Interpretation of "The Yellow Wallpaper"

The writing style of the writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman strikes me as one of the most heroic and honest writers of her time. She dared to explore the complications that are involved in marriage, gender roles, and psychological differences. Throughout the book the author describes herself as a "nervous" person and claimed that she is "a comparative burden" (pg. 14). Her immediate sensitivity to the way people felt about her and to the condition she had made me feel that there was something larger that was bothering her. She never seemed to be truly content and most of the time tried to justify her husband John for treating her as if she did not exist. I think the way that she took the blame and did not argue with John about her condition showed her feeling of inferiority. It became clear to me as I read more of the book that she was miserable inside. She was sad and lonely and cried often; she did not cry when John was around. She becomes obsessed with the pattern of the wallpaper in her room and I found it confusing at first. However, she clues the reader in to the challenges she faces by the way she describes the paper. She describes the paper as: dull, uncertain, outrageous, repellent, smouldering, unheard of- revolting contradictions, irritate, etc. By the way the author continues to talk about the wallpaper I concluded that the wallpaper represented how she felt about her marriage and her life. She was angry and disgusted and it consumed her every thought. "You can only see the paper in certain lights" (pg. 18). In this quote the author referred to her inferior role as a housewife. You can only see her side of the story in certain lights, perhaps a feminist view. She refer ed to a woman "stuck" inside the paper, and for the first time she began to reveal her feelings a little more. The woman is "stooping down and creeping about behind the pattern" (Pg. 22). She referred to herself when she spoke of the woman. The way she was stooping down represented how the author felt about herself as a woman. Stooping down in her marriage and being the one with the "condition". She tried several times to talk to her husband John about the problem but lost her courage. You can see her frustration in the way she spoke about the woman "shaking" the pattern wanting to get out.The ending of the book is one of the most compelling. The author entered into a panicked state and began to rip down the paper in large portions. She has reached her breaking point and decided that she can no longer allow herself to live in the subdued and lifeless position that she was in. She attempted to "free" the woman behind the paper but what she was really doing was trying to free herself. She began by locking herself in and ripping the wallpaper off in large strips and then became so angry she tried to move the bed which was nailed down. The scene is very powerful because all of her frustrations are being torn apart. The scene comes to an end when her husband John appears and "faints" because of all her activity. Strongly the author continued to finish her task and as she "crept over him" I felt as if she had reached a point of independence.