What Does Yellow Symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper? It may fit into the story since we watch the narrator’s life and marriage fall apart, as well as her mental health.Īll in all, after the color symbolism of The Yellow Wallpaper is explained, you might understand that the setting plays a far more critical role than it seems. According to one of them, yellow represents decay and caution. There are more interpretations of the color yellow out there, though. Therefore, it would explain why the narrator is so crazy over the wallpaper, and the color is yellow. Moreover, it seems like people facing some severe obsessions tend to project their feelings like anxiety onto simple objects. She finds imprisonment and patronizing as the acts of male dominance. Thus, the way how John treats his wife might find the representation in the color of the wallpaper. Sometimes, yellow is used in relation to some evil acts. It may have been used to represent the oppression of men towards women.Īll the adjectives Gilman uses there to describe the color, such as “hideous” and “infuriating,” perfectly align with her feelings about inequality.Īnother thought that is worth attention is quite similar. The theme is the main focus of the story. Another interpretation goes back to the theme of feminism and gender roles. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell.

The color is hideous enough and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough… The Yellow Wallpaper, entry 5

To illustrate it, we can use some of the quotes from The Yellow Wallpaper.

The yellow wallpaper literary analysis