Formalist criticism of the story "Yellow Wallpaper"

In formalist criticism, the text itself, written by the author, should be the primary focus, with
no consideration of time periods or situations in the world or country in which the story was
written. The text is written in the first person, giving the impression that we are reading a
character's personal diary, which allows us to better empathise with her feelings. The
sentences in the story become increasingly complex and chaotic over time, which allows us
to observe the changes in the protagonist's psychological state. Additionally, the sentences are
emotionally coloured depending on the character's state of mind, allowing us to discern when
the narrator becomes more depressed, cheerful, or a little crazy.

The most pronounced symbolism in this text is the yellow wallpaper. To some extent, the
heroine projects her attitude towards herself onto these wallpapers. At the outset, the
protagonist exhibits no inclination towards the wallpaper, and her attitude towards life is
characterised by a lack of enthusiasm. However, over time, the wallpaper begins to elicit a
positive response, and she comes to accept the unpleasant odour that initially caused her
discomfort. This shift in attitude is accompanied by a gradual increase in her lust for life,
although we also observe a parallel decline in her mental stability. The wallpaper becomes a
focal point of her attention, and she begins to perceive the woman depicted on it as a
reflection of herself. The main character is trapped in a beautiful house, and the woman in
the wallpaper is similarly constrained. As the woman on the wallpaper attempts to escape, the
protagonist also strives to liberate herself from her own limitations.

The text employs a number of metaphors, which serve to convey the emotions of the
protagonist. The author's skillful use of sentence structure allows the reader to vicariously
experience the protagonist's feelings. The author employs a skilful use of metaphor to convey
the psychological state of the character in question. Furthermore, an analysis of the text leads
to the conclusion that our heroine conceals her creativity. She is distinct from the other
characters in the narrative, and as a result of her fear of being rejected, she conceals her
creative abilities. The main character abruptly ceases writing when her husband's sister enters
the room, and she does not divulge the secrets concealed within the wallpaper. Furthermore,
it can be observed that the more intricate the pattern visible on the wallpaper, the more
chaotic the protagonist's thoughts become. The wallpaper serves as a direct reflection of the
protagonist's inner self. This indicates that the character is reluctant to comprehend her own
circumstances or to acknowledge any shortcomings. Rather than confronting her issues, she
swiftly dismisses them and begins analyzing the woman depicted in the wallpaper, who is
evidently trapped within it.

Feminist critique

The main character found herself in chains thanks to her husband. It was he who insisted that
they stay in this house, even though our heroine felt terrible in it. Reading the story, we can
see that John is the dominant man in their marriage and has absolute control over his wife.
We can also see how he and the heroine's brother do not believe that she is ill and claim that
she is perfectly healthy. This puts psychological pressure on the woman, so we can call it a
kind of gaslighting. At the beginning of the story, she even says that perhaps she cannot be
cured because her husband does not believe her.

We can also see that she sees her marriage as a kind of imprisonment because there were even
phrases like "well, what else can I expect in marriage". This suggests that she is not happy
with John, but for some reason she still stays with him. She probably also feels societal
pressure because she wrote that John takes all the care away from her and she feels
ungrateful. This societal pressure is enormous, because her husband has turned their home
into a prison for her, has taken all control away from her, and she should be grateful to him
for taking control of her life.

Our heroine was even restricted in her creativity. She suffered from being forbidden to write,
and she was exhausted from having to hide so that no one could see that she had not stopped
doing what she enjoyed. She was afraid that John would see her texts, so she stopped writing
as soon as he came home. Her husband's sister believed that she had become ill because she
had started writing. So, psychologically, it was very difficult for her to be in that house.

Almost all of the heroine's story takes place in that room, which is why all the pressure on her
mental health is there. Her whole stay there reminds her of a prison. She wants to repaint the
walls, but her husband, instead of supporting his wife in what is already a difficult time for
her, refuses to do so, saying that after the walls, she will not like the windows, the bed, the
doors, and so on. In this way, the idea that she doesn't like something has a good effect on
her, according to her husband. However, he forbids her to fantasise about changes and things
she likes, because this can have a negative effect on her condition. He doesn't want to change
anything for her comfort, so he literally creates a prison for her to live in. And with that, he
can control her completely, because she has nothing of her own, except the paper, to which
she is completely devoted.
In order to maintain her sanity, she writes about absolutely everything, but as time goes on,
we can see that this has played a cruel joke on her, because all she devotes her time to, apart
from paper, is the woman on the wall who has literally captivated the protagonist. Her mind
is not freed even after she destroys part of the wallpaper and goes completely insane.