One point I found interesting is that she sees a woman behind bars
trying to get out in the pattern of the wallpaper. This might be the only thing
in this story that made sense to me. The pattern with the woman seems to be
related to the way she is being treated by her husband, John. John is very
protective of her wife because she is in all reality a very sick woman. She
feels trapped because of this and the way she sees the paper must be an
indication. She stays up late at night and hours on end during the day to stare
at worthless, tattered, yellow wallpaper.
This story really bored me to death. All I could think of was, "when is
this story going to be over?" I remember having a highly active imagination as
a child but this is ridiculous. She sees mushrooms sprouting and women shaking
bars and she's a middle aged woman. The last time I ever saw anything close to
that was when I was 10 years old and I saw G.I.Joe's crawling up and down my
walls at night. I don't understand this woman behavior nor have I ever
experienced anyone in real life who acted this way.
John's wife is not an abused woman. She is actually well taken care of and
loved by her husband, John. The author, Charlotte Gilman must have some point
to get across. However the fact is I don't get it.
The most eerie thing about the story though is that it sounds and reads
just like a story from Edgar Allan Poe. Even though I did not get the hidden
meaning in the story I enjoyed it nonetheless.