The Yellow Wallpaper
...t and change, would do me good.'"' She tries to convince her husband that this treatment is not working. Instead of helping her, he tells her to go to sleep. This just shows how she is not considered to know what is best, even for her own mental health. She doesn"'"t even realize that this is happening. Throughout the story, the woman states her intentions, but then does not act upon them because of her husband. She just says things like '"'And what can one do?'"' or '"'But what does one do?'"' She doesn"'"t have any power or authority to do what she believes is best for her. This is further shown when she speaks of her husband and her brother, who '"'is also of high standing,'"' showing the high ranking of men in society. Jane is the representation of a typical woman, '"'She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession!'"' Maybe the whole reason for her mental problems lies in the fact that she is trying to hold back the feeling that she is being discriminated against. It is considered improper for woman to openly express anger. She says that she gets '"'unreasonably angry with John sometimes'"' and she blames it on her '"'nervous condition.'"' John tells her not to '"'neglect proper self control.'"' So she is not allowed to express herself in speech nor in her writing, which I think she used as a release. I believe it is this inner-battle with doing what is considered proper and what she wants to do that slowly drives her crazy. The wallpaper and the figure behind it, is symbolic of women"'"s suffrage. She says the figure is '"'like a woman stooping down and creeping about'"' and then '"'shakes the pattern as if she wanted to get out.'"' The figure could also symbolize herself. She refers to a front pattern and a back pattern which is less visible. Maybe the front pattern is what is proper and what the world is seen to be, while the back pattern is the reality of suffering and oppression. At the end, she rips off as much of the wallpaper as she can to symbolically free herself and the figure behind the paper. In the conclusion of the story when she tears off the wallpaper and says, '"'"'"I"'"ve got out at last,"'" said I, "'"in spite of you and Jane? And I"'"ve pulled off most of the paper, so you can"'"t put me back!"'"'"' Gilman is showing the discovery of feminism by society. Her husband and Jane were symbolic of society and when the wallpaper is down the images are out, feminism is also out. The narrator in '"'The Yellow Wa...