The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Argumentative Essay Example

I notice John standing at my feet! "My love! What's going on?" he exclaimed. "I'm on the verge of freeing the woman!" I replied.

In a firm and tired voice, he insisted that the situation could not continue any longer, and for the sake of their child and himself, the person he was addressing must be removed. He explained that they would live with Cousin Henry and Julia, as he could not help improve their condition if they continued to be hysterical and delusional.

After experiencing a hot sting on my neck and feeling disoriented, I find myself waking up in a luxurious guest room at Henry and Julia's estate the following day. The inviting light prompts me to get up and start afresh. Despite feeling a pulsing sensation in my temples, I feel liberated from the oppressive presence of John, Jennie, and the creeping woman. I also sense a newfound sense of enlightenment in my chest.

Today, I want to attempt to change my situation within this particular time and space. I can hear my family's voices downstairs, showing their concern and understanding for me. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's original ending emphasizes the narrator's deterioration through repetitive themes, without explicitly stating it.

The message conveyed is that the narrator is experiencing a serious instance of postpartum depression, which may result in self-harm or harm to others. Yet, if this were directly expressed, it would diminish the reader's compassion towards her. We tend to be more understanding of her situation when we are not influenced by knowledge of her exact diagnosis. The conclusion drawn by Gilman accentuates the mistreatment of mental disorders, notably among females.

The writer's main

theme is to improve the treatment of mental illness in women, as shown by her personal experiences seeking help from experts without any progress. The audience is urged to protest against current mental treatments, and it should be noted that the story is told from a first-person perspective which strongly affects our understanding of events.

Gilman's story employs irony and satire, with a self-deprecating yet intelligent narrator. The overall message is that the cure is worse than the disease, as the narrator questions whether her husband's medical expertise is helping or hindering her recovery. The narrator suggests that John is well-intentioned but ultimately ineffective, admitting that she does not get better as quickly as she would like.

The satire by Gilman which reads “John is away all day, and even some nights when his cases are serious. I am glad my case is not serious.” is possibly the best I have ever come across. This statement, whether the protagonist is aware of her condition’s severity or not, points out the conduct concerning mental illnesses. Furthermore, my favorite line in any story that I have read is its final line- “Now why should that man have fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so that I had to creep over him every time.”

The text effectively portrays the chaos unfolding and highlights the irony of the narrator finding amusement in John's perceived insanity. The revised ending aims to present a positive outcome for the narrator by providing her relief from her predicament and oppression. The attempt is made to preserve Charlotte Perkins Gilman's style, which is known for its repetition

and figurative language.

While keeping the first-person narrative and story setting, I made alterations to the sequence of events that may not make as much sense as earlier occurrences, due to my lack of writing skills. It seems improbable that the protagonist's spouse would leave her during this particular time. However, her intentions are plain - she strives to improve herself and make others happy. I aimed to stay faithful to this context, as she conceals her "creeping" behavior and endeavors to satisfy John by revealing the figures in the wallpaper to demonstrate her sanity.

While Gilman's ending was more consistent, with the narrator fully succumbing to hysteria and likely being institutionalized, my ending orientation did not indicate that the condition of the other individual had improved - they simply woke up feeling cured.

Similarly to the way John spoke condescendingly to the narrator, the author attempted to maintain that tone in their writing. Despite this effort, the conclusion does not quite match the cohesiveness of Gilman's ending. Nonetheless, the author greatly admires Gilman and her writing style that is almost a century and a half old.