Mason Labash
March 24, 2011
Journal: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
English 48B

  
“It is a big, airy room, the whole floor nearly, with windows that look all ways, and air and sunshine galore. It was nursery first and then playroom and gymnasium, I should judge; for the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.”

“The numerous barred windows and immovable bed also suggest a more malignant use for the nursery in the past, perhaps as a room used to house an insane person. The narrator's sense of being watched by the wallpaper accentuates the idea of the room as a surveillance-friendly prison cell.”

In the first sentence we get an optimistic outlook on the room. She is under pressure to be happy with the room. If she expresses discontent with the room or the house it would certainly displease her husband, John. In the late 1800’s a wife was expected to go along with her husband’s wishes and never doubt that he is only doing what’s best for his wife. She has a nice, big upstairs room to get better by herself. I would think she’d prefer to be in the same room as her husband, but she must suppress those urges and see only the positive in whatever living situation is forced upon her. I can’t imagine the sunshine being so enjoyable when it is obstructed by the shadows of bars on the windows. For me this would be extremely depressing. Throughout the entire day light is coming through the windows and even when you’re not looking at the bars you’re still reminded of them because they project a prison like aura all over the walls. Her reaction to the bars can’t be any more idealistic. She suspects that they must have been for the safety of the children when the room was being occupied by the nursery. I can’t imagine a better way to view something that’s meant to keep people trapped.  I would never settle on the notion that the bars were meant for small children. If there was a need for ventilation they could just be cracked open just enough so that a child couldn’t squeeze through. Those old windows were very heavy and solidly built and a child would never be able to push it up above their height, assuming the windows weren’t floor level.

It becomes painfully obvious that she’s shutting out any instinctive thoughts that this is probably a room used to lock someone up in. A gymnasium is so farfetched a conclusion to come to that we must assume that John told her that that was one of the room’s previous uses. I immediately figured out that the “rings and things” were restraints for the wrists and ankles. I don’t know what kind of whacky gymnasium utilizes a ring fastened to the wall as a means of propelling yourself. It’s possible that she wanted to believe those “rings and things” were devices used for the excitement of children, anything to deter her mind from the idea that this could be a holding cell for the mentally insane. I think her husband knew that despite these obvious warning signs, she would suppress any dissatisfaction with her new home. She should just be grateful she gets to stay in this creepy, presumably haunted, urine scented house right? John must have really interpreted her uppity, artistic ways as ludicrous; otherwise he might’ve taken those bars off before she caught sight of them.



"The Yellow Wallpaper Themes | GradeSaver." Study Guides & Essay Editing | GradeSaver. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://www.gradesaver.com/the-yellow-wallpaper/study-guide/major-themes/>.